Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes North East Limited in Newcastle upon Tyne

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:

 The manager of this home is exceptionally strong. The manager is thorough and very well organised, as well as being confident and purposeful. The manager leads the home with a great deal of professionalism and is committed to ensuring children and young people have good outcomes.  The staff team are strong. They work well with each other and offer a consistency of care to the children and young people which has clear boundaries and expectations. This makes the home a safe place to live.  Children and young people are able to make good quality relationships with staff. They are able to talk to and share their difficulties with staff. Staff provide good role models and are relaxed and sensitive with children and young people. Staff use humour well and include the children and young people in this so that the atmosphere in the home is light, fun and enjoyable.  Children and young people make good progress in this home. Some children

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The children's home provision is good because:

and young people have significantly challenging behaviour on admission but do settle and go on to make clear progress. Young people comment that their lives have changed for the better as a result of living in this home.  Children and young people make progress with their education and with their training and work experience. Staff clearly see education and work as a high priority and support children and young people well to engage with and attend school, college and work. Staff are innovative and tenacious in arranging education and work placements.  Children and young people are able to develop better relationships with their families as staff support them well when there are tensions or difficulties here. Staff engage well with families to support the building of better relationships  Children and young people are offered a wide range of leisure activities both in the house and outside as well as trips out to local places of interest and

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The children's home provision is good because:

entertainment and these help broaden their horizons and promote interests.

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Information about this children's home

The home is operated by a private organisation and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to five children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (EBD).

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24/03/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

p.4

good

Children and young people at this home make good progress. Mostly, their experience of living in the home is positive and they are able to make significant, positive changes to their situations.

p.5

good

All the young people who spoke to the inspector were positive about the home and the staff and could talk positively about making changes to their lives and circumstances. All the young people were able to talk positively about what they had achieved and what progress they had made. One young person talked about changes they had made to risk taking and criminal behaviour and how staff had helped them.

p.5

good

One social worker said the young person he had placed at the home had, ‘made substantial progress’, and said they have, ‘turned him around’. He went on to say staff are, ‘absolutely wonderful’. Another social worker said he was, ‘very impressed with staff team and the home’, saying, ‘they are very child centred’. He said they had done a really good job with his young person, they were nurturing, had built a good relationship with the young person, understood his needs well and met these needs. He also said they did well to handle the young person’s challenging and often difficult to predict behaviour, very well. Another social worker was equally complimentary when discussing progress their child had made saying this was one of the best children’s homes they had ever worked with.

p.5

good

The children and young people have all made good relationships with the staff and this is really important in them settling and starting to improve their situations. Children and young people were given lots of encouragement to attend school, college and work experience, and staff were proactive in arranging these and supporting them. The attendance of the children and young people was generally high. Children and young people made good progress with their education and preparation for work. Most children and young people had done better at school than was anticipated. Some young people were volunteering, others had apprenticeships, and others were doing work experience.

p.5

good

Staff were good at preparing young people for independence with a comprehensive workbook for assessing and improving a wide range of necessary living skills. Young people were actively completing these.

p.5

good

Young people were also taking part in a wide range of information sessions, key- work sessions and discussions. There was a sexual health worker involved with group work and individual work, other discussions around drugs, sexual exploitation, bullying and domestic violence were taking place. Staff and other professionals had a good range of support material to use and give the children and young people. On admission, all children and young people are given a welcome pack which contains a wealth of information about a range of issues as well as essential supplies and a few treats.

p.5

good

Children and young people were able to keep in good contact with their families and friends and staff arrange and facilitate this wherever possible. Staff also work actively with families to improve communication and understanding so that their relationships are built up again. One young person commented specifically on how staff had helped them get back in touch with their family after a long period of having no contact.

p.6

good

A number of the children and young people were seeing a variety of counsellors and advice workers to deal with various issues of mental health, drug taking and criminal behaviour. This work was adding to the health and wellbeing of the children and young people and the stability of the placement. Health needs were met well. One young person was now able to self-medicate important medication and others attended appointments when needed.

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good

There is a wide range of activities and interests available for the children and young people. One young person takes part in a well-known local drama group run for looked after children.

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good

Children and young people take a full and active part in the running of the home, they contribute to the cleaning, shopping and cooking and have a say on all aspects of the home. There is a separate fund for them to agree and purchase items for the home. In the back yard there are large graffiti art walls where young people have been able to work with a local graffiti artists to complete their own murals which are really very good.

p.6

good

The children and young people in this home are well protected. Staff understand risks well and take good proactive steps to minimise these risks. Although many of the children and young people who are admitted to this home arrive with significant risk taking behaviours and they are helped and supported by staff by staff to lessen these. A number of young people have spent time missing from the home but these are decreasing. One young person who used to go missing a great deal has now settled and no longer goes missing. Others have significantly reduced the numbers of times this occurs. When children or young people do go missing, strenuous efforts are made to return them to the home and independent return interviews and post-missing work does contribute to the reduction of these incidents.

p.6

good

Some young people have engaged in risky behaviour by taking drugs but these young people have reduced these incidents. Other young people have been engaged in some anti-social and criminal behaviour away from the home at times. Sometimes, this has occurred when they have been missing. Staff have worked with the young people concerned and these incidents have reduced.

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good

There have been no child protection incidents at this home in the period since the last inspection. There is very little bullying among the young people at the home and isolated and less serious incidents are dealt with well by the staff so that they are resolved quickly.

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good

Most of the children and young people at the home arrive with challenging behaviour and some of them have histories of aggression. Staff help them to look at their behaviour and most of the children and young people are able to settle and make positive changes to their behaviour.

p.7

good

Staff offer very clear boundaries and have clear expectations around behaviour and this helps resolve difficulties well. There has only been one physical intervention used at the home since the last inspection and this was a low level intervention. Staff prefer to use negotiation and restorative practices to de-escalate and change behaviour. Staff do use a range of positive incentives and negative consequences to influence behaviour and evidence suggests that these are successful. Staff use far more positive incentives than sanctions but the combination of both ensure children and young people always have a consequence to their behaviours.

p.7

good

Mostly children and young people are helped to change their behaviour through the good relationships they build with staff. Staff show respect and interest in the children and young people and these relationships are positive and helpful in offering guidance and advice to the children and young people.

p.7

good

Young people commented on how supportive and fair they find the staff. One young person felt they may have been in prison by now if they hadn’t had the staff to help them turn their behaviour around. Because of these strong relationships children and young people feel safe at the home.

p.7

good

The home is free of any health and safety hazards and fire checks are carried out appropriately. Judgement grade

p.7

outstanding

The registered manager has been in post since the home opened just over two years ago. She is experienced and appropriately qualified. The home does fulfil the aims and objectives as stated in the Statement of Purpose.

p.8

outstanding

The manager has led the staff team well, she is particularly well organised and is efficient and effective. The manager has set up an effective system of recording and she monitors all the aspects of the home on a regular basis so that everything is checked regularly. This is important as it prevents any issues from going unrecognised or not being dealt with.

p.8

outstanding

The manager has the support of a confident and able deputy manager and the responsible individual is supportive and involved. The manager is child centred and give the children and young people a high priority.

p.8

outstanding

The manager has built a strong team of staff and they appreciate her able and dedicated leadership. The staff are offered good support and supervision and there is a comprehensive training package available for all staff. The manager provides good quality direction to her staff and is able to delegate tasks effectively to staff she knows are competent and willing.

p.8

outstanding

The manager and staff place a high priority on education and training. As a result, all the children and young people have packages of learning put together that suit them. This requires regular and good quality liaison with schools, colleges, training providers and employers and the manager ensures these are in place and working well.

p.8

outstanding

The manager also ensures that she has contact with a range of other professionals and specialists so that services that are needed are available for the children and young people.

p.8

outstanding

The manager has developed a number of systems which help the children and young people. There is a comprehensive system of assessment in place and this ensures needs are well met. Children and young people work through a comprehensive qualification which addresses their independence skills learning and these are very well used and are largely completed by the young people who have lived at the home for some time. This clearly helps prepare them for adult life. Children and young people all have memory books put together about their time spent in the home, and this is something that is important.

p.8

outstanding

The manager is clear about the strengths of the home and has a clear development plan to help her further improve the home.

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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.

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Information about this inspection

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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