We wanted to find out how the children we support feel about where they go to school and where they live – particularly in relation to whether they feel safe.

After all, we have lots of measures in place for others to tell us how we’re doing – Ofsted, local authorities, other agencies or stakeholders and our own internal reviews – but the child’s voice is the most important part of that.

So we set about undertaking a consultation with all of our young people to find out what they like, what they don’t like and where we can make improvements. It was a really positive experience for everyone involved and a chance for us to really listen to our children and young people.

The only true way we can understand if we are doing all we can, helping and supporting our children and keeping them safe is to hear what they have to say about their experience.

We carried out consultation with the children in our children's homes and residential schools, handing out 92 questionnaires. We received 72 back and others still coming in. That’s a response rate of 78% of children wanting to share their experience. These young people were from Wings Notts, Wings Cumbria, High Peak and our two children’s homes, Wood Grove and Heysham House.

The age range of the children who responded was between 10yrs and 16yrs – with the average age being 13y – the length of their placements ranged from 1mth to 4yrs – with the average length of placement currently working out as 18 months.

First of all we asked if they had ever raised a concern and if it was dealt with properly. More than half (54%) said they had raised a concern, and 88% said it was dealt with properly.

The young people were then asked if they felt secure and safe, to which 80% said yes, they did, 5% said sometimes they did and the other 15% said they didn’t feel safe and secure. Some of the comments including ‘feel very safe’; ‘feel safe in the home space but less so in school day and out on the grounds’, ‘yes, I trust the adults to make it safe’.

A resounding 95% of children said the staff in their home made them feel safe and protected with comments including “feel very supported and wanted”, “they are great and really look after us”, “They make me work on myself and teach me about risks which makes me make better choices” and “they wouldn’t let anything happen to me”.

A total of 88% of young people said they felt they had made progress since being with Kedleston with comments including “I am doing so much better than before with my behaviour and my school work”, “my anger has got much better and I talk to people about how I feel now and “I have hope now, I think I will have a good life”.

Some of the areas where we could improve included having animals, better relationships with staff, more contact with family, more freedom or independence and support when they leave.

Families, carers and other stakeholders were also invited to comment and 100% - felt that there child was safe and cared for, 82% felt our home and school environments were safe and 84% - felt their child was making good progress.

There is always room for improvement, we absolutely recognise that and this feedback helps us make sure that improvement is made in the right places.