Children's Home run by Pear Tree Projects Limited in Darlington

Good

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

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people make good progress from the time they are admitted to the children's home.  The registered manager and staff have good relationships with young people and provide consistent care that is of high quality.  Young people enjoy living in the home. They feel safe and secure and like the family atmosphere. They feel valued because the registered manager and staff include them in decision-making and act on their opinions.  The staff are skilled, qualified and knowledgeable. They receive good support through training in a wide range of subjects and regular one-to-one supervision.  Young people enjoy life and feel stimulated by being able to take part in a wide range of leisure activities. This helps them to develop skills and interests and provides opportunities for social interaction with other young people in the community.

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Full report

Information about this children's home. The home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered with Ofsted to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with learning difficulties, mental disorder or emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/03/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

p.3

Good

The registered manager and staff provide care that is highly individualised to each young person. They know the young people and their needs well. They know what they like and dislike and they understand their individual circumstances and personalities. These factors and the effective use of a key worker system helps to ensure the children receive the care they need to help them make good progress.

p.4

Good

Relationships between the staff and young people are of a high quality and are built on respect and warmth. The staff have worked at the home for a considerable time and young people know them well.

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Good

Young people make good progress across a range of areas including emotional and physical health, education and social development. For example, one young person said, ‘I’m doing better here than I was at my previous children's home. I was naughtier there and got involved with the wrong people. I’m doing better in education as well…I’m learning more.’ Young people maintain and develop the bonds they have with their families because the staff fully encourage contact arrangements including escorting and supervising young people if necessary.

p.4

Good

The registered manager and staff are effective at recognising where young people may have special needs and acquiring the services of experts to assess such needs professionally. Where appropriate, the registered manager then works with the placing authority to arrange for an alternative placement to be found so that the special needs of the young person can be best met.

p.4

Good

The staff give priority to seeking the views of young people and acting on them wherever possible. For example, when asked in a survey what was good about the home, one young person said, ‘I was able to change my diet to [meat substitute] because I don’t like meat.’ Another young person said, ‘We have house meetings where we discuss things and make suggestions and the staff try to arrange things for us if they can.’

p.4

Good

Young people have fun and stimulation from a wide range of leisure activities. The children's home is located on a working farm and young people enjoy looking after animals, collecting eggs, caring for and riding horses. They enjoy fishing on the farm’s lake and kayaking there also. They also take part in activities in the local community where they develop friendships and social skills through meeting other young people. They gain confidence through attendance at events organised by other organisations such as weekend camps with the local cadet force. The arrangements to help young people prepare for when they are older and living independently are good. The staff ensure young people of all ages learn appropriate knowledge and skills that are relevant to their stage of development and ability. Where young people have left the children's home and moved to other placements or into independent living, the registered manager and staff keep in

p.4

Good

touch with them and support them to settle in to their new environment. This includes the recent creation of a leavers’ group. Through this the staff keep in touch with previous residents and support them to return to visit the home and receive support (such as a meal) and advice whenever necessary.

p.5

Good

Young people are safe and feel secure. Their behaviour is good and has improved over time since admission to the home. The staff set clear and consistent boundaries. These help the young people to feel settled and reassured. Since the previous inspection there has been a short period of very challenging behaviour. The registered manager acted appropriately in identifying where young people's needs were not being met and where their behaviour was affecting the welfare of other young people and staff. Appropriate measures were then taken to protect the welfare of all those concerned.

p.5

Good

Young people' behaviour is good and there has been no need for any physical intervention for over four months. Where restraints have taken place since the previous inspection the staff have recorded them appropriately. One young person said, ‘I’ve seen restraints and the staff only do this if any of us are hurting ourselves or other people.’ The staff use their relationships with young people to best effect which leads to good behaviour. The use of sanctions as a consequence of poor behaviour is therefore rare.

p.5

Good

In pre-inspection surveys and at the inspection young people said they felt safe. The registered manager has brought in an improved risk assessment procedure. This is more effective at identifying concerns relevant to each young person and makes clear what must be done to reduce risks further. Young people very rarely go missing and robust procedures are in place should this happen. Where young people are at risk of exploitation, effective measures are put in place to protect their welfare. These measures strike the right balance in protecting children’s welfare and enabling them to experience challenges necessary for learning and development during adolescence. Professional technicians regularly service the electrical equipment and equipment for preventing, detecting and extinguishing fires. Young people take part in fire drills at appropriate intervals and the registered manager conducts regular health

p.5

Good

and safety assessments. These measures all help to protect the safety of young people and adults in the building. Appropriate arrangements are also in place to ensure that staff recruited to work with young people are suitable and safe.

p.6

Good

The registered manager has been at the children's home since it opened three years ago. They are appropriately qualified for the role. The home also has a deputy manager who is currently studying for the level five diploma in care and management. The registered manager is effective at overseeing the needs and welfare of young people, prioritising their needs and ensuring statutory agencies help to fulfil their responsibilities appropriately.

p.6

Good

The registered manager and staff monitor young people’s welfare on an ongoing basis. Each young person has a key worker who helps to ensure they make good progress across areas including emotional and physical health, behaviour and education. A parent said, ‘I am very pleased with my child’s social and educational development at the home.’ Each month the young person’s key worker meets them to discuss and record their progress and any concerns they may have. This helps young people to express any worries they may have and helps to ensure they receive the care they need.

p.6

Good

The staff are fully supported by a comprehensive and well-structured training programme. New staff receive a thorough induction and receive all the necessary information to help them become fully effective as quickly as possible. One member of staff summed up the training as being ‘second to none.’ Staff receive regular one-to-one supervision from their line manager. This enables them to express any concerns and enables the supervisor to give advice and feedback about their practice.

p.6

Good

Systems for monitoring of the quality of care are good. Where shortfalls arise the registered manager and staff address them quickly and effectively. This means the capacity for continuous improvement is strong. In accordance with legislation an external independent person visits the home once a month to assess the quality of care. Each visit is usually unannounced which helps to ensure the visitor gets a genuine understanding of how the home is operating. The visitor talks to young people, parents, staff and placing authorities and they look at records and care plans. The monitoring is thorough and the visitor makes recommendations for improvement where necessary. They assess how well the registered manager has responded to the recommendations at the next visit. The registered manager also formally assesses the quality of care on an ongoing basis and in accordance with legislation forwards a six-monthly report to Ofsted. These reports are thorough and

p.6

Good

give a clear picture about how the home is operating and about the progress made by individual young people.

p.7

Good

Effective working relationships are in place between the home and external agencies such as the police, independent review officers, placing authorities and health authorities. The registered manager is an effective advocate for young people and helps to ensure statutory agencies are meeting their responsibilities towards them.

p.7

Good

The team of staff provide good levels of consistent care for young people. Levels of turnover and absence are minimal and the permanent team of staff has no vacancies.

p.7

Good

At the previous inspection Ofsted recommended that if the staff had to restrain any young person, all those who witnessed the incident should be given the opportunity to discuss it afterwards. This now happens and so all those present at the time receive the support they may need.

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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.

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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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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

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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

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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 .

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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,

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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

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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

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