Children's Home run by Northumberland County Council in Northumberland

Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 The home’s staff group is highly responsive to young people’s needs and are proactive in meeting them.  Care practice is underpinned by a child-centred model that is well supported by research, and well understood and applied by the staff group.  Each young person has a personalised individual care programme, for which they are full partners in developing and delivering.  The home operates an ethos of continuous learning and this continually improves the young people’s experience of being looked after.  From their starting points, young people achieve well educationally.  Young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour. Good behaviour is rewarded, and young people are enabled to make amends for any bad behaviour through a restitution process.  Positive relationships, supported by sound risk assessment, mean that the young people are safe, both within the home and in the local community,

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

where they undertake a wide range of activities.  No young people have gone missing from care or education since the last inspection.  Young people are listened to and their wishes and feelings are promptly acted upon.  The home’s management and staff group are predominantly stable and long serving, and young people say that they value the stability this brings.  Comprehensive records are scrupulously kept to support the consistent delivery of individualised care programmes.  The home’s effectiveness is closely monitored through a range of regulatory visits.  Staff are well qualified, supported and trained to do their job.  Young people from the home are a delightful, well-mannered group whom it is a pleasure to meet.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Information about this children’s home

This home operated by the local authority that is registered to provide long-term care for four children.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/10/2015 Full Outstanding

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Outstanding

Young people who live at the home continue to be offered an exceptional standard of care. An important factor in this high level of performance is the home’s committed and dedicated staff group which is highly responsive to young people’s needs, and proactive in ensuring that they are met. Young people are routinely consulted and involved in everything that the home does and they are seen as full partners in delivering their own care plans. All young people spoken to, their parents and the professionals in their lives agree that staff at this home are providing an exceptional service. This means that young people living there lead stable lives, and achieve well, both educationally and socially from their starting points.

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Outstanding

Young people are offered detailed programmes of care tailored to meet their individual needs and these are consistently applied and scrupulously recorded by members of staff. The home offers young people a highly personalised level of support, and central to understanding this is the application of a specific model of care that underpins everything the home offers. All staff are signed up to this child- centred approach and exemplify its delivery. The theoretical model is underpinned effectively by research and, following its successful delivery at this home, is being rolled out across other homes in the local authority area. Young people have enjoyed being part of the learning process and staff speak with pride of the part they have played in the success of the initiative and its positive impact on the young people’s lives.

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Outstanding

Instilled throughout home’s activities is an ethos of continuous learning, so that young people’s care experience is constantly improving. The home’s culture is open and receptive to feedback, and leaders are continually looking at ways to develop the service further for young people’s benefit. Processes that might potentially be viewed as perfunctory or routine are used constructively as learning opportunities. For instance, a recent spike in previously rare violent incidents between residents has been identified and analysed by the home’s managers and a common theme identified. This analysis was presented to the home’s staff meeting and a course of action agreed. Central to this commendable learning process, which was witnessed during the inspection, were the safety and stability of the young people who live here. Staff demonstrated a thorough understanding of their behaviour and needs and a commitment to meeting them in a sympathetic and pre-emptive way to keep

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Outstanding

A defining feature of the home’s approach lies in young people’s educational attainments. From their starting points, young people who live at here are achieving well. One young person spoke with pride to the inspector of the certificates received for sporting activities. Another was awarded the highest examination result ever achieved by the school they attend, and another young person is taking a lead role in their school’s pantomime. These achievements are appropriately supported by the home’s contribution to personal education plans, which are reviewed regularly and suitably incorporated into the young people’s individual programmes. Young people are supported to follow their interests in the community, such as sporting clubs or library events, and this enhances both their enjoyment of learning and their attainment. An education psychologist who works closely with the home commented, ‘I cannot speak highly enough about the

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Outstanding

problem-solving approach taken by its flexible and skilled staff. They take ideas for building on young people’s strengths and run with them. Going above and beyond to make positive things happen.’

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Outstanding

The outcome of this very high standard of care for young people who live here is that they present as a delightful, well-mannered, sociable and articulate group of young people. Given their diverse starting points, this is an impressive achievement by all concerned in the care provided by the home, chiefly the young people themselves.

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Outstanding

Fundamental to the home’s approach is that each young person takes personal responsibility for their behaviour and actions, more so as they grow older and move towards independence. Staff promote and reward positive conduct and encourage young people to make amends for any poor behaviour. Examples were seen by inspectors in the home’s records of young people being enabled to apologise to neighbours for rudeness and bad manners. Staff work closely and informally with local police to warn young people of the consequences of possible antisocial behaviour and thus prevent its escalation. For example, the likely result of wearing a clown mask in public. As a result, the notion of punishment is inconsistent with the way the home operates and measures of control at this home occur infrequently. A very small number of appropriate restraints have been recorded and staff were observed to use them effectively as learning opportunities

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Outstanding

to avoid circumstances repeating themselves. Sanctions are used occasionally and judiciously and always involve restitution for any damage caused.

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Outstanding

Encouraging young people to make positive relationships within the local community means that they are stable and settled within their home environment. Each young person is the subject of a detailed risk assessment and these are constantly updated in line with any emerging risks. There have been no missing episodes since the period of the last inspection. Young people attend school regularly and none have been missing from education. One independent visitor who visited a young person during the course of the inspection said that staff are, ‘approachable and easy to talk to’, although she had never had cause to raise anything major with them around the young person’s care as they are, ‘always well aware of young people’s needs’. The service has had no contact with the local authority’s designated officer since the last inspection and no child protection referrals have been necessary.

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Outstanding

Young people are encouraged to voice their views and opinions and these are acted upon promptly. Only a very small number become complaints, and these are invariably resolved informally. Bullying is actively discouraged and during the inspection young people met to discuss anti-bullying issues. When young people’s behaviour threatens to become out of control, staff take swift and positive action to de-escalate the situation. In one particularly positive example of the highly effective way in which the home operates, a young person committed an offence and the home immediately drew together the partnership of the significant adults in the young person’s life including their family. Making constructive use of their underpinning theoretical model, the partnership worked out a coordinated and comprehensive plan to allow the young person to take responsibility and avoid the situation escalating, and these measures have so far been successful. This is

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Outstanding

This home is very well led by a talented management team which models positive practice. The home’s permanent registered manager has now moved on following secondment, and it is currently run by the highly competent and experienced deputy manager acting up, and a deputy manager seconded from another service. The staff group is longstanding, and this leads to continuity and stability, which the young people say that they value. Colourful and creative use of life story books documenting the young people’s stay at the home is a particularly positive feature.

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Outstanding

The home remains a very attractive physical environment. Notwithstanding its opening only last year, it was being repainted at the time of the inspection and its decoration remains fresh and clean. Of particular note is the large, homely dining area around which the household congregates for meals. Each young person has their own bedroom with an en suite shower area and this promotes privacy and personalisation for young adults. Annual health assessments confirm that all of the home’s young people are healthy and keep regular appointments, such as for dental checks.

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Outstanding

Files and records are meticulously kept and staff have access to current care plans for all children. Staff keep extensive records of young people’s progress against their individual programmes and make thoughtful use of one-to-one sessions to promote young people’s involvement in their plans and resilience in keeping to them. Managers are committed to continuously improving the service and are currently considering how the use of information on the local authority’s electronic recording system can be harnessed to improve an already comprehensive record keeping system, so that files are completely up to the minute. They are also considering how to address issues of family contact as part of the admission process, to avoid potentially frustrating delays for young people in seeing and spending time with their family.

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Outstanding

Existing robust monitoring of the home’s effectiveness is currently being further enhanced. Regular monitoring visits are undertaken and reported on by an independent person, and the home’s manager completes recurrent reports that are submitted to the local authority’s corporate parenting panel. This is being further augmented by a roster of visits from designated elected members, to ensure that they are directly exercising their corporate parenting responsibilities.

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Outstanding

Staff are provided with regular supervision and they are generally well trained and suitably qualified. They are further supported by an up-to-date statement of purpose and a suite of policies and procedures. Where more recent appointments are not suitably qualified, they are currently registered for and undertaking appropriate qualifications with identified dates for conclusion. One newly appointed member of staff spoke positively of the induction they had received and how accepted they felt on starting work at the home. She said, ‘From the minute I walked into [name of home] to meet the young people, I felt like I was walking into their 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 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 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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