Our home was developed in partnership with over 100 care experienced children and young people!
In 2017, Investing in Children started to explore the viability of opening up a children’s residential care home. We only wanted to do this if we genuinely thought we could make a difference and create a care home using on our Children’s Rights based approach.
We hired industry experts with the knowledge and expertise of providing this type of care and experts with lived experience of being in care. Together we set up a working group of like minded people with a view to establishing the need in the first instance and then the viability to actually operate a Children’s Home with our principles and ethos at the heart of it all.
We interviewed and surveyed over 100 care experienced children and young people, to get the base line for what we needed to do (and avoid), to get it right for any young people in our care.
After 18 months of research, steering groups and lots of discussions, we opened Six The Mowbray in March 2019 and gained Ofsted Registration in May 2019. We work hard to ensure we live by the principles of Children’s Rights, and embed them into our every day practice.
Have a look at Six The Mowbray
Care experienced young people, along with the senior team and Board of Investing in Children, decided and agreed our Philosophy, Ethos and the Core Principles:
Our philosophy at Investing in Children is to place the needs of the young people at the heart of our service by promoting independence and providing care that respects young people’s choice, rights, privacy and dignity, whilst acting as advocates to ensure they are involved in discussions and decisions relating to their lives.
Children and young person are viewed as individuals and their views, wishes and opinions are respected.
Children and young people are experts on themselves, therefore will be actively involved in decision making about their lives.
Like all of us, children and young people make mistakes; experience, help and guidance will empower them to make the right decision without disabling their rights.
IiC recognises that all children have rights as defined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
These rights relate to what a child needs to survive, and thrive, but also to their right to participate fully in decisions that affect them. They apply equally to every child, regardless of who they are, or where they are from.
Investing in Children does not believe that any one model or tool holds the answer to supporting children and young people to reach their potential.
We have found through over 27 years of experience working as a children’s rights organisation that an approach through child centred practice works to empower young people to be in control of their lives, thus more often than not, we achieve better outcomes.
All practice and planning processes are focussed towards meeting the 9 Quality Standards as written in ‘The Children’s Homes Regulations including the Quality Standards April 2015 documentation’.
We strive to work in close partnership with external agencies to ensure stability and wellbeing of the placement along with optimal opportunities for the young person.
We maintain an effective staff rota which meets the individual needs of the young people placed at the home.
We aim to achieve these outcomes with a skilled staff team who support young people with decision making about their lives; guide and empower without disabling; respect young people’s choice, rights, privacy and dignity; and act as advocates to help them to achieve the best possible outcomes, for them as individuals.
We encourage all young people at Six The Mowbray to recognise their own individuality, strengths, independence and potential for development.
All individuals working with the children, work to support and empower young people to be involved and contribute to decision making about their lives and also about the way their home is run.
The home strives to establish and maintain positive behaviour by everyone at all times. Where behaviour falls below what is expected, this is discussed with the young person concerned and goals and targets are set together using incentives to achieve improvements. Again, the key person to drive this is the young person.
The home follows a positive approach to supporting young people’s positive behaviour as part of their learning and development.
The following will never be used:
- Physical punishment
- Physical restraint
- Deprivation of food, sleep or medical help
- Deprivation of care
- Loss of family time
Arbitrary sanctions, will never be used to assert power over the young person.
Take a look at this short film, of what a young person expressed to us, when they were taken in to care for the first time
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