Children's home run by Pear Tree Projects Limited in County Durham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC000803 1 SC000803 Registered provider: Pear Tree Projects Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered with Ofsted to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people are settled in the home and are making good progress overall.  The home recognises the importance of young people engaging in education, Inspection report children‟s home: SC000803 2 training and employment. Young people‟s views are considered to help develop their pathway plans. This provides young people with an opportunity to reach their optimal goals and succeed.  The staff team recognises the importance of contact with family members and friends. Contact is well supported where appropriate. Young people also enjoy having sleepovers with friends and family members.  The young people quickly develop positive relationships with the adults that care for them. Relationships are built on mutual respect and trust. This enables young people to be open and honest, particularly when sharing their views in house meetings and key-worker sessions.  The home is a large period property. The home‟s manager ensures that it is well

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Key findings from this inspection

maintained, attending to any repairs promptly. Young people now benefit from having their own en-suite shower room.  There is a good safeguarding culture within the home. Safeguarding is discussed in individual supervisions as well as team meetings.  The home works well with a range of professionals, demonstrating that Working Together protocols are followed.

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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 staff team is good at engaging the young people in key-worker sessions. To further strengthen the practice in the home, all recordings should be written in a way that will be helpful to the young people at all times.  Recordings are updated daily. To ensure accountability, each recording should be signed and dated by the author.  Team meetings are regular. To strengthen practice further, a set agenda in team meetings would assist. The staff team should contribute to the agenda. Additionally tasks and outcomes should be explicitly referred to.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/12/2016 Full Good 02/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC000803 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 registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(a)(b)(c)) 02/04/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with: each child; the home‟s staff; each child‟s family/carers where appropriate; and professionals involved in the care or protection of each child including their social worker, Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), teachers, clinicians and other health professionals etc. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 54,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people living in the home have settled well. They are making good progress in a range of areas relevant to their care planning. There is a calming and relaxed atmosphere in the home. One young person said, „This is my home. We have good banter with each other, including the staff. I don‟t actually look at the staff as being staff, they are like my family.‟ Inspection report children‟s home: SC000803 4 The home offers young people the opportunity to relax in their own space. Each young person has their own large bedroom with an en-suite shower room. There are also several communal areas that are well used by the young people. Young people can relax watching television or play on a games consoles. There is also a games room with darts and a pool table. Each young person has a push bike. This provides opportunities for bike rides, as well as independent travel. Observations from the inspection are that the young people enjoy spending time with

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

each other. They also enjoy spending time with the adults that care for them. Having a small staff team has its benefits, as it provides the young people with stability and consistency of care. The home is part of a larger organisation. There is an off-site school and farm attached to the home. Young people have benefited from the provisions made available at these establishments. This has included education, farming and horticultural skills. The director of the company invests well to develop the opportunities made available to the young people. On young person commented, „[Name of director] has done so much for me and other young people. I think if it wasn‟t for [Name] and [Name of house manager] I would probably have been in prison by now. They have just helped me so much and I want to say thank you to them.‟ The young person then showed me a photograph from his time on the farm and stated, „That was the best day of my life.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people also benefit from structured time away from the home. This is supported by risk assessments and pathway plans to help move young people on. Young people are able to recognise their own progress. This is because targets are set to assist the young people to make the necessary transitions. Contact with family and friends is well supported where appropriate. One parent commented, „I can‟t fault them. They even helped us to see [name of child] when we had no car for a few weeks. [Name] has made so much progress. He now walks with his head up and looks smart. I feel I have my son back.‟ The young people are all in good health and have been supported to attend any routine medical appointments. The staff team ensures that the young people receive a healthy, balanced diet. This has taken into account the young people‟s views and type of foods they would like to eat. On parent commented, „[Name] was a little overweight. He looks

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

amazing now. He has lost some weight and is taking pride in his appearance.‟

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

Risk assessments are robust and identify strategies to mitigate risk and harmful behaviours. Care plans and risk assessments are regularly updated. They take into account new information and reflect the progress of young people. The records do not always reflect who made the amendment. This makes it difficult to track accountability. The home‟s manager attends multi-agency meetings. Information gathered from these meetings informs the home‟s locality risk assessment and individual risk assessment of each young person. Inspection report children‟s home: SC000803 5 Comprehensive care plans inform key-worker sessions. There are no bullying issues in the home at present. Preventative work has been completed with the young people to avoid such events occurring. Other pieces of work completed have been informed by individual risk assessments. Sensitive topics have been explored with the young people. They include racism, substance misuse and cyber safety. This has assisted young people

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

to make better choices to keep themselves safe. The young people say that they feel safe living in the home and have a trusted adult that they can confide in. They say that they are able to express their views freely. This is likely to make young people feel physically and emotionally safe. Low level behaviours are quickly challenged with minimal sanctions applied. Physical interventions have not been necessary for some time. One young person commented, „We get told off sometimes, but I know they have to make sure we have guidance.‟ Damage to the property and missing from home episodes have not been a concern in the home. This demonstrates that the young people value their home and the time that they spend there. The home‟s manager creates a good safeguarding culture in the home. The staff have recently completed additional safeguarding training. This was training relevant to the vulnerabilities of the young people that they care for. Safeguarding is included as a

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

standalone item in supervisions and team meetings. Additionally, the manager has added an information board in the staff room. This includes useful contact details, procedures and relevant research, all in relation to safeguarding.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and experienced for the role. He is supported in his role by a small, dedicated staff team. The home is operated by a single- cover rota. The young people do not report any impact from this. The home‟s manager has carefully considered this in the recruiting of staff. He has utilised the staff team‟s range of skills and experiences to the home‟s advantage. This means that the young people receive a good standard of care. There is a new member of staff. She came from one of the other homes within the organisation. Her joining the team has had no adverse impact for the young people. The young people have been complimentary about all of the staff members. This has included the home‟s manager. The home‟s manager is child focused. He is also realistic in his attitude towards the young people. He is able to recognise what are harmful behaviours, but also recognises

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

age-appropriate behaviours. The manager is very much present in the home. The young people enjoy having jovial banter with him. The young people are able to raise any issues they have directly with him. The home‟s manager is ambitious about the developments in the home. He is also dedicated to progressing young people‟s plans. He welcomes feedback from a range of professionals, including inspectors. This enables him to improve the home‟s practice. To strengthen practice further, the staff team should have opportunities to fully contribute to the team meeting agendas. This would allow the manager to consult with the staff Inspection report children‟s home: SC000803 6 team and develop daily practice. It would also improve outcomes for young people. There is an up-to-date training matrix. This highlights that mandatory courses are in date. The home‟s manager has a system in place to monitor when training requires

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

updating. This has been an effective system. The home‟s manager has developed a cross-referencing system on each young person‟s file. This will enable anyone with a legitimate reason to view the records to access information quickly. Individual supervisions take place on a monthly basis. The home‟s manager uses this forum effectively to challenge and develop practice. Safeguarding and young people are key to the discussions.

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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: SC000803 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pear Tree Projects Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Peartree House, Bolam, Darlington, County Durham DL2 2UP

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Inspector:

Jacqueline Tate, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC000803 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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Inspector:

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

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