Introduction

Welcome to Marella House

About Marella House

Marella House is Waves Care’s first home. Marella House offers a spacious environment where the children and young people will be able to have their own privacy with the added comfort of a homely environment where they can be involved in family activities. At Marella house we understand that the children and young people need a caring and loving environment in order to reach their full potential. We understand that each young person is on their own individual journey. Marella house will provide the children and young people with a stable, loving and caring home where each child is a treated as an individual and their care is personalised to meet their needs.

1.2     Legislation Framework

The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015

Reg 16 (1) The registered person shall compile in relation to the children’s home a written statement, which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1.

Reg 16 (2) The registered person shall provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMIC and shall make a copy of it available upon request for inspection –

(a) Any person who works at the children’s home

(b) Any child accommodated in the children’s home

(c) The parent of any child accommodated in the children’s home

(d) The Placing authority of any child accommodated in the home ; and

(e) In the case of qualifying school, the secretary of state, and Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools in England

Reg 16 (3) The Registered Person must:

(a) Keep the homes Statement of Purpose under review and where appropriate revise it.

(b) Notify HMCI of any revisions and send them a copy of the revised statement within 24 days of the revision.

Reg 16 (3) Where the home has a website the registered person must ensure a copy of the revised Statement of Purpose is published.

Reg 6 (1) The quality and purpose of care standard

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to:

(a) understand and apply the homes statement of purpose

(b) ensuring that staff understand and apply the statement of purpose

2.      Quality and Purpose of Care Standard

2.1     Position Statement 

At Marella House we specialise in supporting children between the ages of 8-17 years old upon admission; under an umbrella of emotional behavioural difficulties, including any associated behaviours. This will be carefully risk assessed at point of referral taking into consideration all aspects of the child’s individual care needs and the specialist and expert care that can be provided by the team as well as the impact of the local area and any risks associated; in order to be able to fully meet the children’s needs. At Marella House our aim is to be able to provide a safe and nurturing home for the children admitted into our care to enable them to overcome historical traumas, develop and establish their self-esteem, resilience and identity guided by our experienced team in a well-managed, caring and cultivating manner.

At Marella House we understand that each child will have their own set of circumstances that have led to becoming a looked after child. We understand that children of any age with past trauma can become vulnerable within society, therefore each individual risk will be carefully considered through our robust admissions process prior to placing. We also understand that at times incidents can be circumstantial and isolated incidents that will require further information and understanding. The registered manager will closely liaise this with the social worker to ascertain suitability for the child’s admission into Marella House. 

Our aim is to work with our young people, so that we build safe, strong relationships that combine trust, affection and comfort along with clear behavioural expectations, boundaries and routines.

The home will accommodate young people of all genders inclusive of LGBTQA+, from any religious beliefs or ethnic background. At Marella House we seek to treat each young person as an individual and support them in a way that makes them feel safe, supported and respected regardless of their age, gender (including gender reassignment), sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, disability or culture. These arrangements will be considered as part of the Care Plan and Individual Placement Plan for each young person. Young people will be encouraged to participate in cultural activities from a variety of backgrounds in order to help them develop an understanding of the world around them. We view the individual as the expert in this area and will seek to provide support as required and identified by the young person.

Our primary aim is to ‘Make a Real Difference to Young Lives’, then turn their lives around and to fulfil their true potential. Marella House welcomes children and young people from diverse backgrounds. It is our core objective to provide high quality care in a warm, welcoming, and nurturing environment that meets the needs of our young people. We will provide individualised care packages which work towards developing effective attachments, and longer-term stable placements.

Our home will provide a safe space for children and young people to share experiences and be guided by our team of experienced practitioners who are non-judgemental, within a nurturing environment that encourages learning, growth and acceptance, preparing them to build stability, confidence and resilience. 

2.2     Ethos of the Home

Details of the home’s ethos, the outcomes that the home seeks to achieve and its approach to achieving them.                           

Marella House offers children and young people a family environment, where they can develop effective and lasting relationships both within the home and the local community. 

Marella House will take a holistic approach to the care of each young person working in close partnership with the wider network including health, education and social services, to ensure that the home go above and beyond in meeting the young people’s needs. The home will promote the well-being of each young person using a person-centred approach with staff demonstrating a PACE model of working and restorative practices; allowing the young people to build trusting relationships with staff and providing them with a safe space for communication and provide them with the skills to be able to make well informed and safe decisions in order to prepare them for an independent life.

Marella House understands that in order to ensure the children and young people are safeguarded at all times persons, bodies and organisations involved in the child’s care may need to access the homes child protection and behaviour management policies. These can be accessed upon request.

In addition, to working with the wider system of professionals around the young person, we will also work closely with the children’s families and communities of origin to sustain effective connections and understand their past.

Our Home is to promote positive relationships, encouraging strong bonds between children/young people and staff in the home based on jointly undertaken activities when appropriate. Routines will be based on each young person’s individual needs allowing staff to provide appropriate boundaries suitable to each individual needs presented by the children and young people and a thorough matching process will enable staff to promote positive relationships.

Our Home aims to provide a healthy lifestyle and this includes being physically healthy, support to personal hygiene, medical advice and general understanding of the importance of a healthy, nutritious diet.  Moreover, our menus are prepared with the input of our young people which gives our young people the opportunity to enjoy meals they may not have previously tried.

We encourage each young person to plan and work together towards household decisions regarding their activities, decoration of the house, purchase of equipment, house rules and rewards.

We have a park behind the home called Desborough Park, and we will encourage our young people to take regular exercise in a creative and fun way and this will be included in the activity planners, which will include short break activities and holidays.

Our young people will also have access to local facilities including, leisure centres and outdoor activity centres. We will support children and young people in their hobbies and activities they enjoy completing. Below are some examples of activities children and young people can take part in:

·         Horse Riding

·         Swimming

·         Bike riding

·         Chiltern Hills

·         Langridge Park

·         Gym

·         The hellfire caves

·         Trampoline Park

It is our understanding   that children and young people who have experienced early life trauma or neglect have difficulty in developing effective attachments and are unable to build effective relationships. We believe their ability to form strong and lasting relationships with others is critical for their future wellbeing. Training is facilitated for staff using the principles of Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy (PACE) with the aim of providing attachment security through consistent and attuned approaches.

What is PACE?

PACE is an acronym for Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy. It is a model that has been developed by Clinical Psychologist Dan Hughes. PACE is a way of thinking, feeling, communicating and behaving that aims to make the child feel safe. It is a therapeutic model that underpins how a care giver establishes a relationship with a child. It allows a child/young person to safely express their emotional dysregulation and enables them to reflect thoughts/ behaviours without judgement from their care givers as PACE promotes secure and trusting relationships.

Playfulness: This is where the care giver creates a light hearted and relaxed atmosphere using a playful attitude. This stance allows the child to cope with positive feelings as these feelings can often turn into anxiety. The use of playfulness will allow the child to explore their own emerging sense of humour and can instigate reflection on the child’s part in effect aiding the child in understanding their own behaviours.

Acceptance: ‘Unconditional acceptance is at the core of a child’s sense of safety’. This is where the care giver should actively communicate to the child that they accept their views, wishes, thoughts, motives and feelings that contribute to their perceptible behaviour; without forming any kind of judgement. It allows the child to establish trusting relationships with the caregiver as they can visualise they are heard, understood and seen as an individual where their behaviour does not define who they are.

 Curiosity: Curiosity forms the basis of acceptance. Curiosity allows the child to trust that they are being heard and understood. It should be delivered in a non-judgmental and curious tone so the child can see the caregiver is invested un understanding them as an individual. This can aid the child in opening up about how they are thinking and feeling and can allow them to understand the origin of their feelings and behaviour and in effect becoming less defensive and shameful but more reflective and can feel guilty and as a result display more informed and thoughtful decision making and less harmful behaviours.

Empathy: Empathy fuels connection. It allows the child to feel the care givers compassion for them. It is about being able to mirror the child’s feelings and validating them and in turn supporting them through a difficult emotional dysregulation they may be experiencing. The care giver will remain with the child emotionally, providing comfort and support which allows the child to form a secure attachment towards the care giver. It allows the child to communicate their vulnerabilities but be reassured they that they are loved, heard and understood regardless. It shows the child that the caregiver is emotionally available to support them through their difficulties in communicating safely.

Staff work within the Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 guidelines and receive regularly refreshed safeguarding training to ensure that every young person feel safe in their home and feel able to communicate any concerns about their safety and wellbeing and that they feel listened to and taken seriously.

We strongly believe that education is one of the key successes to prepare and equip the young person with the necessary skills to increase self-confidence, self-esteem and a sense of self-worth giving a complete sense of Individual achievement. We will assist the young person’s education journey;

In-house assessments may be conducted on behalf of the Placing Authority to inform local authority care plans and risk assessments upon written request.