Arva House praised by inspectorate as new manager joins the team

Our residential children’s home in Witnesham has been rated as ‘good’ for the quality of care it provides for young people.

Arva House was registered in October 2024 and inspected by Ofsted in July for the first time.
It provides residential care for up to three children who have been assessed as needing to live outside of a family environment, and who may experience learning disabilities or Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

The home is managed by a team of CF Group staff, led by a home manager. At the time of the inspection, it was managed by Andy Robinson-Watts, who is now the responsible individual for all four homes. Abbi Livingstone has now joined Arva House as manager, bringing years of experience in the care sector, having worked with both adults and children, including those with additional needs.

The whole team works to support and care for children at the home, responding to their individual needs and circumstances, and working with them to help them towards positive outcomes. One child currently lives at Arva House.

The in-person Ofsted inspection sought to understand the overall experiences and progress of children and young people, how well children and young people are helped and protected, and the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The home was rated as ‘good’ across all three areas.

Inspectors commented on the good progress being made by the child who lives at the home, who has complex needs and learning disabilities. They noted that the child had been non-verbal when they moved into Arva House, but thanks to the work and care of the staff, they can now use a number of words and sentences and can communicate using visual aids.

Inspectors found that “The managers and staff are deeply committed to the child. This has been seen through the observations of staff practice, conversations with staff and the language that staff use when they are writing and talking about the child. One member of staff spoke proudly of some of the child’s achievements. They described getting ‘goosebumps’ during an activity where the child had taken a big step in trusting and building a relationship with this member of staff.”

Andy Robinson- Watts said: “It’s so encouraging to read this positive report from Ofsted. Arva House is a new home, having opened last year following months of hard work to create the right environment and the right team, to ensure we provide the high level of care we know the young people who come to us need.

“We’ve worked with one young person since opening, who has extensive and complex needs and it has been a pleasure to see them thrive since being with us. We’re registered to care for young people with learning disabilities and additional needs, so we have trained our team in the very specific skills they need to provide the best environment possible, supported by our therapeutic lead, who guides the way we work.

“Now, we need to build on this positive recognition, immediately work on the recommendations we received, and continue to develop Arva House to be the best possible home for any children and young people we’re privileged to work with.

“A huge thank you to the entire team at Arva House for their ongoing hard work and dedication.”