Ofsted inspections

As a Fostering and Residential service, we are regulated and inspected by Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills). This is a non-ministerial government department. Its job is to inspect and regulate all services that care for children and young people.

Ofsted ratings indicate the quality of an institution and the inspections are intended not only to check that the legal requirements are being met, but are also designed to raise the standards and drive improvement in terms of the outcomes for children and young people.

We are pleased to report that in our most recent inspections both services received good ratings once again.

Fostering at the Acorns

Our most recent inspection of the Fostering Services was in August 2019. The inspection report highlights our commitment and dedication to providing quality foster care to all children and young people, and quality support to all our foster carers. Here are a few extracts from the report:

• Children and young people are carefully matched with foster carers who provide a warm and welcoming environment.
• The consistent, therapeutic parenting provided helps children and young people to re-establish trust in adults and introduces stability into their lives.
• The agency provides excellent support for placements thereby ensuring that children and young people receive good care.

To read the full Fostering Services report, click here.

Residential at the Acorns

Our Residential Services also received a brilliant report in January 2020. It emphasised our team’s strengths in forming meaningful relationships with the children and young people, giving them stability and consistency. Below are some highlights from the report:

• The children and young people feel that they are consulted and that there is always someone they can talk to.
• The children and young people’s health needs are met, including their mental and emotional needs. Interventions include the provider funding psychological services, which provides an additional layer of professional support.
• The staff take great care to provide a warm, homely environment that gives the children and young people a secure living space.
• The registered manager has high aspirations for the children and young people, an ethos that is shared by the staff team and the provider.
• The staff team receives the training it requires to meet the children and young people’s needs. The staff have regular formal and informal supervision, and regular team meetings.

To read the full Residential Services report, click here.