Staff at our South Ayrshire children’s home are celebrating after recently being rated as ‘Very Good’ in all of the assessment areas by the Care Inspectorate following their first inspection.
In the report, the Care Inspectorate praised Clonmacate Children’s Home and said: ‘We were able to identify major strengths demonstrated by the service in supporting positive outcomes for people. There were very few areas for improvement.’
The inspectors went on to say: ‘Young people were seeing positive outcomes from the implementation of high quality, SMART, care planning strategies. They were attending and engaging in their education establishments/provision and reports indicated they were achieving well. Young people enjoyed various activities of their choosing and some at the staff's suggestions, and were therefore experiencing new activities and gathering new interests.’
Social Workers of the young people at Clonmacate also gave very positive views during the inspection. The comments included: ‘I think they are fantastic’, ‘I would highly recommend them’, ‘I am impressed’ and ‘I can only praise them'.
Inspectors were also impressed with the relationships between staff and the young people at Clonmacate. The Care Inspectorate said: ‘The staff employed several methods of gathering young people's views to ensure they were the drivers behind the activities and decisions made within the service. Key working sessions, young peoples’ meetings, complaints and suggestion forms and everyday conversations were used to take interest in the young people's views and look to have their preferences met wherever possible. The impact of these efforts to build positive, respectful and inclusive relationships was seen in the interaction between young people and staff.’
The report continued: ‘Our own observations of young people with staff evidenced good natured positive relationships where young people sought out staff to spend time with either, for example, playing games, decorating their room or seeking advice on matters personal to them.’
Situated within South Ayrshire, Clonmacate is part of Aspris Children’s Services and opened in 2019 to provide care to young people aged 8-18 years with a range of complex needs. These include an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attachment disorder.
Karen Sloss, Registered Manager, said: “I’m delighted that we have been rated as ‘5 – Very Good’ following our first ever inspection. Clonmacate was praised in so many areas and this is a great credit to all of us who work at the residential home. It is a real privilege to lead such a dedicated and experienced team. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, the young people and their relatives/guardians.”