Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes North East Limited in Gateshead

Inspection report children’s home: 1232649 1 Registered provider: Artemis Support 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 provides accommodation for up to five children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a private company. There is a manager in post who is not yet registered.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 September 2018

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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: 30 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2018 Full Good 22/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1232649 2

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Recommendations

 The registered person should build a strong safeguarding culture in the home where children are listened to, respected and involved in both the development of the home and decisions about the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.8) In particular, safeguarding should be a standard agenda item in team meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children who live in the home receive a good standard of care that meets their individual needs. The home is warm and welcoming. The children enjoy spending time there, as well as having independent time away from the home. The staff recognise the importance of the children spending time with family and friends where appropriate. The staff have listened to and taken into account the views of the children in respect of the decor and furnishing of the home. Each child is given an allowance to buy items to personalise their bedroom when they come to live at the home. This contributes to their sense of ownership and belonging. The staff are skilled at helping the children to attend and achieve in education. A number of the children had very poor attendance prior to coming to live at the home. All now attend regularly. This helps the children to understand the importance of education and gives them confidence in their own abilities. Staff understand the importance of praising

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and recognising the children’s achievements. They have framed certificates awarded to the children, and these are displayed alongside staff certificates. This means that the children can take pride in their achievements and feel valued. The staff help the children to gain independence skills using an individualised independence programme. The children are helped and supported to achieve age- appropriate skills. They are making good progress and are able to take responsibility for the decisions that they make. This has helped them to grow in confidence and develop self-care skills. Staff demonstrate a very good understanding of each child’s likes and together they design structured, well-planned and fun activities. The children spoke extremely positively of activities they take part in. One child said, ‘The staff ask you what you would like to do and help you to do it.’ Although there have been a number of changes to the staff team since the last

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

inspection, this has not affected the consistency of care.

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

The children say they feel safe. Staff understand the need for the children to become independent. They help them to understand risk and how to keep themselves safe. The Inspection report children’s home: 1232649 3 children are helped to manage their own behaviours and regulate their responses. This means that they are able to understand the need to manage their feelings and behaviours in an effective and confident way. Staff work hard to provide a safe place for the children to live in. They have a clear understanding of the children’s needs. Well-written and clear risk assessments enable the children to remain safe inside and outside the home. Consistent boundaries in the home safeguard the children effectively. Staff have a clear understanding of the children’s emotional needs. Collaborative working with social workers and the company’s psychologist results in behaviour and care plans that are personalised to the needs of the children. Child-friendly ‘my plans’ are in place.

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

These ensure that the children are able to clearly understand targets and set achievable goals. This helps them to feel valued and gain self-confidence. There are rarely any episodes of missing from the home. If this does happen, the staff team is proactive in its responses. They follow each child’s missing from home protocol and report to all relevant agencies. Staff work closely with social workers and the police when children go missing. Concerns around missing episodes and knowledge or intelligence gathered are shared regularly. This is a protective factor for the children. Return interviews take place. The manager has had to challenge a placing authority over the timeliness of return interviews. Her effective approach means that return interviews now take place within an appropriate timescale. Staff use key-worker sessions efficiently to help the children understand how to keep themselves safe. The staff demonstrate a good understanding of the risks that children

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

take and why. This leads to proportionate and warm responses from the staff, and helps the children to learn from their experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a strong commitment to improving outcomes for children. Since her appointment, she has driven improvements, resulting in positive outcomes for the children. She leads a team of staff that has high aspirations for the children and a good understanding of their needs. Staff are motivated and passionate in the care and support they provide. Staff are able to reflect on their practice during regular and supportive supervision. Staff spoken to felt motivated, valued and well supported. Through implementing learning from a range of training, staff have gained the skills to meet the children’s complex needs. Monthly meetings take place in which training and development are reflected upon and the manager acknowledges the positive work of the staff. To strengthen practice within the home, safeguarding should be made a standing agenda item in staff team meetings. This will give staff the opportunity to discuss the safeguarding ethos of

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the home regularly. The manager works well with other professionals involved with each young person, including the police, social workers and health professionals. The company’s clinical psychologist works closely with staff, providing training, consultation and support. This helps staff to gain insight and understanding of the children’s previous experiences of trauma. This enables them to provide knowledgeable, effective and planned care for the Inspection report children’s home: 1232649 4 children. The manager and staff are constantly striving to promote positive outcomes for all the children. They understand the need for the children to develop confidence and self- esteem, helping them to be more resilient in the future. They have created a nurturing environment in which the children are able to flourish and achieve.

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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: 1232649 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Artemis Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 92 Whitton View, Rothbury, Morpeth NE65 7QN

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Inspectors

Dot McGough, social care inspector Jane Titley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1232649 6 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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