Vella House praised by inspectorate

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

Vella House was inspected by Ofsted in May and received this positive grading.

The home is one of four homes managed by CF Group. 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 social and emotional difficulties.

The home is managed by a team of CF Group staff, led by an Ofsted-registered home manager, who each work to support and care for the children, responding to their individual needs and circumstances, and working with them to help them towards positive outcomes.

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 positive relationships children living in the home have with staff. They said “Children are cared for by consistent staff who know them well” and “Children’s education is encouraged and supported in a way that is right for each child.”

Inspectors found that other professionals had commented on the positive impact the staff at Vella House had made on the children being supported. They said “Children are supported to form safe and trusting relationships with staff. For one child, this has allowed them to feel able to make significant disclosures about their past. Professionals attribute the changes for this child to the support of the staff.” They also said “Feedback from professionals and parents is consistently positive. One social worker spoke about seeing a positive change for their child since they moved into the home.”

Andy Robinson-Watts was the Ofsted-registered manager at the time of the inspection and said: “Vella House is a relatively new home, having only opened in October of last year. We worked incredibly hard to build a team of staff that were specially trained, with support from our therapeutic lead, to be able to provide the care and support young people need when they come to live with us.

“I’m delighted that inspectors recognised this, commenting that we have an “enthusiastic and energetic staff team” and that they could see the passion and dedication our people have for helping young people towards positive outcomes. Each child we work with has very specific and individual needs, and we work with every professional in their lives to build a package of care designed around them.

“Looking ahead, we’ll be using the feedback and recommendations received to further develop our home, ensuring we’re doing everything possible to support our young people.”

Andy Robinson-Watts is now the responsible individual for all four of CF’s children’s homes. Lysa Galbraith was the deputy manager of Vella House at the time of the inspection and is now home manager.