Children Services
A CHILD-CENTRED APPROACH TO SAFEGUARDING
This child centred approach is fundamental to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child. A child centred approach means keeping the child in focus when making decisions about their lives and working in partnership with them and their families.
Children have said that they need:
- Vigilance: to have adults notice when things are troubling them;
- Understanding and action: to understand what is happening; to be heard and understood; and to have that understanding acted upon;
- Stability: to be able to develop an on-going stable relationship of trust with those helping them;
- Respect: to be treated with the expectation that they are competent rather than not;
- Information and engagement: to be informed about and involved in procedures, decisions, concerns and plans;
- Explanation: to be informed of the outcome of assessments and decisions and reasons when their views have not met with a positive response;
- Support: to be provided with support in their own right as well as a member of their family;
- Advocacy: to be provided with advocacy to assist them in putting forward their views;
- Protection: to be protected against all forms of abuse and discrimination and the right to special protection and help if a refugee.
OUR FOCUS IS TO ENSURE WE HAVE MEASURABLE SUCCESS AND LEARNING POINTS
To ensure safe, structured, and stimulating residential care for all our children, we implement several complementary approaches, which together result in positive outcomes for all of the children who stay at Apsley Care.
This includes:
- a child-centred therapeutic approach to care
- a key worker system• a focus on the development of life skills
- sensory integration
- gardening projects
- a high ratio staff to child.
- Utilising these approaches, the children in our care are supported to develop a positive self-view and emotional resilience and the ability to maintain positive attachments. Our outcome wheel delves deeper into the goals we strive to help our children attain.