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:

 Young people make good progress in education and health, some significantly so. This is due to staff’s insight into young people’s needs and effective planning to meet them. Staff are very supportive of young people’s contact with their families, helping to improve sometimes difficult and complex relationships.  Staff and young people have excellent relationships. Young people trust staff to act in their best interests and support them in whatever they want to do. Staff involve young people in decisions about daily living and the future development of the home.  The home is effective at keeping young people safe. Staff use a range of resources to equip young people with the knowledge that they need to avoid risks such as exploitation.  Staff provide young people with clear boundaries and expectations. As a result, the home is generally very settled, with young people saying that the rules are

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The children's home provision is good because:

fair and reasonable.  Leadership and management are very good at all levels of the organisation. There are some minor shortfalls that do not detract unduly from the overall quality of the service that the home provides.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that the home provides a domestic and homely environment. Specifically, that young people are not required to sign documents such as records of key- worker sessions. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Staff should have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and to understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children whom they care for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views. Specifically, staff should record in key-working sessions what young people say. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 22, paragraph 4.10)  Children's homes have a duty to provide access to a telephone that children can

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Recommendations

use privately (regulation 22(3)(a)). This can include the provision of a mobile phone, when appropriate and safe for the child, as long as an alternative is in place for the child to make telephone calls in private if their personal mobile phone is lost, out of credit or broken. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 58, paragraph 11.17)

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Information about this children's home

The home provides accommodation for up to five children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

17 March 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

24 March 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people are unanimous in expressing how much they like and trust the staff. One young person said, ‘It’s a good home. Staff are the main thing about it. You can talk to them about anything and they help you with whatever you need.’ Relationships are warm and relaxed, with members of staff demonstrating a genuine concern for young people’s welfare. Staff draw up care plans for each young person based on information gathered prior to their arrival, and these are reviewed regularly during their stay. These plans include targets for young people to aim for, linked to an incentive scheme that is tailored to their abilities and identified needs. This bespoke approach is effective in helping young people to make progress and to develop increasing maturity and self-reliance. All young people have made improvements in areas such as school attendance and health. For example, one young person was out of school for nearly a year prior to

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Good

his admission here. His attendance over the last term was over 90%. With the support and encouragement of staff, other young people have engaged constructively with services that address substance misuse. Staff promote healthy lifestyles. Food is nutritious and attractively presented. Staff have had success in persuading some young people to adopt healthier eating patterns and to take more exercise. With regard to young people’s emotional well-being, the home works with health professionals, for example, in reviewing medication. In addition, the registered provider has commissioned an independent child and adolescent psychotherapist to work with the home. This is of benefit both to young people directly, and in providing training and support for staff. Staff value the views of young people and collect them in a variety of ways. There are regular young people’s meetings where they can talk about the home, its

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Good

equipment and routines, and make suggestions. One young person said, ‘We have meetings and we can get things changed, like we said we wanted a new computer desk and chair and we got them.’ Young people meet regularly with the responsible individual, which provides an additional route for any concerns that they might want to raise. Staff have been creative in strengthening the voice of young people. For example, staff have written a development plan for the home to which young people contribute, and the registered manager produces a regular newsletter for young people, presented in an attractive way and celebrating recent events and achievements. Each young person has frequent individual discussions with their key-workers. These are helpful in addressing current issues, but the notes of the discussion tend to record only what the member of staff said and not the young person’s views. Furthermore, staff require young people to sign the record. This is unnecessary

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Good

and is not consistent with the otherwise non-institutional feel of the home. The home’s routines promote the development of young people’s self-care skills. Staff express expectations of young people, as part of their incentive plans. These might be as simple as remembering to take a daily shower, or putting their laundry in the washing machine. Young people recognise the value of this approach. One said, ‘We follow our independence tasks. It helps prepare us for when we leave. I want to be ready to live on my own.’ In addition, the home has purchased a life- skills package for young people. The work they do is externally accredited and certificated, and results in a portfolio that young people can take away with them. This is important, not only in enhancing young people’s self-reliance and resilience, but in providing evidence of their abilities to potential employers. Arrangements for each young person to keep in touch with their family is detailed

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Good

in their care plans. For some young people, their family dynamics are particularly complex. Staff are skilled in managing and supporting contact in these situations, maintaining important relationships while ensuring that young people are safe.

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Good

Staff place a high priority on the safety of young people. They assess all potential risks to each young person, taking account of their individual history and current circumstances. A risk assessment of the home’s location has been drawn up in consultation with other agencies, including the police. It identifies any hazards in the local area and evaluates the ease of access by young people to the services that they need. All young people confirm that they feel safe both inside and outside the home. The frequency with which young people go missing has reduced. Each incident is thoroughly recorded, clearly showing the persistence of staff in taking action to locate and return the young person. The home has an arrangement with an independent organisation to carry out interviews with each young person when they return. This is particularly helpful in identifying any issues for those young people whose placing authority is distant from the home.

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Good

There are no current concerns about sexual exploitation. Staff undertake work with young people to raise their awareness of this issue. The remit of the home is to accommodate boys only, and most available programmes are aimed at girls. Because of this, staff have sought formal courses of work that are more relevant to boys. In addition, they use a different, more age-appropriate programme for younger boys. This approach ensures that all young people are more motivated to engage and to benefit from the advice and information given. Staff have reasonable expectations of how young people should behave. Rules and routines, such as bedtimes, and getting up in time for school, are simple and accepted by young people. Staff use approximately three times more positive incentives than sanctions. Young people respond well to this regime, appreciating the praise that they receive for achieving something as well as more tangible

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Good

rewards, for example, extra pocket money, a takeaway meal, or an outing to the cinema. The use of physical restraint is rare. Because of the clear boundaries and the ethos that everyone should treat each other with respect, life in the home is generally relaxed. Young people get on well with each other. One said, ‘There’s no bullying here. If there are any issues, we just talk to staff and they sort it.’ Young people feel comfortable in raising any concerns that they might have, and know how to make a complaint. However, there is no telephone in the home that young people can use without asking staff. Young people have their own mobiles, but sometimes staff must remove individual mobiles because of safeguarding concerns. It is not clear what alternatives are available in that situation, for the young person to contact someone outside of the home should they wish to.

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Good

The registered manager is qualified and experienced. She is effective in leading and inspiring the staff team with the able support of her deputy. Regular monitoring reports collate information from key-workers on the progress of each young person. This enables staff to evaluate what is working well and to concentrate their efforts on areas that need development. Staff feel well supported by their managers. The induction process for new staff has recently been revised. It requires staff to be more reflective and self-critical of their practice, making them better prepared for the task. The content of the programme is consistent with the elements of the qualification that new staff commence, following their probationary period. Formal staff supervision is regular, enabling managers to monitor the work that staff do with individual young people. Staff have access to a wide range of training. This includes not only mandatory

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Good

training, such as fire safety and medication, but topics that give staff a wider breadth of skills and knowledge, for example, the development of the infant and adolescent brain. Staff are motivated to learn and so improve the quality of support that they provide for young people. A professional who delivers training said, ‘Staff and managers are highly receptive to my input and advice.’ In addition, the responsible individual is funding the deputy manager to undertake the manager’s qualification, as part of a wider management development programme. This is important in establishing management succession, providing greater consistency for young people. Staff work well in partnership with others. A social worker said, ‘I have never worked with the home before but I am really impressed with the manager and the quality of the organisation.’ Another described the work that staff did with a young person, saying, ‘The manager and the staff are really insightful. The young

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Good

person’s diet wasn’t great but staff have addressed that. He had no friends, but because of the activities outside the home that staff provide, he is integrating better and developing social relationships.’ Staff encourage young people to consider the needs of others and to be more involved in the community. One young person has written to a pen pal in Nepal affected by the recent earthquake. Another helps out in a local pet centre, and another is engaged in an environmental awareness scheme, doing things like litter picking in the local area, and building footpaths in a national park. This kind of activity enhances young people’s self-esteem and helps them to feel more included in wider society.

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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 children looked after 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 that 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 that 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 whom 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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