Children's Home run by Gateshead Council in Gateshead

Unique reference number SC036773 Inspection date 09/08/2011 Inspector Steve Pearson Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 03/02/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011) and the evaluation schedule for children's homes.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service that exceeds minimum requirements Satisfactory : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Brief description of the service

The children's home is provided by a local authority and is registered with Ofsted to provide care and accommodation for up-to-five young people, aged between 12 and 17 years old. The home focuses on supporting young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people achieve excellent outcomes. High quality care is tailored to the individual needs of young people. There is also a very strong focus on quality assurance using young people’s views as the basis for improvement. Young people gain confidence and self esteem which enables them to achieve superb outcomes especially in relation to education.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people rate the quality of care as high and say they get on very well with the staff. Young people say they feel safe and the boundaries set by the staff give them a sense of security.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people achieve positive health through the support of the staff and external agencies. They also succeed in living independently once they have left the home because of the support they receive during their stay at the home and after they leave.

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Overall effectiveness

The team of staff are knowledgeable, experienced and fully qualified. There are strong management arrangements in place which focus on providing high quality care tailored to the individual needs of children. The Registered Manager provides a clear sense of direction which is very child-focused.

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Overall effectiveness

Overall plans for the future are less secure because a written development plan is not in place. Independent quality monitoring is not fully robust because the external visitor does not assess all the important issues. Consequently there are two recommendations to address as a result of the current inspection.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  maintain a written development plan, reviewed annually, for the future of the home, either identifying any planned changes in the operation or resources of the service, or confirming the continuation of the home’s current operation and resource (NMS 15.2)  ensure that the external monthly visitor evaluates how the home is supporting children to enjoy and achieve; evaluates whether there is an effective approach to behaviour management and assesses the records of missing person’s reports. (Volume 5, statutory guidance, para 3.12)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people gain a clear sense of identity and they make excellent progress to achieve their potential. Young people enjoy a range of hobbies and interests of their choice which brings a sense of success and achievement. The staff listen to young people’s views on their cultural needs and support young people develop a sense of identity.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people develop self-esteem and confidence through high levels of achievement and attendance at school, college or employment. They achieve success in sports and leisure pastimes and say 'the staff always make sure we go to school or college or work'.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are very healthy. The use of medication is negligible, several young people do not smoke and support from outside agencies helps to minimise substance misuse. One young person said ‘the staff make sure we’re healthy… there’s always fresh fruit in the fruit bowl and we can help ourselves. We get help if we use drugs or drink alcohol … people from outside come to talk with us and give us advice’.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people gain self esteem and positive emotional health by having regular contact with their families and friends. The staff work closely with families before and after admission and also after young people have left the home. This helps young people to maintain and improve relationships with people who are important to them.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are enabled to succeed when they leave the home. The staff help them to progress through an accredited, structured leaving care skills programme. As a result, they succeed in living a more independent life when they leave the home. Young people feel very prepared when the leave and are often further supported by an option to return to the home should they need to.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from excellent individualised care which starts before they are admitted to the home through to after they leave. The Registered Manager and staff ensure that meeting individual needs remains their top priority.

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Quality of care

Young people have a significant say in how the home is run because their views are sought in a variety of ways including one-to-one discussions and group meetings. , One young person commented 'the staff listen to us and if it's ok they do what we suggest'.

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Quality of care

The highly individualised care helps young people to gain a strong sense of identity and self esteem. Their cultural needs are identified and met well. The staff create a culture of mutual respect and consequently young people treat each other well so that, for example, there is no bullying. Young people are also supported to gain a clear sense of identity and to achieve their potential. They can take part and experience success in a wide range of sports and leisure activities , which helps develop self-esteem and improve life chances.

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Quality of care

Young people receive clear and fair boundaries which help young people feel safe and secure. For example, one young person who spoke highly of the quality of care said 'the best thing about living here is that we have rules, like we have set times for meals and when to go to bed'. Young people feel settled and behaviour is generally good because the staff use rewards to promote positive behaviour and occasional sanctions in response to negative behaviour. The use of restraint is extremely rare.

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Quality of care

Young people are fit and healthy because of the support and advice they receive from the staff and from external agencies. This support includes regular check-ups with health professionals such as opticians, doctors and dentists. They achieve improved emotional health due to support from relevant agencies. They are helped to stop smoking as staff are well trained to support this.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The Registered Manager and staff are very effective at promoting good behaviour. Use of restraint is very rare and sanctions are only used occasionally. Young people behave positively, the staff use praise and rewards to promote responsible behaviours. As a result young people grow in self confidence and enjoy extremely positive relationships with staff.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff receive regular training in a wide variety of subjects associated with safety. Staff know and understand how to respond to allegations, suspicions or evidence of harm. Young people comment 'we always feel safe in the home'.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff are successful in reducing the frequency of young people going missing after they come to live at the children's home. However, some young people do go missing from the home from time to time and this is managed well.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The premises are clean and hygienic and are maintained in a safe condition. Professional technicians regularly service the electrical equipment, gas appliances and equipment for preventing, detecting and extinguishing fires. The staff conduct regular fire drills with all young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure that staff recruited to work with young people are suitable and safe. No new staff have been recruited since the previous inspection.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

Management arrangements are very supportive and this leads to a motivated team who are clear about their roles in helping young people to achieve positive outcomes.

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Leadership and management

The home has a clearly written Statement of Purpose which outlines the function of the home and how it operates. Young people also receive useful information in a children's guide. One young person said 'I received the children's guide before I was admitted to the home and it was useful as I knew what to expect'.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager and staff keep up-to-date with changes in legislation and guidance and amend practice accordingly. However the overall strategic planning for the direction of the home is less clear because a written annual development plan is not created or maintained.

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Leadership and management

Staffing levels ensure young people’s needs are met. One young person said 'there are usually three staff on duty which is good'. However it can be difficult obtaining cover for absences because the number of relief staff is small. Plans are in place to advertise for more relief staff. The staff are supported well and receive an excellent range of training to meet the specific needs of young people. The staff are highly qualified, receive regular supervision and annual appraisals to ensure their practice is of high quality.

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Leadership and management

Effective quality monitoring arrangements monitor the quality of care every month. The manager checks all the necessary issues and seeks the views of young people, families and social workers. An external visitor also visits the home once a month to assess the quality of care. However the reports of these visits are not comprehensive because they do not evaluate how often young people go missing, how well the home helps young people to enjoy and achieve or how well the staff promote good behaviour.

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Leadership and management

Young people’s needs are also met well because twice a year the Registered Manager consults with individual young people to ascertain their views about the quality of care. They then put in place any necessary changes

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Leadership and management

Young people feel fully included. For example, one young person said 'we can read our files if we want to and can add our comments'. Young people understand the arrangements for reading their files as this is clearly explained in the children's guide. Young people gain a sense of their life history and identity as staff encourage them to keep memorabilia, such as photographs of their time at the home.

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Leadership and management

The registered persons have met the requirement and recommendation made at the previous inspection. As a result of this, shortfalls and strengths are more likely to be identified as the external visitor now seeks the views of parents and relatives from time to time. However the reporting is not fully robust as the visitor does not report on all the recommended issues. Since the previous inspection, the administration of medication is safer because the staff now record the reason why any non- prescription medication is given to a young person.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is outstanding .

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