Children's Home run by Spark of Genius North East LLP in Stockton-on-Tees

Unique reference number SC477031 Inspector Julie Rimington Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Spark of Genius North East LLP Registered person address Unit A, Trojan House Phoenix Business Park PAISLEY Renfrewshire PA1 2BH Responsible individual Zak John McIlhargey Registered manager Michael Joseph MacDermott Date of last inspection 24/11/2014 2 of 5 Inspection date 13/03/2015

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Previous inspection good Enforcement action since last inspection There has been no enforcement action since the last inspection.

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This inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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This inspection

This home was judged as good overall at the previous full inspection in November 2014. Following this interim inspection the home is judged to have sustained effectiveness. The Registered Manager and staff team have successfully addressed the requirements from the inspection in November 2014, including reviewing the records they keep and improving consistency of supervision. This interim inspection identifies that further work is required on the recording system.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager and staff team are ambitious for young people to succeed and provide consistent, personalised care within effective boundaries. As a result, young people make significant progress in some aspects of their lives; including significant progress in education. They have good attendance in education provision, some making significant improvements compared to their starting point prior to admission. The staff team have developed an outcomes file for each young person, detailing achievements and significant events. Young people are encouraged to add things to the folder. The attention to detail in the folders helps the young person to see the progress them are making. This increases their sense of belonging and provides them with memories to take with them as they grow and develop.

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This inspection

The home is good at keeping young people safe. Although there have been some incidents of challenging, risky behaviour, the Registered Manager and staff team deal with these well. The number of incidents of risk taking behaviour has significantly reduced since the last inspection. The improved recording systems means that the staff team can evaluate the use and success of different behaviour management tools and tailor care plans to ensure they meet the needs of the young person.

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This inspection

Young people are safeguarded by the diligent attention paid to recruitment and 3 of 5 vetting processes ensuring that all necessary steps are taken to ensure the staff team are suitable to work with them. In addition, young people benefit from the well-trained staff team's commitment to them as individuals. This ensures a nurturing safe environment where the young people’s self-esteem and self- confidence can develop.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager and staff team works hard to build and maintain positive relationships with parents and those people who are important to the young people. Contact arrangements are met in line with young people's care plans, including supervising all arrangements where necessary. Young people are encouraged to voice their opinions and make informed choices. Regular key worker sessions give young people the opportunity to discuss their plans and share any concerns they may have. Young people said ‘they listen and try and help me understand’. Another young person wrote ‘it’s really good here; I love it and don’t want to move anywhere else’.

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This inspection

The quality of care in this home is good. The enthusiastic Registered Manager and nurturing staff team use positive boundaries and daily care planning effectively to meet all of a young person’s needs. As a result, young people gain confidence in their abilities to make appropriate friendships, and feel secure within the home. The range of activities enjoyed by young people broadens their horizons providing them with opportunities they would not otherwise have had the chance to experience. Young people are empowered by these experiences, which impacts effectively in building their self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. A young person wrote, thanks for all you have done’

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This inspection

Independent monitoring visits systematically contribute to improvements and include ascertaining young people's views on their care and experiences. The reports evaluate the home and assist the Registered Manager in addressing shortfalls and in identifying areas of good practice. The management team ensure practice is current, relevant to young people's needs and accountable by maintaining a strong overview of key documents, policies and procedures. The management team communicates with and notifies agencies, including Ofsted, of significant information; ensuring young people are protected by multi-agency decision making.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager has addressed the recommendations made at the last inspection. Unfortunately, he has only just returned from extended sick leave. This has meant that some time was lost to embed the changes and has limited the new developments he planned to make. He has now returned and has a robust plan to ensure developments are implemented and good practice can be embedded. 4 of 5

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Information about this children’s home

This home accommodates up to 5 young people, who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is provided by a private company.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure children and their parents understand the nature of records maintained and how to access them.(NMS 22.2) specifically the records are easy to access and understand Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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