Polaris Community Annual Quality Report 2023

Polaris Community Annual Quality Report 2023

Welcome to the 2023 Polaris Community Annual Quality Report.

This year we have continued to build on the success from previous years.

2023 has been great across the whole community, and

Jo August - CEO

I am pleased to share the Polaris Community Annual Quality Report for 2023 which demonstrates our commitment to continue to deliver the highest quality care and education to our children and young people.

Within the community ourvision remains the same, to provide the very best care and outcomes for our children and children’s services and this yearwe have continued to build on the success of previous years.

In 2023 we were able to o昀昀er our services to more children and young people than ever, and we have done this with a continued commitment to the highest quality. I am always so proud of the continued dedication of our foster and adoptive parents, sta昀昀 and everybodywithin the Polaris Communitywho remain truly committed in the services and support they provide, and how everybodywithin the community are always ambitious for our children and young people.

This year, we held our 昀椀rst ever Senior Leadership Conference, with managers from all areas of the community.

Welcome to the 2023 Polaris Community Annual Quality Report.

This year we have continued to build on the success from previous years. 2023 has been great across the whole community, and we are currently providing care and education to more children than we ever have before. We have remained the highest quality provider in our sector, and we have exceptional outcomes for our children.

The daywas a great success, with leaders having the opportunity to network, grow ideas and share best practice. In last year’s report, we introduced you to William, an FCA care leaverwho became Rock Star Entrepreneur in 2019. We were privileged to hearWilliam speak at the conference about his journeywith FCA and the impact of his foster parent’s high quality, dedicated care. William has achieved such fantastic success in his life, we are all so very proud of him and everything he has achieved.

Hopefully this report demonstrates all the fantastic and inspirational things that have happened in 2023. For 2024 we want to continue to grow all areas of the community, organically and through partnerships, ensuring that we are always striving to improve quality and outcomes even further.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the Polaris Community for their hard work and continued dedication to achieving the best outcomes possible for our children and young people.

I also want to highlight the important role that our children and young people are playing in shaping our services and helping us to always look at how to improve further

With the community’s dedication, commitment and passion forwhat we do, we have achieved a huge amount in a relatively short space of time. I am immensely proud and hugely excited to see what happens next.

Jonathan Clark - CFO

I am proud to report that quality of service has stayed 昀椀rmly at the forefront of our strategy and decision making and that children and young people remained at the centre of our purpose in 2023.

This year’s report demonstrates the hard work and commitment of our foster parents and sta昀昀. Ourvision is realised through providing excellent care and education services and celebrating the many achievements of ouryoung people.

The focus on quality of services and young person’s achievement is a common thread at the heart of every setting in our community. I have enjoyed attending the many activities that run across the community such as the Family Fun Day or The Big Sing o昀昀.

It is a privilege to see the work of our foster parents and sta昀昀, and how they support our children and young people to achieve exceptional outcomes.

Our Growth in 2023

Our community is committed to growth across our service portfolio. This can be demonstrated by the seven residential providers we have partnered with to date and the plan to expand their reach over the coming months to provide even more high quality, safe homes for children and young people. Our education provision is also an area for growth with plans to add to our school sites with more capacity and new sites in the pipeline for 2024.

Kirby Moor School granted a material change to increase capacity by 15 pupils.

Dove Adolescent Services purchased a new 4 bed property.

February 2023

In March, Selwyn Hall School opened their doors for the 昀椀rst time. You can 昀椀nd out more about our new school on the next page!

March 2023

In May, we welcomed Budwood to the Polaris Community. You can 昀椀nd out more about Budwood on the next page.

May 2023

Following the successful registration and opening of FCA Western in December 2022, by March 2023 the majority of foster parents had been approved by the ADM.

July 2023

Purchase of Ormston School which will become operational in 2024.

In July, Ofsted approved an application to increase the age of pupils at ISP Battle School to 18. This means the school are now able to support children post 16 and is a hugely positive step.

October 2023

Dove Adolescent Services opened their new 4 bed home in Doncaster.

Purchase of new school in West Yorkshire to become operational in 2024.

November 2023

December 2023

Stannard School in Dunstable was successfully opened.

stability & success for young people

Budwood has 3 children’s homes and 7 16+ supported accommodation homes across Dorset and Hampshire ranging from multi occupancy and single occupancy. The homes cater for young people ranging in age from 12 –18 years.

This year, we welcomed Budwood to the Polaris Community. Budwood was established in 2018 with a clear focus on providing young people with high quality care and support.

Young people who live in a Budwood home may have needs associated with emotional and behavioural di昀케culties, and may have experienced loss, trauma and abuse.

Rated Good by Ofsted at its 昀椀rst inspection

Selwyn Hall School also opened their doors this year to children aged 7-18 years old. Situated in Foxton, south west of Cambridge, the school provides specialist education for children with social, emotional, and mental health di昀케culties (SEMH). By December 2023, Selwyn Hall School had 9 children enrolled.

This year

365 people joined our workforce

9 new contracts commenced

We had

6 successful bids for new services

We recruited

379 foster families

18 existing contracts were extended

Polaris Community

Sta昀昀 Survey 2023

of sta昀昀 feel that their service contributes to positive outcomes for young people 99%

Sta昀昀 at Polaris Community said: of sta昀昀 feel valued by their team 96% of sta昀昀 enjoy their job 97% of sta昀昀 feel supported by their line manager 96% of sta昀昀 feel that they can call on their team for support 98%

• “I do think Polaris is a great company to work for in terms of the values and it is very obvious that caring for children is their number one priority.”

• “I am extremely proud of the service we deliver for our young people and the positive outcomes that we achieve.”

• “Polaris, my team, and line manager are one of the most supportive, most engaged employers I’ve ever been fortunate enough to work for. “

Our Community

As one of the UK’s leading independent communities of children’s service providers, we’re focused on creating a truly committed, transformational service, with passion, integrity and a true sense of belonging for all whom we work with. The Polaris Community is made up of the following:

Fostering

Our family of fostering providers is made up of 8 agencies; covering di昀昀erent areas across the whole of the UK and providing many specialist services across the community.

Residential

Our therapeutic children’s homes are set in a variety of urban and rural communities. We support young people’s emotional, social, mental and academic progression and enable them to grow and realise their full potential.

In December 2023, we were caring for 126 children across our residential homes

In 2023, we had

children’s homes

Adoption

Our adoption agency, Adopters for Adoption was founded in 2014 and set up by people with 昀椀rst-hand experience of adoption to improve the way adopters are recruited, prepared, assessed and supported. Since then, they have been working closely with local authorities across the UK to provide their adopters with opportunities to adopt children.

Also in 2023:

Bi-monthly support groups have taken place throughout the year including

6 successful social events

Adopters for Adoption successfully restructured the service in order to separate out Assessment and Adoption Support

By the end of November 2023, had been granted

34 Adoption Orders

Leaving Care Solutions (LCS)

By providing the right support and services to teenagers and young people who are leaving care, we can ensure the best possible success on their transition into independence.

Our team at Polaris have over nineteen years’ experience and are a leading provider of semi-independent accommodation and support for young people leaving care.

This year LCS celebrated National Care Leavers Week in October and celebrations were held across the homes.

Education

Our main goal in education is to help children and young people reach their full potential. At Polaris, we recognise the importance of specialist education and support for children who need a tailored approach to learning.

To help us deliver on this goal we currently have 7 schools:

Of Our Children

97% achieved at least 1 GCSE grade.

92% achieved 4 or more GCSE grades.

88% received 5 or more GCSE grades.

(England, NI and Cymru)

227 children

In December 2023 we were providing with education at the schools across the Polaris Community

Polaris Children’s Services

We deliver needs led, innovative services that build brighter futures for as many children and young people as possible. Current services include:

Intensive Diversion from Care Services

British Forces Social Work Service (BFSWS)

Residential Step Across Support

Intensive Reuni昀椀cation Services

Education Support Services

Emotional Health and Wellbeing services

Foster Care Stabilisation Wraparound

Separated Parents Information Programmes

Disability Support Services

This year, Ofsted inspected our British Forces Social Work service in Cyprus and Overseas.

“Workers keep a clear focus on children, responding swiftly and finding creative solutions to meet children’s needs.

Workers patiently develop relationships with families and children to directly offer help and support.”

“Social work practice in the Overseas service is determined by a clear operating model and practice guidance which leads to very effective interventions with children and families.”

Our Commitment to Quality

Quality drives the work we do across the Polaris Community and our vision is to continue to lead the sector in terms of quality. A dedicated central Quality Assurance and Safeguarding team work alongside agencies to support them in striving for excellence and achieving great things for the children they care for.

Fromtheinspectionsthattookplacein2023:

Our Community is incredibly proud of the high proportion of services that are judged to be outstanding.

25% of our schools are rated Outstanding

41% of our Fostering agencies are rated Outstanding (Includes Very Good ratings in Scotland)

100% of our fostering services were rated good or outstanding

28% of our services are rated Outstanding

98% of our services were rated good or outstanding

19% of our Residential Care services are rated Outstanding

100% of our schools were rated good or outstanding

Congratulations to the following agencies who received an outstanding judgement in 2023…

“Pupils receive guidance and support in a highly nurturing environment. Staff warmly welcome pupils as they arrive. Pupils who are new to the school quickly se琀琀le into school life. This is because staff know pupils’ individual needs and backgrounds very well. Pupils thrive here.”

In 2023, ISP En昀椀eld and South London were awarded their 昀椀fth consecutive OUTSTANDING grading – this means the agency have been Ofsted outstanding for 15 years!

Easthorpe School

Following its opening in 2022, Easthorpe School had their 昀椀rst Ofsted inspection in 2023 and received an OUTSTANDING grading.

“Children make exceptional progress from their starting points because they are cared for by devoted and valued foster carers who receive consistent support from a dedicated and multidisciplinary team of professionals.”

“Leaders and managers are innovative and inspirational. Effective monitoring means that there is a constant focus on the development of the service, staff well-being, support to foster families and quality of care and outcomes for the children.”

rangeGrove SouthernCounties

Orange Grove Southern Counties maintained their OUTSTANDING grading in 2023 after a successful inspection which found them outstanding in all areas.

“The level of individualised support and care to children is outstanding. As a result, the outcomes for children living with carers in this agency are excellent. The children are achieving their dreams and making exceptional progress.”

“Children feel safe and know that their foster carers care about them. They feel part of a family and look forward to going ‘home.’ One child said their foster carers ‘Are just really nice and I can talk to them’, another child said that ‘I do not argue with them because they explain things and I love them too much.”

Fostering People achieved their fourth consecutive OUTSTANDING Ofsted inspection making them one of only 4 agencies out of over 300 nationally to achieve this.

FosterplusEnglandSouth

“Foster parents are so skilled that they can support children though the most difficult times and come through having developed stronger relationships. We have seen examples where foster parents have changed children’s lives.”

“Children receive high-quality and individualised care that is having a positive impact on their lives. All the children currently living in the home have made good progress from their starting points.”

“Children have developed strong and trusting relationships with the staff team. This provides them with a sense of safety and security in the home. As a result, children develop the emotional resilience required to access specialised therapeutic intervention.”

“Staff provide excellent care and support to children. This means that children make exceptional progress. Consistent and trusting relationships between children and staff allow children to form positive a琀琀achments and feel safe and secure.”

Area Camden – Area Haringey

Bayview-Thortindale

Bayview- Glen昀椀eld

Bayview - Thortindale

Dove - Bole

“The children who come to live at the home thrive as a result of the care they receive. The child said that they have thoroughly enjoyed living at the home and have received excellent care.”

Dove - Barwick House

“The children receive a high standard of individualised care from a commi琀琀ed, nurturing and supportive staff team. Staff know the children well and respond to each child with an understanding of how trauma and their individual childhood experiences have impacted on their lives.”

“The children are happy and se琀琀led. They are making exceptional progress because of the high standard of warm, nurturing and supportive care they receive from staff who have high aspirations for them. This helps children to feel that staff care about their safety and well-being, and this provides them with a sense of security and stability.”

Dove- HighView

“Children receive the very best of care that is individually tailored to their needs. The manager and his staff succeed in keeping the children at the heart of everything they do. Children living at this home experience high levels of nurture and are thriving. They are making and sustaining excellent progress because of the care they receive.”

Success Story

M began his journey with Polaris as a teenager, maturing into the positive and successful adult he is today.

M moved into his residential home and appeared to se琀琀le in relatively well. There were periods when M did become unse琀琀led, but with the guidance and support of the team, these were very short lived. Most importantly, he began to slowly but surely feel comfortable living at the home and gradually started to build positive relationships with the team. This expanded further when he started to a琀琀end school, where his social support group further expanded with new friends being made. These were the initial steps to help M develop into the well-rounded and thoughtful adult he is now.

M continued to a琀琀end high school where he struggled at times but once at college, M began to flourish and progressed well, gaining qualifications as and continuing to further develop meaningful relationships with supporting adults and peers in his life.

As M grew closer to adulthood, the house team supported him in developing his independence. The team took great lengths to teach him living skills such as cooking, cleaning, catching public transport etc. M developed these skills to an extent that he would be able to comfortably live on his own if needed, boosting his confidence massively.

The team then focused on M’s aspiration of joining the marines. They helped with his application to the military prep school, a琀琀ending open days to ensure that he had a set path in place after leaving the care of the home. The team would also actively join M in improving his fitness with afternoon/evening runs, a琀琀ending the gym together and

helping prep for any exams and interviews needed to pass selection. The home team even drafted in ex-military personnel from across the community to offer their own advice, guidance and support, which motivated M. The home team also supported him with his hobbies of mixed martial arts and Airsoft, which the team helped M purchase the full kit and accessories, a琀琀ending every other weekend and even participating with him in full day matches, building positive everlasting memories. M grew to see the time, effort and energy the team were pu琀琀ing in for him and slowly appreciating the hard work, care and dedication of the house team.

As M came closer to becoming an adult, a decision was needed as to where he would like to live. M felt happy and comfortable moving back in with his mum and so a plan was made to make the transition for him, but before he was due to move, a surprise present was waiting.

M had been on holiday during his time at the residential home, however his dream was to travel abroad as he had never done this before. So as a farewell present, the residential family took M to his chosen destination of Majorca, which he was truly overjoyed and u琀琀erly shocked that it was happening.

Alongside another staff member, M had a wonderful time in Majorca, taking in the sights, sea and spending a lot of time at the waterpark. He enjoyed the sun and was grateful and thankful for what the home had done for him over the last 4 years after returning to the house!

Awards and External Activities

This year we celebrated several of our sta昀昀 members who have been recognised in the external landscape. Congratulations to:

NazmaLiaqat our Participation O昀케cer from FCA Yorks & Lincs who won the Children’s Champions Award at the National Children and Young People Awards.

“Nazma’s dedication goes far beyond the scope of her role in assisting young unaccompanied asylum seekers, ensuring that they are not only welcomed but also provided with comprehensive support, enabling them to understand and integrate as seamlessly as possible.”

Jeanette McMenamin, Bayview Childcare’s amazing person centred counsellor who won the National Children and Young people’s Well-Being award for her excellent work with children.

“Her exceptional kindness, unwavering passion, and sheer joy in spending time with each and every child make an immense and lasting difference in their lives. Her warm and nurturing approach fosters not only a sense of safety but also a deep sense of belonging, leaving a profound impact”

our Learning and Development won 2 awards from Heart of Worcestershire College this year: Apprentice of the Year Award Further Education Award

Mary and Pat Glass from FCA Northern Ireland who won the Special Recognition Award at the NI Fostering Excellence Awards.

We were also shortlisted for the following awards:

National Children and Young People Awards 2023

Polaris Community The Employer Category

Oliver McLoughlin Bayview Childcare – Support Worker Award

Elma McMurray

Foster Parent from FCA North WestFoster Carer Award

Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care Awards

Lisa Guest

Polaris Internal Comms Manager – Woman in Tech Award

LaingBuisson Awards 2023

Polaris Community Excellence in Children’s Services

Quality Assurance and Safeguarding Team –Management Excellence

Dove Adolescent Services Pennine View Excellence in Children’s Services

Northern Ireland Fostering Excellence Awards 2023

Sandra Wright Foster Carer Award

Members of the Polaris Community have also been busy outside of work hours achieving some inspirational things this year:

Danielle Hogdson, one of our Registered Managers at Bayview Childcare raised over £500 for Young Lives vs Cancer.

Nerys Emmett, our Policy lead became a published children’s author releasing her 昀椀rst book Bombus Bertie, a short rhyming children’s story. Bombus Bertie is currently the only children’s book about bees to be endorsed by The Bumblebee Conversation Trust.

In June, FCA’s Operations Director Neil Morris took part in the Lake District 100k ultra marathon to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Neil successfully completed the challenge and raised £1145 in total for the charity.

Chloe Hill is one of our Therapists within FCA. After experiencing the bereavement of several people close to her she started training to be a Counsellor as she wanted to help others who had su昀昀ered from grief and trauma.

Chloe read about a crematorium in Nottingham installing a “Letters to Heaven” box that allowed people to write to loved ones who have passed. Chloe was keen to bring this to She昀케eld and raised £1348.00 to fund these letter boxes, skip forward and there are now 6 letterboxes in cemeteries and crematoriums around She昀케eld. These boxes are extremely valuable and o昀昀er comfort.

At the start of 2023 FCA Midlands Youth Council Ambassadors raised £612.34 though donations, cake sales, tombolas, charity 昀椀tness cycle ride and ra昀툀e money from The Big Sing O昀昀. This money was used to purchase a Bleed Kit for the community of Coventry in memory of a young person who sadly lost his life to knife crime in 2020.

Neil Raby completed the London Marathon to raise funds for the children’s charity, Get Kids Going, a charity that supports children & young people with disabilities to compete in sporting events from start to Paralympic level.

Matt Justice,

Manager at Orchard House at Apple Orchard ran the London Landmarks Half-Marathon 2023 and raised £600 for Movember, the leading charity dedicated to changing the face of men’s health.

In total, Neil managed to raise over £600.

Our Therapy O昀昀er

Dr Suzannah Hill is our Head of Therapy. On this page Suzannah outlines our therapeutic ethos and some of the key achievements this year.

‘Our community encompasses such breadth and diversity when it comes to thinking about how we work therapeutically with children and young people.

We know everyone is di昀昀erent, and together, as a community, we want our o昀昀er to be so varied that everyone can get the kind of support most helpful to them; and we want to keep growing and o昀昀ering more.

What is really inspiring to witness is how, across the board, our people are united by

a sense of common purpose and values. There is a shared understanding that the way we approach our relationships with each other, and those we want to support, is key to making an impact therapeutically.

We strive to ensure our relationships are underpinned by empathy, understanding, integrity and respect, so that we foster trust and collaboration.’

Developments in 2023:

This year we are so proud to announce that ISPs new therapeutic training pathway achieved City and Guilds assured status, a globally recognised quality benchmark of excellence in training and learning.

In 2023, we have o昀昀ered nearly 9000 face to face training places across over 350 pathway training sessions for ISP foster parents and sta昀昀.

In FCA, we have piloted the use of the simple but recognised Goal Based Outcomes approach to measuring the impact of therapeutic support.

In Children’s Services, we have been investing in the therapeutic capabilities of our sta昀昀, o昀昀ering 19places on various professional trainings in the last year.

In a recent survey, service users rated the ISP therapeutic support service 5/5 stars for communication and collaboration and 4.9/5 stars overall.

In 2023 we provided support to 63% more children in mainstream school than in the previous year and helped 91% transcend their communication di昀케culties to reach expected milestones.

Our Social Values

The Polaris Community has a united commitment to measure and maximise our social value; de昀椀ning it as ‘The positive emotional, environmental and economic impact we have on the Polaris community and wider society’.

We will measure this commitment through our Social Value Pledges giving us a year on year benchmark to increase the Social Value we provide. This includes opportunities we o昀昀er sta昀昀, foster parents, adopters and our children and young people, but also how we work with suppliers, create job and training opportunities and our impact on the environment.

Health and Wellbeing

We pledge to support individuals to understand and improve their emotional and physical wellbeing.

Employment and Volunteering

We pledge to provide a positive working environment for all parts of the Polaris community and to be supportive of individual career and personal aspirations.

Economic

We pledge to contribute to the communities that we work in and are committed to making social value an integral part of our procurement process across our community.

Environment

We pledge to encourage everybody across the Polaris community to make positive changes to protect the environment.

Social and Community

We pledge to challenge perceptions and stereotypes, building strong, diverse and inclusive communities.

Education and Skills

We pledge to support people across the Polaris community to engage in education and training opportunities.

We are proud to announce that we have been awarded the Bronze Social Value Quality Mark. This strengthens our openness and transparency around external scrutiny and validation. This will drive our continued focus on Social Value throughout 2024 and beyond.

Impact Metrics

Our Impact Metrics are a way in which Polaris are able to measure the impact that we have on wider society through our service delivery, linked to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and sector recognised policies and papers.

Key Impact Metrics achievements

of 2023:

98.59% of ‘Good’, ‘Outstanding’ and equivalent Ofsted Ratings across Polaris community of 16–18 year olds in Polaris fostering and residential placements in education, employment and training. ONS 昀椀gures show 16–18 year olds in education, employment or training in England in 2022 was 91.6%.

93.18%

Polaris Community actively engages in Social Value activities and events throughout the year. Some examples of these in 2023 include:

• ‘This is me!’ Pride creative collection competition

• ‘Walk and talk’ events

• Autism Awareness quiz with 160 participants

• Over 60 trees planted

• 7 Pride parties with 130 attendees

• Multiple litter picks and beach cleans

• ‘Swap shops’

• Volunteering days at allotments and community gardens

• ‘Save the Bees’ event

• Wellbeing sea dips

• Food bank donations

• Co昀昀ee mornings

• Guest speakers for Disability Pride Month and Black History Month

• Over 125 Social Value events with over 2634 participants

• £14,793 raised for charity!

Spotlight: Our work supporting Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

Polaris Community has a strong and successful history of caring for children who are seeking sanctuary from other countries. Our local services and foster parents work hard to ensure these children and young people are given the best opportunity to live and be part of a new community in the UK.

In June, the community celebrated Refugee Week; this year’s annual theme was compassion, and this is something our foster parents and sta昀昀 have in abundance. It’s their dedication, support, and encouragement of the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in their care that allows these young people to adjust to their new country, and begin to overcome an often traumatic past.

Hear from one of our FCA Foster Parents who shares her inspiring story on welcoming her home to a young person;

Click to play

Our commitment extends to hosting regular support groups attended by our sta昀昀 and foster parents discussing the wonderful and sometimes challenging aspects of caring for a child seeking refuge from another country.

In 2023, our LCS services were successful in winning a place on the new framework for supported accommodation provision in East Sussex. This means we can continue to provide semi-independent homes and support to post 16 care leavers and unaccompanied asylum seeking children until 2027.

This year, the work of Nazma Liaquat, FCA Participation O昀케cer was recognised externally when she won the Children’s Champion Award at the Children and Young People Awards in October. This award recognises Nazma as making a signi昀椀cant impact in championing the needs and rights of vulnerable children. Nazma has worked tirelessly to

ensure that children and young people with no knowledge of ‘life in UK’ and also ‘life in social care’ are able to access materials that help them navigate this change by developing a number of initiatives including 昀氀ash cards, an interpreter service, welcome to the UK booklet translated in numerous languages and information booklets for foster parents, with many more ideas to come!

Our PCS North West and our Business Development Team worked hard to develop a support o昀昀er for children seeking asylum in the UK. This o昀昀er includes providing advice and guidance to professionals in the North West on how to navigate the experiences and conversations with Young People who have 昀氀ed their home countries and providing speci昀椀c therapeutic input

Case Study:

to young people in need to support to process their experiences and transition.

Our success with this population of clients also led to us being asked to work with children and families who had come over to the UK from Afghanistan. We o昀昀ered therapeutic and practical support to families based on their needs, including navigating the challenges of living in a hotel.

A mum of 2 children wanted to cook a home cooked meal for her family and was unable to access the kitchens at the hotel. We o昀昀ered feedback to the hotel sta昀昀 who supported the families to use the hotel kitchen so they could create “home cooked” meals.

“I 昀椀nally feel like a woman again, in my culture I run my home and my family. I can 昀椀nally do my job. I feel so happy!”

(Mum)

“Mum’s cooking is always the best!” (Child)

“It’s been an honour and so much fun to learn from the families here. The women have been kind enough to teach me some of their recipes, I even found out a few new tricks and some family secret recipes…. I LOVE cooking these new dishes and I have had the best teachers.” (Hotel Chef)

In November 2023, the Polaris Central Quality Assurance and Safeguarding team conducted a thematic audit reviewing the 昀椀les of all the sanctuary seeking children that were being cared for across the Polaris Community at the time. The aims of the audit were:

• To check there is suitable consideration of how the home/ foster parents can meet the needs of the child prior to them moving in

• To ensure language used across 昀椀les is child-friendly and in line with language that cares

• To seek assurance that, for any children participating in work experience or paid work, these arrangements are suitable

• To assess whether children are being

Best Practice Example: B has been living with his foster parents since June 2022. Prior to this, he was living in supported accommodation and little information is known about his journey to the UK other than he 昀氀ed from the Taliban. When he arrived he was su昀昀ering from some health issues such as dizziness, memory loss and anxiety and it is thought these were linked to trauma he had experienced. The referral information noted that he had few friends, was not enrolled in education and spoke very little English.

However, fast forward 18 months and B is a valued member of the family. He

spoken to on a regular basis with a translator if required and that meaningful conversations are taking place

• To check any safeguarding incidents had been dealt with through a safeguarding lens

• Findings were extremely positive and clearly evidence the dedication across the Polaris Community to support those children who have arrived in this country seeking sanctuary

has recently turned 18 and is staying put with his foster parents whilst independent accommodation is found. B continues to attend college and aspires to be a policeman, he is more con昀椀dent with speaking English, does his own laundry and can cook. Several times a week, B attends Boxing and has made a number of friends who he sees regularly.

B no longer su昀昀ers with any health concerns and has received support from a specialist mental health team who support unaccompanied asylum seeking children. In a recent visit, he told his Social Worker how excited he was for his future and how much he was looking forward to it.

Learning and Development

In January, we launched our new and refreshed Learning and Development

o昀昀er to have a more consistent approach across the whole community and to provide a broader range of relevant training and development opportunities available for all sta昀昀.

This video will tell you more.

Thisyear,welaunched39newcoursesincluding:

• Professional Curiosity

• Trauma Awareness

• E昀昀ective and Dynamic Risk Management Practice

• Critical Analysis

7

people are working on their Social Degree Work Apprenticeship (SWDA)

“I believe every aspect of the programme was valuable because by its design it is meant to cater for diverse people although with the requisite knowledge and I believe it did that.”

In 2023, we had 7 people successfully pass their Polaris Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE).

We currently have people completing apprenticeships across the Polaris Community 128

Ongoing work has been taking place

to increase our e-learning o昀昀er and upgrade Learnative, our internal training platform. This work includes:

• Developing further e-courses including those mandatory for sta昀昀 and foster parents

• Creating a new area for direct resources

• Continued on-boarding of all new members of the Polaris Community

November saw the launch of Twilight Sessions for both sta昀昀 members and foster parents. These have been wellreceived. Over the 5 sessions that took place, 120 people attended.

Learning and Development welcomed their 昀椀rst work experience student this year after reviewing and updating the current guidance. The Year 10 pupil helped the team with general enquiries, attending webinars and updating and issuing certi昀椀cates.

3 courses have now gone through the assured process to become accredited and passed with no actions. These are:

• The Leadership programme (Institute of Leadership and Management)

• Therapeutic pathway for Foster Parents (City and Guilds)

• Trauma Informed Pathway (City and Guilds).

We have continued to roll out PRICE the positive behavioural support programme. To date, this has been delivered to over 300 attendees with more courses booked for 2024.

In addition to our virtual, face to face and e-learning courses we also delivered a range of webinars throughout the year. There have been 45% more webinars take place

To date,

20,847

e-learning courses completed to date

In 2023, the Learnative support inbox has addressed over enquiries. That’s an average of 1,091 per week

56,754

There have been improvements made in the way people are able to feedback on the courses they complete to make it meaningful, measurable and immediate.

“Training was very beneficial, with a wide range of information. It really helped to reinforce the knowledge that I already have, which will improve my confidence in my practice.”

“How can we go about tracking you down for further webinars because this is the most useful hour on autism I have ever had (and I worked with children with Special needs for 5 years prior to fostering too!)”

“I just wanted to say that’s some of the most interesting training I’ve done while working at Herdley.”

Team Spotlight: Human Resources (HR)

This year we welcomed Jess Chadwick as our Chief People O昀케cer.

Jess is an experienced HR professional with signi昀椀cant experience from both an operational and strategic perspective covering the full range of HR disciplines with a strong background in developing and delivering HR strategy and bestin-class people solutions that drive commercial success. Jess’s experience spans across talent acquisition, recruitment & on-boarding, organisational design, performance management, reward & recognition, talent development & succession planning, employee engagement, employment law, Trade Unions and HR policies.

ThisyearJessandherteamhave:

• Grown the HR team and implemented a new structure that enables us to deliver a much improved HR service across the community

• Signi昀椀cantly improved our advertising and attraction methods to enable us to attract and recruit the very best talent into our community

• Focused on improving the on-boarding experience for candidates so that they could start employment with us quicker

• Further developed our new HR system

• Created a way to record, track, monitor and analyse key HR metrics and data

• Reviewed a number of our core HR processes to 昀椀nd opportunities to simplify and streamline ways of working

• Integrated Budwood into the community

Looking forward to 2024 we have a continued commitment to our people in terms of supporting and developing them, that we invest in all stages of the employee journey and how we engage with our people and support their wellbeing and create a sense of belonging.

Our continued focus going into 2024 is on developing an environment that attracts, retains and develops the very best talent for our community and building our workforce capacity so that in turn we can help and support more children and young people.

Polaris People

Back in 2022, Polaris People was launched. The aim of this initiative is to be a voice for minority groups and their allies within the Polaris Community and advocate for social justice. The group is currently made up of 23 diversity champions who meet regularly throughout the year to discuss, plan and arrange a variety of events and celebrations throughout the year across the whole community to raise awareness, educate and inform. 2023 has been particularly successful for Polaris People. Some highlights include:

• We celebrated Neurodiversity Celebration Week in March, Autism Awareness and Acceptance in April, Deaf Awareness Week in May, Pride Month in June, Disability Pride Month in July and Black History Month in October.

• We had 2 guest speakers join us this year to hold webinars for Disability and Black History Month. Hannah Cockcroft OBE and Maggie Alphonsi MBE both joined us to share their experiences with us.

• We launched the ‘This is Me’ Creative Collection Competition as part of Pride Month 2023.

During Polaris Pride Week 2023 we launched our ‘This is me’ Creative Collection Competition. People from across the community were invited to enter a song, poem, story or picture on the theme ‘This is me’.

This is Me

There are times you will find me happy, there are times where you will find me sad, there are times you will find me laughing, there are times you will find me mad, I am only human.

There are times my mind plays tricks on me; there are times when I just cannot see the woods from the trees. There are times when a smile will creep up on my face, this is the time that I wish to embrace. I am only human.

This is Me Competition

EB

There’s no need to hide your identity

For anyone of any sexuality

A spectrum of genders and orientations

That are considered no sin or violation

Be yourself, be yourself always

Spread messages of acceptance in every way

No ma琀琀er your identity, you should feel free

And never worry about who you should be

oud of who you are, trans or gay

Non-binary to straight, take pride everyday

Show others your brave stance in the crowd

It may even help lead their freedom loud

It’s time for society to understand e’s no wrong way to love someone’s hand eel ashamed of love or identity

No ma琀琀er yours or any other society’s labels, you can be who you want to be.

There are times when I am being loud, there are times when I feel so proud., and there are times when I do not like being part of a crowd, there are times when I like to be around. I am only human.

O昀케cer.

FCA Cymru

Congratulations to THH for their winning entry in the song category.

Congratulations to MP for theirwinning entry in the annimation category.

Congratulations to L-M.E for theirwinning entry in thepicture category.

Spotlight: Mental Health

At Polaris, we are passionate about creating an environment where everyone can thrive. We recognise the importance of supporting everyone within our community with their mental health.

Polaris Children’s Services deliver Progress;ons, a service that supports young adults like you to thrive in the community upon leaving the Southend, Essex and Thurrock Child and Adolescents Mental Health Service (SET CAMHS). Progress;ons provides a range of therapeutic support to young people including

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Creative Arts and Music Therapy, as well as personalised practical support.

Throughout 2023, Progress;ons have provided support to 601 young people. The majority of young people presented with anxiety, closely followed by low selfesteem and con昀椀dence, depression and low mood. The majority of their referrals were for 17 year old females or presented as female.

In 2023, the service delivered 2,512 sessions to young people with plans to exceed in 2024!

Here’s what the young people said about Progress;ons:

100% of young people said they were heard, understood and respected.

100% of young people felt they were able to talk about things they wanted to 97.4% of young people felt the sessions were useful to them.

Here’s what parents said about Progress;ons

100% strongly agreed that the workers approach was a good 昀椀t for the young person and agreed that the sessions were useful to the young person.

100% felt the worker was friendly and professional.

The Polaris Children’s Service Emotional Health and Wellbeing Support team recently received this feedback from a young person.

I really enjoyed my time, it has helped me to continue to complete difficult challenges within my everyday life. I was respected and understood allowing me to openly speak and discuss my issues. Would 100% recommend this to any young person or adult struggling.

(Young Person)

I felt very comfortable and heard and it made me realise it is okay to feel like this but there are ways to go about it and make me feel be琀琀er, I just need to work on pu琀琀ing these in place a bit more, but my experience was very helpful.

(Young Person)

Our specialist suite of mental health courses continue to be delivered by the Learning and Development team and are highly attended by people from across the community.

At the beginning of 2023, the FCA South West sta昀昀 team had a session with their regional therapist Julie Franklin-Baker around emotional wellbeing in the work place.

In March the Registered Manager for FCA South West, Naomi Pollard, introduced a Wellbeing Strategy to the region. Naomi wanted the team to feel like working in FCA South West wasn’t just about compliance.

The strategy includes walk and talks, time donations, bespoke working arrangements etc with the aim of hearing what people need and understand what is necessary for sta昀昀 to thrive. In addition, every team meeting Julie has a ‘mini therapeutic’ session where the team are invited to relax and re昀氀ect on agreed topics.

In May, FCA North East team donned their best green out昀椀ts to mark the Mental Health Foundation Wear it Green day! The team used a ‘stop the clock’

day in the o昀케ce to have lunch together while making a donation for the charity.

Also in May, a group of sta昀昀 members and foster parents from FCA Cymru met at Colwyn Bay beach to go sea dipping. The bene昀椀ts include:

• RelievesStress

• RelaxesMuscles

• Improvestheimmunesystem

• BoostsCirculation

• PromotesDeepSleep

• HelpsBurnCalories

Meet Jen Luwaji, Victoria Innes and Nichola Larkin, FCA’s Practice Transformation and Safeguarding Team.

In their respective agencies, they play a key part in supporting regions to develop and deliver their wellbeing strategies.

Setting an example, they met face to face at the start of 2023 where they went walking, watched sunrise and also took a dip in the sea!

Celebrating our leaders

At Polaris, we recognise the importance of having strong leaders and managers. That’s why we continue to invest in them and o昀昀er regular training opportunities.

In our 2023 Sta昀昀 Survey, 96% of respondents said they felt supported by their manager which is a credit to our leaders across the Polaris Community, as the sector we work in is challenging and fast paced.

We recognise the incredible job our leaders and managers do at running

services in a way that gives children and young people the best possible experiences whilst keeping sta昀昀 happy and feeling well supported.

“I have never worked somewhere I have felt so valued, supported and respected. I have only worked here 6 months and the team around me are so supportive. There is a very strong team ethos.”

This year we have continued to grow our learning and development o昀昀er to our leaders and managers and a specialist pathway has been designed and launched to meet the advanced needs and knowledge of those members of sta昀昀. This pathway now includes:

Coaching and Mentoring Skills

Equality and Diversity in Leadership

Notifying and Communicating with Regulatory Bodies

In November 2023, we held our 昀椀rst Senior Leadership Conference bringing together over 200 leaders from across our community.

Teams from Residential Care, Leaving Care, Adoption, Fostering, Education, Polaris Children’s Services and Central Services met to re昀氀ect on their experiences, exchange best practices and collaboratively generate ideas to foster the growth and resilience of our community.

Led by our CEO, Jo August, the conference delved into discussions on shaping the strategy and vision for our community in 2024.

academy leadership

Our ILM Assured Leadership and Management Programme continues to be our most successful programme.

This year, the course went on tour and was delivered in Carlisle to some of our managers based in the North. This was hugely successful and will now be part of the plan moving forwards.

The Polaris Community welcomes and embraces sta昀昀 development and always seeks opportunities to grow our own leaders from our existing workforce. Our Leadership and Management programme encourages applications from those aspiring leaders wanting to take a step into the world of management.

In 2023, 58 aspiring leaders and managers completed the course.

“Really informative and well delivered. Opportunity to engage in course content and ask questions, and beneficial to be alongside staff from other se琀琀ing and work in groups with them.”

Did you know?

All of the Registered Managers in our Area Camden homes started in non-managerial positions and have worked their way up to management. They grasped opportunities to develop, including attending the Leadership programme, and are now successfully running their own homes.

Showcasing our 2023 Highlights and Best Practice

We asked members of the Polaris Community to share any highlights or best practice from 2023. Here are some of the responses:

additional support services in its innovative Participation Team who work directly with our young people supporting positive outcomes and helping young people achieve their dreams; its therapeutic support service to foster parents delivering therapeutic parenting training early in their career or continuing to support them throughout has enabled the agency to improve its ability to create stability for our children.

In May 2023, Turning the Tide started to demobilise due to the natural end of contract. It was calculated by numbers of days out of care resulted in the Local Authority (North Somerset Council) 10 million pounds saving over the course of the whole service.

Samantha Leckie – Manager and Therapist. Turning the Tide –Polaris Children’s Services

– Registered Manager.

“Achieving ISO 9001.”

Helen Corbett – Head of Business Services

We’ve got 100% success rate in providing advice/responses within 2 working days. That means around 5000 people who needed information or guidance had their queries answered fast so that they could advocate con昀椀dently for themselves or

Gayle Moir.

SENDIASS

• Wave Project – FCA South Western sponsor children to have sessions at the Wave Project. This is sur昀椀ng targeted to children who need additional therapeutic support.

• Therapy – our dedicated therapist is responsible for supporting our children and foster parents therapeutically. We deliver PACE, Atune, ADAPT and o昀昀er foster parents consultations to give them tools to meet the needs of their children. Through their eyes involves LASW, SSW and FPs and explores stability indicators therapeutically.

NaomiPollard – Registered Manager. FCA South West.

• One of our young people successfully going to University and writing a letter to a young person coming into care.

• Launch of the CYP council.

• Picture from our young person with her new family that has been used by marketing.

• Celebrating foster parent appreciation day with an afternoon tea.

• Sta昀昀 achievements including completion of ASYE, SW Apprenticeship, a new ASYE, and a member of sta昀昀 becoming a PRICE specialist.

RajBarker – Registered Manager. Orange Grove Stoke Sta昀昀ord

The hard work of our speech and language team and our pupil outcomes.

CaroleCox- Headteacher. ISP School Teynham

• Developing relationships with Department for Education to give children the opportunity to provide feedback and consultation on key policies including Stable homes and SEND Green Paper Reform

• Writing to the child

• Preparing for secondary school transitions booklet and workshop

• Safe and Happy

Kate Taylor – Registered Manager. FCA Midlands

The outstanding child centred practice of FCA Midlands shown through their implementation of ‘language that cares’ and ‘whilst you were with us’ and FCA Scotland’s use of video feedback for children and young people.

MarkCartridge

- Operations Director. FCA

• Our birth children pledge. We celebrated our birth children in October 2023 and are taking forward learning from their experiences.

• Our additional needs pledge and the work undertaken by FCA Cymru recognising that every child is unique with their own strengths .

• Sensory Makaton workshops.

• Communication tools and adapting our documents.

AprilNewman- Registered Manager. FCA Cymru

It has been a busy year for ISP Battle School and head teacher Caroline Belchem. This year, the school have achieved both the prestigious Investing in Children Award and a bronze award for their attachment and trauma sensitive approach. This is testament to the hard work that takes place at the school.

I was extremely impressed with the school and the mechanism they have established for children’s voice. It was clear to see that the ‘Community Meetings’ offer opportunities for children to shape, lead and influence decisions about school life. Additional to the meetings, young people have a voice that leads to change through a variety of ways detailed within my report.”

- Investing in Children Award Inspector

Quality sta昀昀 care and emotional support to protect mental health and well-being is multi-levelled and provided through the leadership team…. There is an extensive range of processes and strategies to protect sta昀昀 from overwhelm or burnout… Care for sta昀昀 is a particular strength of the setting.

– Attachment and Trauma Sensitive School Award Inspector

• Development of the support groups following research based assessment

• Revamp of Team Parenting Model in Thames Valley

• Development of Adapt support group and embedding learning into the sta昀昀 team

• Success achievements of our young people including University and Employment post 18

Kate Knight – Registered Manager. FCA Thames Valley

In Orange Grove, we have really focussed on strengthening how we capture and use the child’s voice to improve their outcomes. We have toolkits on capturing the child’s voice for those who have di昀昀ering communication needs including guidance and training on how to put these tools into practice.

• Focus on care plan reviews that review all our C&YP to ensure no drift

• Our work on unplanned ends, reducing this and creating more stability for C&YP

• Stable management team, clear vision and working together, driving compliance improvements.

Caroline Ellis – Registered Manager. FCA South East

We have child panels and forums that allow for our children, young people and birth children to feedback areas of service that they like or feel could be improved. The forums are also active in the recruitment of new sta昀昀 members.

Jim McGarrigle – Registered Manager, Orange Grove

We would like to showcase:

• Low unplanned endings

• Positive foster parent retention

• Re昀氀ections on the 昀氀exible approach that the team o昀昀er

• The Peer Mentor role – a care experienced individual provides support to children, this is excellent direct work

• How the team has evolved to meet the needs of the children in a holistic way and support from commissioning

Karina Ghani – Service Manager. DN2

• Stability of our children and young people

• Positive outcomes for our children

• The amazing opportunities o昀昀ered by our participation team in partnership with Queens University

Ciara Doyle– Registered Manager. FCA Northern Ireland

ISP Rainham have had monthly Chill and Chat sessions for both older and younger children, successful trips to bowling and crazy golf during half term and over the year we have done Panto, beach trips, trampolining and the foster parents formed a group that meets to play badminton.

Naomi Wilkinson - Registered Manager, ISP Rainham

In Foster Plus we have been busy advancing some great practice, one example is ensuring all children when they leave our foster homes, no ma琀琀er what age, receive a “whilst you were with us” booklet, with pictures, quotes, funny stories and hopes for the future.

A variety of Cultural and Diversity Days and events to celebrate such as Black History Month and different faith celebrations.

Hayley Haughton ISP Midlands and Annaya Constantin, ISP En昀椀eld & South London

We have also reviewed how we are assessing risk specifically for preschool children to capture their verbal and developmental progress and delay.

ISP held their annual Fun Day, now named after Emma Hannett, former manager at ISP. ISP Teynham once again took away the coveted award of Fancy Dress winners.

ISP Teynham increased the therapeutic support to our children, not only an increase in the number of children who bene昀椀ted from therapy, but also growing in areas of expertise. We now o昀昀er Psychodynamic, Person centred, Humanistic, Drama Therapy, Filial therapy, Play therapy, CBT, EMDR, Art

Therapy and Systemic Therapy, with a view to begin Equine, Eating disorder, Creative arts and Hypnotherapy very soon.

A former foster child who still lives with our foster parent joined the sta昀昀 team as a psychology student and has been actively involved in helping to develop the service using her care experience to help sta昀昀 and foster parents understand what it’s like for a child living in care.

PradeepHeera, Registered Manager, ISP Teynham

Angela Turland – Registered Manager – Foster Plus

‘The Forest school activity which took place in our Ba琀琀le centre proved to be great fun and very therapeutic for all ages, The rain poured non-stop, we got soaking wet but no one cared as we were at one with nature. Building dens and rolling in the mud, followed by a camp fire where we toasted marshmallows and made chocolate smores. Fabulous.’

Alison Capp, Registered Manager - ISP Sussex

Cli昀昀ord House designed and delivered a Trauma Informed Pathway for their foster parents. This runs over a number of sessions to maximise opportunities for peer support and for (real time) practising of skills between sessions. Foster parents have stated that they feel they have been able to gain greater understanding of trauma based behaviours, impact on brain and cognitive development and e昀昀ective skills for supporting children who have experienced trauma. We have seen our unplanned endings reduce signi昀椀cantly and increased resilience in our foster parents as a direct result of the training and indirectly through it being the approach that I have embedded into the agency as our practice.

Lesley Green昀椀eld – Registered Manager – Cli昀昀ord House Fostering

• 100% college attendance and 100% pass rate of college courses

• Moving on all planned moves including into college housing, own 昀氀at, supported 昀氀at etc

• Work with college – including supervision, having sta昀昀 at college for support and working with safeguarding, which lets the young person go to college.

• The independent skills programme at Fastbridge

Manager - Apple Orchard – Fastbridge

In 2023 Adopters for Adoption exceeded all of their annual targets evidencing the hard work and dedication of all those working for the agency.

These include:

Enquiries: 4080 (+ 2435) above the annual target of 1645

Registration of Interest Accepted: 83 (+ 27) above the annual target of 56

Approvals: 46 (+1) above the annual target of 45

Placements: 55 (+10) above our annual target of 45

A huge congratulations to FCA South East ‘South East Diversity’ who were crowned the overall winners this year with FCA Northern Ireland ‘Emerald Melodies’ taking second place and FCA Cymru ‘Cymru yn rockio am byth’ taking third prize.

This year, The Big Sing O昀昀 went around the world! Choirs from across ACS, FCA and Fostering People boarded 昀氀ight TBSO 2023 from Coventry on Saturday 7th October for our non-stop ‘昀氀ight’ around the world!

A total of 10 choirs, made up of children and young people, foster parents and sta昀昀 took part in the competition, singing songs from The Greatest Showman, Status Quo to Glee and Meaghan Smith.

Fostering People Scotland have been involved in the Promise Scotland since the very beginning. Several years ago, the then First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon met with a group of children and young people to hear their views.

Since the launch of the Promise, Fostering People Scotland have been successful in receiving funding to progress the Promise. From January 2022 until March 2023, Amber Mann was appointed our own ‘Keep the Promise Change Officer. The impact of this role has been significant and clear to see. There is be琀琀er engagement of children and young people, and improved opportunities for them to give their views and share opinions. Children and young people are be琀琀er informed about their rights and their voices.

A new funding stream was launched in 2023 with a specific remit for organisations to bid for. FP Scotland submi琀琀ed an application for funding under the category Supportive School Structure (Right to Education) and were successful in this application.

Amber Mann remains in the Keep the Promise Change Officer Post and will help deliver our ambitious “School Through Their Eyes” Project which seeks to develop a training programme which can be used with foster carers, teachers, student teachers, social workers and staff working in social care, children and young people. This training programme will be based on understanding and learning from children and young people’s experiences around the challenges they face in school and how best to support them and improve experiences and outcomes.

Cassie Yeaman –Registered Manager. Fostering People Scotland.

OurVision for 2024

We have some exciting plans for the year 2024 and will continue building on our success.

Our strategy for the coming year includes:

• To continue to grow and develop our services while maintaining the high quality of care and education we currently provide.

• We are excited to be in the planning and development stages for opening several new schools and residential homes.

• Our fostering, adoption and children’s services will continue to grow organically in 2024.

• Early in 2024 we will launch our new CEO awards programme to demonstrate our commitment to formally recognising foster parents, adopters and sta昀昀 achievements.

• We will further expand our learning and development opportunities for

leaders and sta昀昀 ensuring we remain an employer of choice.

• Our accredited prepare to foster course will launch for new foster parents.

• We are registering as an employer provider of apprenticeships and other accredited learning programmes. This will enable us to o昀昀er more routes to formal quali昀椀cations and development and progression opportunities.

• We will continue to build on the success of our accredited leadership development programme.

• We are exploring new ways of providing learning and development opportunities. In February 2024 we expect to launch our Polaris podcasts programme.

• Our very popular Polaris people strategy will provide more opportunities to learn about all aspects of identity diversity and how that impacts on the experiences of members of our community.

Polaris

Malvern View, Saxon Business Park Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior

Bromsgrove B60 4AD

t: 01527 556480

e: contactus@polariscommunity.co.uk

www.polariscommunity.co.uk