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

Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 1 SC484242 Registered provider: Spark Of Genius North East LLP

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider manages and operates this children’s home. It provides care and accommodation for up to five children or young people who have behavioural and/or emotional difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager and staff team are aspirational for the children and young people in their care.  The staff are able to develop positive, effective relationships with the children Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 2 and young people.  The children and young people regularly contribute to their individual plans.  Contact with family and friends is well promoted and supported.  The children and young people are involved in activities and hobbies that improve their emotional well-being.  Age-appropriate independence is encouraged and supported.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Training for staff needs to be widened and include face-to-face training, rather than relying on courses online, to offer experiential learning in a group setting.  The home needs to consult with children and young people on their views about living in the home and about areas for improvement.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/06/2016 Full Good 18/11/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/06/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7(1)(c) and (2)(a)(iv)) 25/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(1)(a) and (4)(a)) 25/08/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand factors that affect children’s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13)  Staff skills for safeguarding should include being able to identify signs that children may be at risk, and support children in strategies to manage and reduce Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 4 any risks. Staff should encourage children to express their views about whether they feel safe both inside and outside the home. Staff should support children to understand how to ask for help to stay safe and that the home is an environment which supports this. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people have stable, warm relationships with members of staff who are aspirational in their approach. The children and young people are supported to achieve in their education and work life and are encouraged to take part in a range of social activities. This ensures that they make steady progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been changes to the group of children and young people in recent months. Transitions have been well planned. They have taken place over a period of time to allow the children and young people to acclimatise to new surroundings, either in the home or in a new placement. This ensures that settling in or moving on from the home has a greater chance of success. A young person said: ‘I really like it here and don’t want to leave. I know I have to, but I don’t want to.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people attend education well and have progressed, with support from staff and management. One young person readily attends school but finds it difficult to maintain positive behaviour throughout the day. A member of staff has supported this young person in the classroom for a number of weeks, enabling the young person to settle and gain the most from their newly acquired full days at the school. The result is that young people feel supported in education and develop trust in the adults around them to do what they say they will do. The relationships that result have enabled change and development in the children and young people. A young person said: ‘I like it here, the staff are mint!’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people regularly review and add to their care plans. These are developed from the day of admission to the home, and include their likes and dislikes in relation to simple choices such as food and activities. Their plan is used by staff to address some of the issues outlined in the wider plan for their future and incorporate aspirational thoughts and feelings. Their plan includes all areas of a child or young person’s journey in the home and offer written accounts by staff of the activities undertaken, along with photographic evidence. This provides the child or young person with positive, affirming messages and memories of their time in the home that will benefit them in later life. A social worker said: ‘This is a really good nurturing environment for [name of child]. He has clear boundaries and they do all they can for him. He has an incentive plan and they are encouraging him constantly.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Wider consultation with the children and young people about the home in general is addressed through regular meetings. However, these are very adult led and do not link Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 5 with the decisions taken at the young people’s parliament which was set up by the organisation to gather views. In addition, there is little evidence of the views of the children and young people in relation to the development of the home, and this needs to be addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are a wide range of activities on offer both in the home and in the community. The children and young people are encouraged to join local groups but also to take part in individual activities such as riding their bikes and going to the park with friends. High staffing levels allow for this to be facilitated on a daily basis. This enables the children and young people to develop positive physical well-being and learn social skills to engage in positive friendships outside of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good health is well promoted in the home. A healthy, nutritious menu is offered, with flexibility to respond to the likes and dislikes of each child or young person. There is information freely available relating to a wide range of health issues. Such issues are also discussed in individual key-worker sessions in which support and information help the child or young person make positive choices about their healthcare. The result is that the children and young people readily attend appointments, either on their own or with the support of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Contact with families and friends is seen as important and is supported by the staff. Families visit the home regularly and are made welcome. This is particularly important at the point of admission to the home. During a recent visit to the home by parents of a young person transitioning to the home, a member of staff was appointed to assist with the visit. In discussions around how well families are supported, a social worker describing the visit said: ‘He gave her lots of information and made her feel really welcome and calm.’ There was evidence within daily records of friends visiting the home and of the children and young people appropriately staying overnight with friends.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The children and young people are safe and said that they feel safe in the home. Risk assessments concentrate on individual behaviours that may cause harm to children, young people or others. This ensures that appropriate risk taking is encouraged and risks that can cause harm are managed.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff maintain regular contact with professionals who are involved in the care of the children and young people and update them accordingly. A local police officer said: ‘We have a good working relationship with the home. We often pop in just to see how things are. We have lots of confidence in the manager now that he is here. There are no real issues as far as we are concerned. The level of missing from home was a concern but that has reduced.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The number of episodes of missing from home continued to be high for a significant amount of time following the last inspection. These have now reduced dramatically with a combination of the transitions of some of the young people to other placements and a Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 6 change in the guidance given to staff. It is now much clearer in terms of the actions and timescales that staff should follow before reporting a young person missing. Previously, young people would have already returned at the point when the police attended to take details. This has improved the data in relation to the home and has also improved relationships between staff and the young people, who now feel supported. A young person said: ‘I have people here I can trust and feel safe with.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Records show that the number of incidents that result in physical interventions is high. However, a large proportion of the interventions involved separating two family members who engaged in squabbles that occasionally overstepped acceptable boundaries. Separation of the two children has led to a calming of behaviours in both cases. All records of such interventions were monitored and signed off by the manager to ensure that they were appropriate.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Sanctions are used to regulate behaviour, and overall they are appropriate. However, in some cases they continue to be punitive in their approach, and this needs to be addressed. Incentive schemes are in place for all the children and young people and prove successful in most cases. However, records showed that these rewards are disproportionate across the age groups. The younger children gain more positives for minor improvements in everyday behaviours despite the older young people behaving appropriately the majority of time. This also needs to be addressed and was discussed with the manager, who recognised the issue.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Recruitment of staff is robustly managed. Induction booklets are used along with shadow shifts in the first six months of employment, and the new staff team members have benefited from this. However, the manager has not been afforded an induction or increased supervision as identified in the policy. This is essential, regardless of his previous experience, to ensure that he can gain knowledge of all the processes and individuals in the home and effect change where necessary.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff and managers are clear about procedures for concerns about the safety of the children and young people. The policy for safeguarding has been improved and gives clear indication of the steps that the staff team must take to ensure that the children and young people remain safe. In addition, the reporting processes are clearly outlined.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The culture of safeguarding would be improved by adding this as a standard agenda item to team meetings, rather than including it on an as-and-when basis.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been no complaints or allegations made by the children and young people against staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager, who has been in post since March 2017, is suitably qualified and has considerable experience of working in children’s homes. The manager is clear and aspirational in his interactions with the staff, children and young people. When Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 7 discussing the impact of the changes in manager, a young person said: ‘He is a good manager, he gets things done.’ This opinion was supported by a member of staff, who said: ‘He is very clear and approachable.’ There is also a deputy in place and senior staff that support them. The result is a management team that is willing and able to effect change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is highly staffed and resourced to meet the needs of the children and young people living there. The staff team is suitably vetted and qualified. Staff who are new to the team are working towards a relevant qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has scheduled development days to maximise opportunities to move the staff team forward in its practice. Training remains an issue in the home. The gaps identified at the last inspection have been addressed but there is still no wide-ranging plan of training and updates that would support the team’s learning. This needs to be addressed to support the manager in the changes and development of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive effective supervision that is focused on the children’s and young people’s experiences, as well as raising areas for development through reflection on incidents. Supervision is recorded and is now carried out in appropriate timescales, other than for the manager during induction, to support staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management and staff work proactively and positively with other agencies and professionals to ensure that the children and young people benefit from services. A social worker said: ‘They keep me very well informed and are very welcoming. We have a good working relationship.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Complaints from neighbours continue to impact on the home. The new manager is willing to address these issues immediately as they occur and has committed to improving relationships in the neighbourhood, given time to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements and recommendations made in the previous inspection have been met. This demonstrates the home’s continued capacity to improve.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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. Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 8 Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well

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Information about this inspection

it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Spark Of Genius North East LLP

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: King Edwin School, Mill Lane, Stockton-On-Tees, Cleveland TS20 1LG

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Inspector

Susan Atkinson-Millmoor, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC484242 10 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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