Children's home run by North Tyneside Council in North Tyneside

Inspection report children’s home: SC038557 1 SC038557 Registered provider: North Tyneside Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides short breaks for up to five children who have sensory impairment, learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. It is operated by a local authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

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

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 2 February 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC038557 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children make excellent progress as a result of their short-break stays. They thrive in a stimulating and purposeful environment.  The home’s staffing ratio ensures that children receive the attention and support that they need to keep them safe and help them to develop confidence.  The staff have an extensive understanding of each child’s needs and use this to design and implement individual programmes of care, which promote their independent goals.  The manager and her staff team work closely with parents and a range of professionals in each child’s life. This helps to develop packages of support that are proactive.  The staff team has excellent skills in managing challenging behaviour, supported by external health professionals. This ensures that children’s health, well-being and emotional status are meticulously monitored and evaluated.  The manager and her staff team are highly active in promoting children’s rights,

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Key findings from this inspection

and involving them in making choices and suggesting improvements in the service. This approach is empowering and contributes to the home’s outstanding ability to enhance the overall well-being of children.  Transitions in and out of short breaks are unquestionably well planned. This attention to detail is consistently applied in all aspects of care in this home.  The registered manager is pivotal to children experiencing outstanding outcomes. She ensures that the staff team is fully supported in maintaining the high standards of care provided to the children. Supervision provided to staff is comprehensive, reflective and forward thinking.

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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

 The manager and her staff team are mindful of celebrating any achievements and social events. A member of staff has been tasked with developing this area further by capturing the moments for children’s memories.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/08/2016 Full Outstanding 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/09/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC038557 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children who access this service continue to be provided with an excellent level of care during their short breaks. The manager and the staff team ensure that planning around admissions and discharges is excellent. Preparation for any child accessing the service is meticulously planned. A parent said, ‘All introductions were done at [Name’s] pace. At the start there was a meeting held with myself, social worker and a key worker from the home. They came to the house to discuss [Name’s] routines and anything that I particularly wanted them to work on with my child and they did the same with school.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The quality and review of children’s individualised care are outstanding. Independent goal plans identified with children, their parents and professionals are detailed and planned in accordance with children’s level of ability and understanding. To enable progress, targets are mapped out step by step. These are explained verbally and at other times through a combination of communication aids. ‘Timeline cards’ visually demonstrate to children the steps that support understanding without causing anxiety by providing small segments of information. This process also allows the steps to be taken at the child’s pace. Progress is evident in all children’s care plans. Many children who access the service have issues with food and with staff’s persistence and consistent use of identified strategies most children make significant improvements. A parent said, ‘The best thing about this home has been getting [Name] to eat properly at the table and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

even now he will wait until he is told it is okay to leave, which he would never have done prior to coming here as he could not stay still.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Achievements are celebrated and reward charts detail why a child has been successful. Reward charts are often placed on children’s bedroom doors during their stay to personalise their room. On the day of inspection, bedrooms were spotless and individually decorated with personal items displayed. Such items are often dropped off by parents prior to stays earlier in the day. At this point, medication is also dropped off and the detailed process of booking medication in and out was observed. The staff were highly skilled and knowledgeable in this task, which is required given the complexities of some of the children’s medical requirements. Competency checks of this task are carried out by the registered manager, ensuring that practice is consistently applied.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Flexibility and accurate planning ensure that children share their short-break experience with familiar peers, who often attend the same school or college. In some cases, siblings come to the service at the same time, ensuring that important attachments are maintained and levels of anxiety are reduced. Parent’s anxieties are reduced through the competence and sensitivity of the staff team’s approach. The manager and staff were observed interacting with parents and siblings throughout the early part of each inspection day. It was evident that relationships are powerful and built on trust and respect. A member of staff commented, ‘We are very positive about the children. They do not want to leave. We are a very big part of their lives and their families.’ A social worker stated, ‘They have good relationships with parents. It is like a second home for the children.’ A parent stated, ‘They are really good at getting to know you and it shows

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Inspection report children’s home: SC038557 4 that they really care about making you feel comfortable, more like a friend.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Observations of the children relaxing from a day at school demonstrated how content and calm they were in the presence of staff and familiar peers. Children were interacting with staff, one child enjoying a foot rub and another playing with his cars on a car mat, watching television and two other children were happy to smile and watch while the evening meal was being prepared. A very homely and warm environment enjoyed by all present.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff team meetings are held regularly. During the inspection, such a meeting was attended by the behaviour assessment team (BAT). Staff demonstrated their knowledge of the children and focused entirely on supporting and addressing certain types of behaviour. Strategies were shared, appropriate questions asked of the health professional and positive messages of successful short-break stays were shared. Children were spoken about with care, compassion and dignity. Every member of the staff team present was enthusiastic about each topic discussed, especially when discussing the unique characteristics of each individual child.

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

The home has high staffing levels that are efficient in ensuring that children are provided with supervision that is proportionate to their level of need. This enables children to be safeguarded at all times and promotes safe levels of independence that many of the children enjoy. The staff team takes every opportunity to encourage and support children to develop a sense of control in their daily lives by safely monitoring personal care and household tasks, such as cooking. This actively supports children’s awareness of household dangers, especially relevant to children with a learning disability. Communication aids such as ‘timeline cards’ help each child to see and know what is to happen next. This is a step-by-step process that reduces anxiety and supports safe management in any task that is undertaken with children in the home and out on activities.

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

Individual risk assessments are thorough in detail and are initially developed from exceptional levels of communication with parents and education and health professionals prior to children accessing the short-break stays. Visits undertaken by a key worker to the parental home and to children’s individual schools support the understanding of the child’s behavioural patterns that may be exclusive to the particular environment. Additionally, consistent input from agencies such as the BATs supports the assessment of risk. A health professional in this team stated, ‘The skill set of staff is exceptional. Excellent behaviour plans are in place. They proactively contact us, schools. They provide tea visits and build up rapport to ensure stays are seamless.’ Risk assessments are subsequently regularly reviewed and good communication with the overall care team helps children to become increasingly safe.

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

Physical restraints are rarely required, as the staff are highly skilled in using effective strategies to manage behaviour, supported through discussions held with BAT professionals. The home has a member of staff trained as a trainer in aggression Inspection report children’s home: SC038557 5 management and this has enabled the staff team to gain advice and support quickly. The trainer has been able to provide theory and practice support to refresh de-escalation approaches that could be used in situations, providing staff with other options. This had a positive effect on reducing the number of restraints that were required to avoid any unnecessary harm to a child. Through consistently applying the practical elements of the theoretical approach, behaviour deemed as attention-led diminished and subsequently there have been no further incidents requiring physical intervention. This high level of knowledge and practice supports safe care and, emotionally, the children. A social

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

worker said, ‘Staff are very knowledgeable, they know the children and they have a wealth of skills and resources.’

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

Staff have access to regular safeguarding training. This provides them with the knowledge that they need to keep children protected. When safeguarding issues arise, there is a robust response from the staff team members who are aware of the relevant procedures. They are vigilant in recognising and looking for any physical signs or changes in behaviour. Leadership and management support is available at all times for staff to be able to consult if an area of concern requires further discussion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is highly experienced and suitably qualified. She is pivotal to children experiencing a stimulating and consistent level of care that supports excellent progress in their development. The service is highly valued by parents/carers and professionals. The staff team shares the manager’s enthusiasm and commitment that is shown on a daily basis in preparing for children’s short-break stays.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has unquestionably successful relationships with all members of the social care team around the child. Together they create an environment that is nurturing, inspirational and full of positivity. The staff team is confident and is supported through effective and purposeful supervision. Performance is monitored and access to quality training is enabled by the leadership and management team. Specialist behavioural support is provided through regular consultations with the BAT and community learning disability team. Training has been provided via epilepsy nurses and staff have also been enabled to complete Autism Level 2 distance learning. This training was identified due to the continuing number of children with autism spectrum disorder accessing short-break stays. This helped to maintain staff’s competence to a high level, ensuring that children receive the best possible care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The leadership and management team strongly advocates for the continuous review of the needs of children who access the service. This has enabled children to transition to and from another home operated by the same provider that also provides short breaks. This has been in response to further assessment of children’s needs and the requirements documented in their individual care plans and observations. Professionals from other agencies, such as health, education and social care professionals, in conjunction with parents were involved in the decision-making process. The outcome has been positive for the children involved, who are now settling in positively in their new environments. A comprehensive analysis and evaluation took place by professionals Inspection report children’s home: SC038557 6 working together, ensuring that children’s outcomes were at the forefront of decision making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Consultation processes within the home are extensive and feedback is gained through a variety of sources. The registered manager uses the communication aids where required to establish children’s views, wishes and feelings. Additionally, questionnaires have been completed by parents and professionals. Innovative development of communication in print symbols enables children to be involved in every aspect of their care. The thread of evidence is apparent in aims, goals, achievements, care plans and so on developed with the children’s voice being heard in pictorial format. The children’s guide was developed through consultation with the children and in formats according to their communication status. Children have a voice at this home and they are empowered to develop the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager continues to have good oversight of the home and knows its strengths and weaknesses. The monitoring and audit processes, supported by monthly visits by an independent person, help with the analysis and evaluation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The recommendation made at the last interim inspection has been implemented. Files and written plans are now more accessible. This provides an effective and streamlined system.

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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.

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Information about this inspection

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 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: SC038557 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: North Tyneside Council, 16 The Silverlink North, Newcastle upon Tyne NE27 0BY

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Inspector

Michael Dack: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038557 8 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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