Strathaven House

  • Registered: 2001
  • Registered Places: 3
  • DfE Education: Yes
  • Assessment/Therapy: Yes
  • Step Down Placements: Yes
  • Staff Ratio: 2:3

Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (Girls)

Strathaven House - A 'Good' Children's Home with 'Outstanding' Leadership and Management


"Children say they enjoy living in the home and feel well looked after. They are supported to have positive relationships with each other and with staff based on trust, kindness and respect. Staff create an environment that is homely, nurturing and stimulating. Many areas of the home have been modernised since the last inspection and there is a clear plan for further improvements in the coming months.

 

Children are supported by staff who are knowledgeable about their ethnicity and culture. They provide care that meet s children’s cultural and religious needs, and which celebrates diversity. As a result, children are developing their confidence and self esteem Key workers review children s targets and progress is clearly shown.
 
Staff understand the importance of making sure that children are being prepared to leave their care. Children have tailored independence plans which support them in developing skills for life such as cooking, budgeting and using public transport. Children’s achievements are celebrated and praised.
 
Children’s education is promoted, and they are making good progress. There is daily communication from the home to the respective schools. One child recently told staff that she was struggling to understand assignments and the home requested dyslexia screening. This led to more support being provided at college.
 
Staff are aware of children’s health needs. Staff encourage children to take responsibility for their own health, but advocate for them and refer on for specialist support services.
 
Children are supported to see family members and other important people in their lives. One family member said how appreciative she was of staff support during family contact visits. Relationships with other professionals are positive. One social worker said, ‘The staff are brilliant, so friendly and are clearly committed to my young person. They will go above and beyond for her, which I really appreciate.’ Another said, ‘She [the child] has made brilliant progress in the home, has been able to acknowledge that she is happy living there and has built good relationships with the staff, which is something she finds difficult.’"

 

Ofsted Inspection - March 2023 - Full report available by request

Residential Care

Strathaven House provides a nurturing and inviting environment for children that have emotional, behavioural and mild learning difficulties.

 

We ensure a safe environment in which children may explore past experiences emotionally and physically, with the care and support of dedicated staff and other professionals this enables the children to process and develop emotionally, hopefully coming to terms for their reasoning of being looked after outside the family environment. 

 

The home has, for a number of years, provided care and support for girls exhibiting a wide range of emotional and behavioural issues which, subject to assessment, includes offending behaviour, sexual exploitation and associated risk taking behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse, absconding behaviour , potential mental health difficulties and mild to moderate learning difficulties. Strathaven House prides itself on its ethos of caring and looking after the children in a child centred manner and a broader thinking as to their care. 

 

The home aims to provide a caring, nurturing ‘family’ environment.  The staff team provide a parental approach to the children with rules and expectations similar to that of a traditional home.

 

To support developing relationships between the staff team and the children, the meeting of primary needs is paramount.  Strong emphasis is put on the role of keyworkers within the home from these relationships the children experience adults who hold them in mind allowing them to grow, develop achieve and flourish.

 

The management and staff team understand that behaviour is s form of communication and recognise behaviour reflects the thoughts, feeling and needs of our children.

By developing strong relationships and trust, the children are supported to develop and understanding of their emotions and how to communicate and express their emotions and feeling in a healthier way.

 

The home has a ‘thinking’ culture from which the staff team are supported to develop and understanding of attachment theory through additional support sessions and how this can be put into practice.

 

Through the relationship staff aim to provide the children with a positive experience of adults and develop the children’s ability to move into adulthood with an experience of being cared about, looked after and kept safe.

 

Achievements for children will be as individual and diverse as they are and every child placed has different starting points from which to progress and develop within the home.  For some children rehabilitation into a fostering environment may be a possible goal, for others a successful transition back to the family environment may be possible and for some older children, preparation planning and transition into independent accommodation may be a realistic achievement and success.  The aim of the home is that the children feel happy, safe and able to maximise their potential. 

Education

The home is directly affiliated to both our DfE registered, specialist SEMH schools: The Davenport Primary School and The Old Priory Secondary School.

 

The respective school and the home work in close partnership to ensure continuity in respect of learning support, achieving developmental goals and behaviour management.

 

The Davenport School (Key Stage 2: 7-11yrs) offers a differentiated curriculum in order to meet the individual learning needs of each young person. The school operates with small group settings where children are closely supported and supervised by a qualified teacher and learning support assistants.

 

The Old Priory School (Key Stages 3 & 4: 11 – 16yrs) offers the national curriculum allowing for GCSE study in essential subject areas, alongside alternative, differentiated curriculums, including ASDAN and City & Guilds NPTC vocational awards, both of which lead to nationally recognised qualifications.

Assessment & Therapy

Children and young people residing in our care have access to a range of assessment and therapy services including:

  • Psychological Assessment
  • Psychotherapy
  • Systemic Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • Speech & Language Therapy
  • Equine Therapy
  • Music Therapy
  • Drama Therapy
  • Art Therapy
  • Play Therapy

All therapy referrals are overseen by the organisation’s dedicated Therapy Services Manager in consultation with the allocated social worker and other key stakeholders as appropriate.

 

Our assessment and therapy services are an inclusive element of our residential care provision and attract no additional funding requirement.

Health Support

In addition to our therapy services and panel of consultants, each of our homes have direct access to a health promotions worker and, in the event of any significant health concerns arising, oversight from a registered, dual diagnosis nurse. This ensures effective, professional guidance in respect of health profiling, together with the immediate and ongoing health needs of each individual child and young person placed in our care.

Statement of Purpose

Strathaven House | Statement of Purpose
SC023737 - SOP - SH.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [680.8 KB]
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Ethelbert Children's Services -
Residential Children's Homes, Fostering and.Specialist Education
17 Leigh Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT12 5EU
Tel: 01843 823762
© Ethelbert Children's Services 2018

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