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

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.2

The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager and staff ensure that young people receive positive messages about the importance of attending school. This has resulted in the young people’s attendance at school improving by 95% overall.  The manager and staff understand the importance of having trusting and secure relationships with the young people. Staff use listening skills and assessment skills to make sure they understand the young people’s starting points and how this can impact on their current behaviour.  Staff understand that contact with families and important adults can be very beneficial. They prioritise making good relationships with families which helps to rebuild the emotional bond with them.  The risks and challenges many young people face today in terms of exploitation and abuse are fully understood by the manager and staff team. They respond robustly to these risks and offer young people safe ways to deal with temptations and difficult situations.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Many of the young people will remain at the home until they are ready to leave care. Early assessments of their independence skills and knowledge means that there is plenty of time to learn how to look after themselves both practically and emotionally.  The manager is very clear of what the home is good at and which areas need improvement. Robust monitoring and a clear sense of how to improve allows the home to be continually improving the standards of care.

p.3

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff supervision must enable staff to reflect and act upon how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 39 paragraph 8.15)

p.4

Recommendations

 Encourage children to see the home's records as 'living documents' supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. In particular, recording in daily logs must allow young people to have access to these records without breaching other young people's confidentiality. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 58 paragraph 11.19)

p.4

Recommendations

 Care must be taken to ensure prescribed medicines are only administered to the individual for whom they are prescribed. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. Records must be kept of the administration of all medication, which includes occasions when prescribed medication is refused. Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. Where the home has questions or concerns about a child's medication, they should approach an expert such as a General Medical Practitioner, community pharmacist or designated nurse for looked-after children. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 35 paragraph 7.15)

p.4

Information about this children's home

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

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

13/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

good

Staff ensure they have a very clear understanding of the starting points of the young people who live in this home. They encourage young people to be involved in creating the plans which describe how they like to be looked after and what they want to happen in their lives. These interactive personal care plans allow young people to see how they are progressing and provide a clear description of the young people’s lives in the home. They allow the young people to reflect on their lives and try and understand what has happened to them in the past. Young people’s self-esteem and self-worth are improved by being able to review successes and sometimes learn from making poor choices.

p.6

good

Education attendance is seen as very important. Staff work with young people to demonstrate how going to school regularly can improve their opportunities when leaving education. Staff support young people to attend school and on some occasions support young people to remain in school. All young people in this home have seen over a 95% improvement in attendance. The close liaison with schools ensures that the staff can support young people to improve grades and excel in certain subjects.

p.6

good

The environment is very well maintained and homely. Young people have space to be alone if they wish but often choose to be involved in group activities. Most of the young people enjoy cooking and sharing this with other young people. A regular evening meal with everyone present encourages a sense of belonging and being valued. Young people are encouraged to be involved in the tasks associated with this meal which also supports them learning life skills.

p.6

good

The manager and staff team understand how important it is for young people to maintain contact with their families and important adults from the past. The staff build positive relationships with families and carers which allows them to rebuild family ties. For some young people this can be supervising contact to make sure everyone stays safe, for others it is rebuilding trust and understanding which allows the young people to re-engage with their families. One parent wrote, ‘I’m so pleased at the way the staff team talk to me and keep me updated. I feel as though I’m still involved, and I know my child is safe.’ Judgement grade

p.6

good

The staff and manager are excellent at ensuring they gather all information about the young person and make sure the risks and challenges they present are quickly and robustly responded to. They develop clear action plans for inside and outside the home. Expectations of behaviour and a clear message about consequences of not keeping to plans are clearly written down and explained. Young people respond positively to these expectations and they learn how to keep themselves and others safer. This approach has seen a reduction in the number of episodes of missing from placement and a reduction in committing petty crimes.

p.7

good

Young people say they feel safer in this home. They say that this is because staff are there and listen to them and, ‘do everything they can so we don’t get hurt’. Young people also build trust with the staff team which allows them to talk to them about things that have happened in their past. Young people learn that you can trust adults. Young people develop a sense of being valued and being safe.

p.7

good

The health of young people is taken seriously and clear health plans are in place. Young people attend regular appointments and visit dentists and opticians. There is a clear policy on the way medicines are handled and dispensed. This process requires improvement, specifically around the dignity and confidentiality of how medicines are given to the young people.

p.7

good

The behaviour management plans for young people are clear and based on robust risk assessments. Physical interventions are sometimes required when young people are finding it difficult to regulate their own behaviours and emotions. De- escalation techniques are used wherever possible. Following an incident, everything is clearly described on incident forms and all involved are spoken to which allows them to reflect on whether anything could have been done better. The management team listen to young people’s views and have completed investigations into concerns young people have voiced about incidents. The investigations are thorough and fair, involving the local authority designated officer. There are clear action plans and young people are kept informed. In making certain this process is open and thorough, the management team are ensuring young people are safer.

p.7

good

The manager has a clear role in multi-agency meetings and ensures that the voice of the young person is heard in the multi-agency arena. The manager will also encourage young people to use independent advocates to ensure they feel safe, especially when there are concerns about progress for young people. Social care professionals speak highly of the manager and staff referring to them as, ‘professional and good communicators.’ Judgement grade

p.7

good

The deputy manager is currently acting as the manager. She is supported by a ‘manager’s support’. This management team has significant experience of working with children in residential care and are supported by a service manager.

p.8

good

The home is being well managed and maintained. Delegation of responsibilities within the management team ensure all the duties have been completed. Quality assurance processes are robust and have increased significance as they are starting to embrace a more evaluative approach.

p.8

good

There is a clear sense of both the strengths and weakness of this home which feeds in to development and improvement plans. The outcome of consultations with young people, the outcomes of managing allegations and the feedback from other social care organisations can all be seen in the quality assurance processes. It is also clear that the management team embrace audits and inspections and use these to learn lessons which help improve practice where necessary.

p.8

good

The young people’s case files are excellent and it is evident that the management team have given direction and clear expectations to the staff team who have responded positively to this. The files are thorough, accurate and up to date and create a very interactive record of what is happening in the young people’s lives. There is a slight shortfall to address, in that within some case recording there is lack of confidentiality in the way that information is recorded, especially in daily logs.

p.8

good

The management team also listen to their staff team. Recent surveys raised concerns regarding the quality and availability of training. A relationship with the local authority training team now ensures staff can access training and development opportunities.

p.8

good

Staff speak of feeling well supported in supervision. The supervision is based around a performance and target system with little room for ensuring staff’s emotional well-being is discussed. This could leave staff feeling less valued and supported and may contribute to the retention difficulties the home has experienced. The management team are responded to this and action plans and succession plans are in place.

p.8

What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

p.9

What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

p.9

What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.9

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

p.10

Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.10

Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

p.11

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.11