The standard of care at Prior’s Court has been praised by Ofsted with the awarding of a ‘good’ rating – meaning for 10 years now our care provision has been rated as “good” or “outstanding”.

Inspectors paid a three-day visit to our site in July to observe and document the standards of the 12 residential homes* for young people up to the age of 19.

Following this, a report has been published rating the quality of social care provision as ‘good’, retaining the rating last earned following an inspection in 2019.

Extracts of the report read:

Children’s needs are understood, and responded to, by the dedicated, warm and compassionate staff team. Observations of practice during the inspection, and comments from professionals and parents, demonstrate the high regard for the staff’s care of their children.

The staff diligently and patiently follow care plans which reflect children’s needs. Children’s views are well captured in their regularly reviewed, well-written care plans.

Education, care and health staff work well together. This benefits children as the integrated approach identifies, reviews and plans for the holistic and individual needs of children.

Professionals are unanimously positive about the care that children receive and the working relationships which they have with the staff.

The vast majority of parents feel well supported by the staff.

Staff thoughtfully follow guidance on distraction techniques to prevent the use of restraint. There is excellent practice in supporting children when they need help in managing their frustrations or worries.

Leaders and managers have a clear and ambitious plan for the services that they want to provide to children and their families. They continually look for ways to improve children’s support.

Following on from the inspection, a nine-point care development plan has been drawn up by the Prior’s Court senior team to address areas of improvement identified by Ofsted in suitable timeframes.

Sarah Butcher MBE, our Director of Young People’s Wellbeing, said:

This is a hugely positive report, which is a notable achievement given the challenges Covid-19 has posed for the whole sector.

The outcome of this report is down to the efforts of team across Prior’s Court who are working tirelessly, expertly and co-operatively towards a single overarching set of goals – empowering our young people to be happy, healthy, more independent and able to access the world of work.

As can be seen from the care development plan, we will not be resting on our laurels. We are determined to keep improving our provision, for benefit of our young people.

Due to Covid-19, routine inspections of providers of social care for children were suspended by Ofsted. However, an assurance visit to site in December 2020 identified no serious or widespread concerns.

Prior's Court's Ofsted Education rating remains "outstanding".

Read our latest full Ofsted Care and Education reports

*Our 12 separate residential homes for children are registered as one Children’s Home with Ofsted. Our four Young Adult Provision homes, registered with the CQC, are all rated as “good”.