Introduction
We want you to be happy in your home. You are welcome to
bring friends in provided their behaviour is OK and does not cause
problems for others, but please check with staff first. We do
ask that your friends do not visit during school hours and that
they leave by 9.00 pm.
The house has 5 single bedrooms, for children between the ages
of 11 and 16. There is also an activities room, a TV and
music lounge, a dining room, large kitchen, a telephone room and a
garden.
The home is regularly inspected by people who work in Children’s
Services and by Independent people from OFSTED, to make sure we are
taking good care of you.
Location
Woodman’s Place is a detached house with its own garden situated
in Martlesham, Ipswich.
The home is situated on a main bus route to the town centre
which has a popular shopping centre, swimming pool, sports centre,
cinemas, theatre, bowling alley, railway station, fast food shops,
park, etc.
There are also youth clubs, dance classes, football teams and drama
groups that you could join if you wish.
Routines
For any home to run smoothly, we need to have some sort of
routine, however, times have to be changed when activities or
outings are arranged or something special is happening.
Meal Times
We like to be quite flexible but do try to have our meals all
together.
Mealtimes are usually:
| Breakfast |
7.30 am to 9.00 am |
| Lunch (weekends/holidays) |
12.30 noon to 1.30 pm |
| Evening meal |
5.30 pm to 6.30 pm |
| Supper |
8.30 pm to 9.30 pm |
Bed Times
There is no set bedtime but everyone is expected to be settled
in their rooms by 10.30 pm.
Pocket Money and Incentive Awards
You will be given the pocket money you have earned on Saturday
mornings after your room has been checked to make sure it is clean
and tidy. Staff are always willing to help you care for yourself
and become responsible individuals but we cannot let rooms become
Health and Safety Hazards! Incentive Schemes can help you earn
additional money to put towards a specific activity, interest or
item. Your scheme will be designed specifically for you and
acknowledge efforts you make and things you have done well, so you
can feel a sense of achievement. |
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Staff
The house is staffed at all times. Some staff are there in
the mornings to get you off to school, some are there when you come
home and others are there all night to keep you safe. At
night, all the external doors are kept locked.
Keyworkers
All children have their own Keyworkers. Your Keyworkers
are members of staff who will take a particular interest in you and
make sure that any information about you is correct and made
available, as appropriate, to the people working with you. They
will help you put together your weekly plan and set the targets for
your incentive scheme. They will also help to make sure you
have the essential items you need such as clothes and toiletries;
make doctor’s, dentist’s and optician’s appointments if you need
them and provide support for you at school. They will also
attend any meetings about you including your Reviews that are
meetings we have to have by law when children are looked after.
Your Keyworkers will also help you keep in touch with your family,
friends and Social Worker.
Records and Files
You may not be aware of this but we do by law have to keep files
about all children who come to Woodman’s Place. The files are
there to ensure that all correct information is available to help
us support and care for you. The daily entries made by staff are
recorded in your daily file and you may look at these and record
your views if you wish to. Your yellow case file is an official
document and holds other paperwork relating to other professionals
work with you so to look at this you need to make an arrangement
with your Social Worker.
The files are very helpful in making sure nothing gets forgotten at
your Review meetings but they are private to you and only those
people who need to know are allowed to see inside.
Fire
When you arrive at Woodman’s Place you will do a fire drill to
make sure you know how and where to get out of the building as
quickly as possible if there is a fire.
Be Healthy
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At Woodman's Place we encourage a healthy
life-style. Your fitness is important to you so we will help
and encourage you to take part in sport and other activities.
If you would like to join a sports or activity based club, just ask
your Keyworkers to help you.
To maintain your fitness level, good food is essential. We
have a cook to prepare our main meal of the day and there are
always plenty of different healthy dishes to choose from. Our
staff help with the cooking especially at weekends. Sometimes you
may like to help prepare your own meals in the kitchen, but take
care as kitchens can be dangerous
places. |
You may need to be registered with a doctor, dentist and optician
in the local area if you have moved away from your previous health
services and your Keyworkers will ensure this happens. You will
also meet our Looked After Children’s Nurse who does a health check
with every child who comes to Woodman’s to make sure they can get
the right help and support to promote good health.
The house is a non-smoking building for everyone and there’s
always plenty of help for young people who want to give up smoking.
Just ask staff and they will put you in touch with people who can
help you.
We do not allow drugs or alcohol in the house and, if we find
any, we will take them away. Information about giving up
smoking or the real health and safety risks associated with drug
and alcohol abuse, is available to you in the home. Just ask
any member of staff to help.
Stay Safe
For your safety, it is very important to tell staff where you
are going when you go out and what time you will be back. If
you know you are going to be late, please phone us.
Your bedroom is your own private place where you can lock the
door and have time and space to yourself. You can earn the
privilege of having a television in your room, but please think of
others and don’t have it on too loud. You will also have a
special place in your room where you can lock away anything that is
really valuable to you. For everyone’s safety, children are
not allowed in each other’s rooms at night and we prefer you not to
encourage other’s into your room or at least to keep the door open,
if another child is with you, so staff can check you are ok.
To keep everyone safe, we do not allow children to have any
weapons. This means such things as guns or imitation guns,
knives, swords, catapults, bows and arrows. Any weapons
brought into the house are confiscated.
Sometimes, children get upset or angry and out of control.
Staff always put your safety first and will not let you harm
yourself or others. They may have to hold you to stop you
and, at times, this can be upsetting for everyone, but staff are
trained to do this in a safe way and it helps to talk it all
through with somebody of your choice after things have calmed
down.
Bullying at the home is not acceptable, whether it is
name-calling, teasing, pushing or pulling, fighting, ignoring or
leaving others out or spreading rumours. If you feel you are
being bullied or you see any bullying, please speak to a member of
staff or the Children’s Rights Officer, who visits us every
month. If you are a victim of bullying, or a bully yourself,
staff will do something to prevent this.
We have an “I want you to know” system. This allows you to write
to any member of the team, the Manager or the Head of the Service
and tell us about any worry or concern you have, you will then get
a response from that person and hopefully this will help us put
things right for you in the shortest possible time. We hope you
will also let us know when things are going well!
Make a Positive Contribution
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At Woodman’s Place we recognise that each child will come here
during a very difficult time in their life and having had some very
upsetting experiences. We aim to work together with you as an
individual and as part of a group to deal with experiences such as
bullying, drugs, alcohol and relationship difficulties.
We want you to be able to have your say, ask the things you want to
know and discuss topics that are important to you. |
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We have children’s / house meetings every fortnight followed by
a take away tea this give us a chance to discuss some issues that
effect everyone and talk about the way the home is run. Any new
ideas or things you would like to happen are then taken to the Team
meetings for them to discuss.
You will have the opportunity to contribute to the Steering
Group. This is a group of interested people who aim to
support and help with the development of the work that Woodman’s
Place does. This group may include neighbours, local business
people, Councillors, staff, teachers and people from Social Care
and other agencies we work with, who meet regularly to talk about
the various issues and goals of the Home.
The Children’s Home is the place where people can feel safe,
relax and be comfortable. Although we have some domestic
help, everyone is expected to help keep our home looking nice and a
healthy place to live. Your bedroom is your private place so
it is up to you to keep it clean and tidy.
Living together can sometimes have its difficulties. We
are all unique, with different habits, likes, dislikes and
expectations so we must respect each other for what we are and
treat everybody with the same respect.
At Woodman’s Place we promote Restorative Justice, this means
that we accept children will do things that are wrong and not in
the best interests of themselves or others but we are always
willing to discuss the incident or behaviour and hear your own
suggestion for how you can put the situation right, apologise and
make amends.
To support this we work very closely with our Community Police
Team especially PC Richard Wright, who is a regular visitor and who
will be involved in discussing any problems with you, the staff and
your parents and any other appropriate people responsible for your
care.
Children who continually disrespect others or our home, will
sometimes be given sanctions. These could be deductions from
pocket money, being left out of activities or doing household
chores, but there is always the opportunity to earn these back.
Enjoy and Achieve
Everyone at Woodman’s Place is expected to continue with their
learning, though we understand that you may have experienced some
difficulties.
Your education is extremely important and staff, will do everything
they can to support you in maintaining your current school
placement, transfer to a new school or engage in alternative
learning environments such as our Living and Learning Together
Programme.
In our activity room we have computers, linked to the Internet,
for you to use for your homework and staff are more than happy to
help you complete your homework or find other ways to support you
in completing it.
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We have lots of art and craft things, games, a karaoke machine,
dance mats, play station and lots of things to do.
If you attend school regularly or follow your weekly plan, you
will be rewarded with incentive money. You can choose to
spend or save this. If you want help in saving your money
towards something special, Keyworkers will help you to open a bank
account.
Everyone loves to read and, as well as the selection of books
brought here by local library staff, you can select a magazine of
your own. |
As well as the everyday activities, we sometimes organise foreign
holidays and camps for children, based on their behaviour and
achievement during the year.
We also use any excuse to have a party, not just on your
birthday. There’s Valentine’s Day, Christmas and Easter,
Pancake Day, Bonfire Night and other special religious and cultural
days, when we like to have fun.
Achieve Economic Well-Being
If you are over 14 we will help you develop skills to look after
yourself in the future. You will be given opportunities to
learn how to cook and generally care for yourself which will help
you when you leave here. There is a book and resource pack
called ‘Sorted’ that will help you do this.
You may want information and advice about a job or career, so we
will be working closely with you and your Connexions
advisor.
People who can help
Children’s Rights Officer visits our home regularly. You
can also phone on 01473 583468 and discuss any problems or concerns
you may have about your care. These may be very private
things that you may prefer not to talk about with the home’s
staff.
Amongst other things, the Children’s Rights Officer Julia Kett,
may ask you if you would like to be involved in various things that
may include the training and selection of staff.
Our Reg 33 Visitor Kala Nobbs, visits the home every month and
produces an independent report that goes into great detail about
your care and the way the home operates. That manager is interested
in hearing what you think about your care.
We have a named nurse Sheila Smith, who will meet with you soon
after you arrive. The Nurse will keep an eye on your health and
will listen to your worries and concerns. She can be
contacted on 01449 776055.
OFSTED is a government organisation that inspects all children’s
homes to make sure they are run well and follow your care
plan.
An Inspector, David Downes, visits twice a year. Before the
Inspector comes, they will send you a questionnaire to fill in and
during the visits they may ask you questions.
We want to make your stay at Woodman’s Place as good and as
positive an experience as we can.
Please let us know if you have any questions or
comments.