Children's home run by Northumberland County Council

Inspection report children’s home: 1155757 1 Registered provider: Northumberland County Council

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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 children’s home is run by a local authority and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to three children and 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 outstanding

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1155757 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2017 Full Good 06/12/2016 Full Good 25/04/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1155757 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people make good progress in this home from their starting points. They are well supported by staff who are dedicated and skilled. They make very good relationships with the staff, and they engage well with them when doing activities or undertaking in-depth work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is given a high priority. All the children and young people are encouraged to maintain good attendance at school, college or work, and they succeed in this. They also clearly make good academic progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people are offered a wide range of good quality, individualised support by both the staff and external professionals. The children and young people undoubtedly benefit from this, and what they learn helps to keep them safe. It also helps them to build resilience and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One older young person told the inspector that they had been very well prepared for moving on to independence. They have worked hard, with staff support, to learn the required skills and knowledge, and they have built confidence and resilience during their time at the home. They have played a full part in the planning of their transition to independent living, and these plans are progressing very well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is evidence of some good quality family work taking place. The children and young people are supported to develop better relationships with their families wherever possible. One child was able to return home to live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have maintained high standards of care despite changes within the staff team in the period since the previous inspection.

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

The staff clearly understand the risks and needs of children and young people. Staff make good quality assessments of risk, as well as putting in appropriate controls to minimise the risks.

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

Some of the children and young people have engaged in some risky behaviours when they have been away from the home without permission. The staff have worked very hard to address these issues. They have put in appropriate boundaries and carried out some excellent individual safeguarding work. They have always been proactive in locating and returning children and young people to the home, and have worked well with the police and with others in the community to do this. Overall, the staff have made progress in helping the children and young people to reduce these incidents in both time and frequency.

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

The staff have worked well with one child who arrived at the home with significant Inspection report children’s home: 1155757 4 challenging behaviour. They have taken time to understand this behaviour and the reasons for it, and have worked with the child to quickly reduce the need for physical interventions. This is a positive piece of work.

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

One child was at significant risk of child sexual exploitation when they were admitted to the home. The staff did some good work and reduced this risk, but they were unable to keep the child completely safe. Plans were made for the child to return home, and after some family work had taken place this plan was realised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is confident and highly organised. She is efficient and effective in her management and is an excellent role model.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

She has excellent relationships with all the children and young people and undoubtedly wants the best for them. She has high aspirations for them all and is committed to achieving good outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has created some excellent links with the local authority psychology services. She has established a significant amount of joint work, and psychologists now support all the children and young people. In addition, the staff are supported with training and discussion. The registered manager researched and introduced a model of working which looks at the underlying needs of the children and young people, based on their behaviours. This model is being developed jointly with the help of one of the psychologists and is clearly providing staff with guidance and tools to be able to intervene more effectively in the lives of the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff have been able to grow in skill and experience because of the good quality support, supervision and training that is provided by the registered manager. She has high expectations of them. Consequently, the staff team works well with children and young people who have complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home and the service are monitored very well by the registered manager. She provides strong leadership but also clearly listens to staff and the views of the children and young people.

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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: 1155757 5 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: 1155757 6

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Children’s home details

Registered Provider : Northumberland County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, MORPETH, Northumberland NE61 2EF

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Inspector

Colin Imrie, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1155757 7 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

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