News

CSfC become official supporters of RY4C!
The Right Year for Children (RY4C) is a year of action to strengthen children's rights in England. It started on 16 December 2011, the 20th anniversary of the UK ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Calcot Services for Children became supporters of this cause in January 2011 and we now feature on the website along with other supporters and partners. We will be supporting this cause for the whole of 2012 and hope to help improve the children's rights of children all across England alongside RY4C.
Find out more at www.ry4c.org.uk

Calcot Services for Children featured in Community Care - "Children's Homes that make the grade."

We have been featured in the 24th November 2011 issue of Community Care where success in Children's Homes is being celebrated.

CSfC are proud to remain as Outstanding providers and this piece documents the success of one particular ex resident.

The article discusses the new Ofsted inspection regime and current economic climate. Despite sector concerns, children's homes continue to celebrate success with Calcot Services for Children being recognised specifically.

Click here to read the article in full.

Calcot Services for Children joins the British Youth Council

As of October 2011, CSfC our proud members of The British Youth Council.

The British Youth Council, as the national youth council of the UK, aims to connect with member organisations and networks of local youth councils, to empower young people aged 25 and under, wherever they are from, to have a say and be heard. The British Youth Council aim to help them to participate in decisions that affect them; have a voice and campaign on issues they believe in, inspire them to have a positive impact, and gain recognition for their positive contribution to communities, society and the world.

Calcot Services for Children - Now offering Education
As of June 2011 Calcot Services for Children are pleased to be offering education in partnership with Freddies School. This is a Specialist EBD provision located in Reading.

Currently, education can be offered for children aged 5 - 11, with a Secondary provision being due to open in September 2011.
Freddies is registered with, and inspected by Ofsted and offers a holistic, safe environment for learning.

Calcot Cottage, Yew Tree and Pondview achieve ‘OUTSTANDING’ rating in recent Ofsted Inspections
During May and June we have had Ofsted Inspections at both Calcot Cottage & Yew Tree and Pondview.

These were our first inspections under the new Ofsted framework and the updated Children’s Minimum Standards.

Calcot Services for Children are pleased to report that both homes achieved the rating of Outstanding in our inspections.

The teams and young people are all extremely proud of this achievement and strive to continue with Outstanding practice and levels of care.

These Ofsted reports are available to view on request (see contact us page)

Calcot Services for Children featured in Children & Young People Now Magazine
CSfC were featured in the May 2011 edition of Children and Young People now magazine within the issue looking at “Innovation in Residential Care.” The article included discussion with both the Head of Care, Rachel Redgwell, and a former young person who had resided at one of the homes and is now studying for her Social Work Degree.

The article looks at the ‘Outstanding’ care we provide at CSfC and shows that young people, past and present, are in agreement that we are delivering an Outstanding service.

The full article can be viewed by clicking here.

Calcot Services for Children – 1 of the 12 children’s homes helping to change the lives of children for the better
CSfC are proud to have been selected to be one of the 12 children’s homes visited in 2010 as part of Ofsted’s research project in to what makes a service outstanding. The final report from this has recently been published by Ofsted and is available to read on their website. Click here to view.

As stated in the report, “Ofsted has inspected more than 1,400 children’s homes six times over three consecutive years, and of these only 35 have succeeded in being judged outstanding at every inspection.” CSfC are therefore very proud of this achievement and having been given the opportunity to contribute to this project.

New freephone phone number and email address launched for referrals
Calcot Services for Children have recently launched a Freephone phone number (0800 228 9142) and email address referrals@csfc.co.uk for any referral enquiries.

Joleen House Now Open and Accepting Referrals
Joleen House , our newest home for 4 young people, was officially opened on the 29th Oct following a successful registration Inspection with Ofsted. Referrals are now being accepted for this home, located in Burghfield, Reading. Please visit the ‘contact us’ page to make a referral and the ‘our homes’ page for further information on this home.

Outstanding Ofsted Visits
Calcot Services for Children have recently hosted two visits from Ofsted to share our outstanding practice.

The first visit, on the 21st Sept was to discuss our views on what makes our homes outstanding and the policies and practice we currently have in place to uphold these standards. Ofsted visited a small number of outstanding providers in order to gather together these views on best practice in the hope that this will assist other providers in working towards providing an outstanding service.

The second visit, taking place on the 29th Nov, saw Ofsted visit again with 5 Senior Singaporean Government Officials. The delegates from Singapore were visiting the UK with the aim of visiting a small number of residential providers to gather ideas of best practice which can be used to shape the future of residential care in Singapore. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting visit and CSfC were very honoured to be chosen as a provider to assist the Singaporean delegates.

Reviews and Awards
Calcot Services for Children have recently been reassessed by both ISO and Investors in People. Both reviews were highly successful and Calcot Services for Children continue to show their commitment to the development of the staff team and the company. We have been awarded the ISO award and the Investors in People award for another year.

New appointment of Clinical Supervisor
Calcot Services for Children welcome Barbara Perry to the company. Barbara joins us as Clinical Supervisor and will be supervising and supporting staff in their work with our children and young people. Barbara will also be providing training to our staff teams and will be an integral part of our teams.

CSfC exceed outcomes in Education
Calcot Services for Children are pleased to announce that we are currently exceeding the National outcomes for Looked After Children in Education. 100% of our children and young people are currently accessing education with 2 young people having currently completed further education with fantastic grades.

Recent Ofsted Inspections remain Outstanding
Both Calcot Cottage and The Dingles have recently been inspected by Ofsted and both communities continue to be graded as Outstanding. CSfC continue to be very proud of the high standards of care we provide and the recognition we receive from Ofsted in regards to this.

Open Day 2010
CSfC will be holding an “open day” on the 15th Sept 2010 between the hours of 10am and 2pm.

Professionals interested in finding out more about CSfC and the services we provide are invited to join us at any of our 5 communities to have a look around and speak with staff teams.

For further information and to register your interest in this event please contact Carolyn Burton or Sarah Walton. (See contact page)

Pondview
One of our newest homes, Pondview (in Hurst, Wokingham) has recently welcomed the first 2 young people through it’s doors. This beautiful, modern home continues to develop and looks forward to welcoming a third young person into the home. (See “Our Homes” for more details on Pondview)

A further new community due to open
We are currently developing a further 4 bed home in Burghfield, Reading and hope to open the doors to this home in Oct 2010. This is an exciting expansion to our existing Outstanding service. The home has now been named, Joleen House and is developing into another beautiful home. Please contact us to discuss any referrals to this home, we are able to accept placements from October onwards.

CSfC welcomes onboard a new play therapist
Calcot Services for Children are pleased to announce a new play therapist joining our service from June 2010. This exciting new development will allow an increase in the therapeutic services we offer and our play therapist is able to offer both individual and group sessions to the children and young people in our care.

Accolades 2009
Calcot Services for Children has been nominated for ‘Best Provider of Learning and Development’ with Skills for Care – Accolades 2009. We have been recognised for our outstanding achievement in this area and will be judged accordingly. All finalists will be invited to a gala presentation evening in London on 3rd December 2009. Let’s hope we make it to the next stage!

Donate for Red Nose Day
The young people within CSfC have explored lots of ideas in contributing towards Red Nose Day. They’ve decided to make healthy red nose cookies. These will be sold at Palmera Therapeutic Community’s Coffee Morning 13-03-09 between 12pm and 2pm. Please contact us should you want to learn more, visit us or donate at www.rednoseday.com/donate

We're outstanding again!
CSfC have achieved 100% outstanding again for 2007/2008. We have received invitations to celebrate our achievements in London on 31st March 2009. All four of the CSfC communities have been awarded with the outstanding ratings again and a representative from each community will attend the ceremony. We’re very proud of our continued efforts in relation to inspection.

Yew Tree Cottage thrives!
Yew Tree Cottage is now a thriving independence therapeutic community. Based on supported lodgings principles it caters for the needs of two independent young people. Yew Tree Cottage offers direct work, one to one work and independence work shops for young people hoping to make a positive transition into adulthood. If you would like to visit or hear more about Yew Tree Cottage, please contact us.

Awareness Project for 2009
In meeting current cultural and educational needs of young people, Calcot Cottage is hosting several awareness evenings for all of the young people across the organization. Feedback was sought from all of the CSfC young people about the issues they’d like to explore and the following awareness evenings will be hosted by various professionals over 2009. These include: bullying, drugs and alcohol, healthy living, sex education, diversity and equality, and independence. If you’d like to hear more contact us.

The Excellence Award
CSfC proudly entered the Excellence Network Award with Community Care. Our application highlighted progressive practice that we believe has transformed lives and exceeded standards set within our sector.
Our application will be assessed by leading figures from the social care sector and the best will be honoured at a high profile lunchtime ceremony at Community Care Live on 14th May 2008. For more information about our work please contact us.

Gold Star Achievement
The 27th November 2007 saw Calcot Services for Children officially awarded with the Gold Star Standard Award for Positive Handling. Assessed and awarded by training provider Team Teach (www.team-teach.co.uk) we are incredibly proud to be the first group of children's homes to achieve this status.

The assessment process involved the Director of Team Teach, George Matthews, meeting with a range of staff and young people within the company to discuss their views and experiences of Positive Handling, and an in-depth look into our policies, practices, recording and monitoring systems. Following the assessment it was confirmed that we are working to the high standards expected by Team Teach and the Gold Star Status was awarded. This achievement is a fantastic accomplishment and we are pleased to be working to such high standards in this area.