A West Sussex County Council children’s care home has been given an ‘outstanding’ rating by Ofsted – the highest possible outcome.

May House in Worthing, which provides accommodation and care for up to three children with severe learning difficulties, was praised following a recent inspection.

The focus of May House is to work closely and intensively with young people, their families and school to enable them to remain living at home and attending their local school, which without the team’s support they may not be able to.

The inspection looked at areas such as the overall effectiveness of the home, the quality of care, how children and young people are kept safe and the management of the home. Each area was judged to be ‘outstanding’.

The report said children ‘make significant progress as a result of living in this home’ and that ‘amazing results’ had been seen such as children, who had struggled previously to take part in activities like swimming or going to the park, now being able to do so. The report said that children ‘develop confidence, self-esteem and access activities that, at one time, were not thought possible’.

The report had particular praise for the home’s ‘highly motivated’ and ‘well-trained’ Manager and staff, with parents describing the team as ‘brilliant’, ‘committed’ and ‘dedicated’.

Peter Evans, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Children – Start of Life, said:

“This is a great achievement and the staff at the home should feel very proud. Of the seven children’s homes the County Council runs, three are now rated as outstanding and four as good which compares very favourably to other local authorities in England.”

The home is routinely inspected on a monthly basis by County Council officers and County Councillor for Tarring Bob Smytherman.