Children's home run by St Cuthbert’s Care in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report children's home: SC433451 1 SC433451 Registered provider: St Cuthbert’s Care

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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 run by a charitable organisation and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to six children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager was registered in 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 14 to 15 November 2018

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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 good

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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: 6 February 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC433451 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2018 Full Outstanding 02/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/10/2016 Full Outstanding 16/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC433451 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people who live in this home receive an excellent standard of care that is tailored to their individual level of need. The home is a large period property. There are lots of communal areas such as games rooms, computer room, lounge and dining area that are well used. Children and young people also have large bedrooms with their own separate bathroom. This provides children and young people with privacy and a space that they can individualise with their personal touches and belongings. Each child and young person’s hobbies and interests are well supported and encouraged. Some children and young people have attended fairs and events linked to their hobbies. Such events help children and young people to have positive experiences and develop friendships with peers who share similar interests. The adults that care for the children and young people are caring and committed. They dedicate their time to support children and young people helping them to develop

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

trusting relationships. The registered manager and her staff team are excellent at advocating on behalf of children and young people. In some instances, this has required challenging other professionals where there have been shortfalls in the level of care and support provided. The registered manager’s tenacity has helped children and young people receive appropriate placements and support post 18 years. For others, it has led to additional assessments and specialist services being offered. The registered manager is very child focused and ensures that the needs of children and young people remain the priority. Due to the current vulnerabilities of the children and young people, the registered manager’s focus is to maintain their stability. She recognises that should further admissions be considered at this juncture this is likely to have a detrimental effect on the stability and security for the children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

There is exceptional care planning pre-admission and beyond. Impact risk assessments are completed in detail to ensure that risks are considered with regard to each child and young person. This also enables the registered manager to assess the home’s ability to fully meet the aims and objectives as within the home’s statement of purpose. Admissions are dealt with in a sensitive way. This helps children and young people to settle quickly. Key-worker sessions are carefully planned and monitored to track progress. Key documents such as care plans are written in a way that are helpful for children and young people to see how the adults will help care for them. In some instances, older children have contributed to writing their own risk assessments. This takes into account the children’s views about how they feel in crisis situations and what is helpful to them at that time. This has been highly effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home has an excellent ethos in relation to education. Staff work hard to develop children and young people’s learning, independence and self-care skills in line with their age and abilities. Children and young people are making significant progress in all aspects of their lives. For some children and young people, this has been specifically around educational attendance and attainment. For others, it has been around social, Inspection report children's home: SC433451 4 emotional and/or behavioural development. Children and young people are very much at the centre of daily practice. The views of children and young people are regularly sought. The registered manager has a system in place for children and young people to contribute to the agenda of team meetings and developments in the home. This is in addition to well-planned house meetings. This enables children and young people to benefit from the care that they receive and feel

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

listened to. Additionally, children and young people are confident that when they complain they know it will be dealt with effectively. The home continues to drive improvements forward. The registered manager recognises that communities are an important aspect to having a sense of belonging. The home participates in neighbourhood team meetings where charity events and litter picks form part of the developments in the community. This enables children and young people to participate and make a positive contribution.

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

Risk assessments and risk management systems are very good. Where there have been issues around bullying, these have been managed effectively. The registered manager has been proactive at addressing such matters. This was evident in key-worker sessions and in the house meeting minutes. The home has been awarded ‘excellence’ from the Bullying Intervention Group. Appropriate staffing levels and engaging with the children and young people helps them to build and sustain positive relationships with the adults that care for them. The staff team works hard to help children and young people to be respectful to each other. They have celebrated diversity and differences in house meetings. They have also celebrated Happy Children’s Day, which helps children and young people to feel valued and understand their rights and how they should be treated with respect. Sanctions applied in the home have been appropriate and restorative in nature. There is

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

a strong focus on celebrating and rewarding positive behaviours. Children and young people receive individual incentives that can lead to an activity of choice or money to purchase specific items. This has been effective, and the home has seen a reduction of negative behaviours for each child and young person. The use of physical intervention techniques is at a low level and only used as a last resort to protect children and young people harming themselves or others. The preferred choice of managing negative behaviours is via de-escalation techniques. For some children and young people, there are increased staffing levels to manage specific vulnerabilities. This has been effective at reducing crisis situations. Missing from home episodes are not a concern for children and young people currently living in the home. One young person who left the home in October 2018 has had several missing from home episodes. On each occasion, appropriate action was taken

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

and the correct procedures followed. Staff were proactive in their searches for the young person which resulted in their safe return. There is an excellent safeguarding culture in the home. Safeguarding is a stand-alone Inspection report children's home: SC433451 5 agenda item discussed in team meetings and in supervisions. Safeguarding procedures ensure that staff know exactly what to do if there were concerns for a child or young person’s welfare. There is effective work undertaken with children and young people to help protect them. E-safety learning, anti-bullying and appropriate behaviours are taught to children and young people. The staff team uses innovative and creative ways to ensure that each child and young person receives support to help protect them. Teaching and learning has taken place in the community. For example, the children and young people enjoyed a trip to their local fire station where they experienced interactive learning around fire safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is passionate and inspirational. She is supported in her role by an experienced deputy manager and highly effective staff team. Collectively, they share the same values and ambitions for children and young people. Their enthusiasm means that children and young people receive nurturing and consistent care. The staff team receives regular supervisions, appraisals and observations of practice. Such forums enable the staff to consider safeguarding concerns and planning around children and young people. They also provide opportunities for professional development. The manager delegates specific topics for members of the staff team to research and deliver a presentation within team meetings, for example looking at the quality care standards, whistleblowing and many more topics. Additionally, guest speakers are invited to team meetings to support additional learning to the team. The training and support provided to the staff team means that staff are skilled and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

confident in their abilities. Staff spoken to said that they feel well supported and motivated as a result. Professional development is well supported by the registered manager. Newly appointed members of staff are currently receiving an in-depth induction and training programme. Other staff members have either completed an NVQ level 4 or 5 or are enrolled on the course. The registered manager and staff team are highly effective at working as part of a wider care team. They have excellent relationships with a number of professionals. A professional commented, ‘I cannot sing their praises enough. They set a precedence of what every children’s home should look like. They are dedicated, committed to the children and so nurturing. [Name], the manager, leads by example.’ The registered manager demonstrates sound insight into the home’s strengths as well as areas that could be further improved. Her motivation and enthusiasm are highly effective

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

at sustaining and driving improvements forward. Central to this has been the active involvement of consulting with children and young people on a regular basis. This helps children and young people to contribute to their care and have positive experiences. The registered manager has been astute in her recruitment process and understands the benefits of having a workforce that has varied skills and experience. There are some staff vacancies and she is looking to filling those positions. Staffing levels in the home Inspection report children's home: SC433451 6 have not been adversely affected while positions wait to be filled. The staff have collectively taken on additional hours to ensure that children and young people continue to receive consistent care from a stable staff team. Practice in the home is very much built on evidence-based research. The home applies a Management of Actual or Potential Aggression model. Additionally, the home consults

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

with a consultant psychologist to understand different attachment styles, trauma and bereavement. In doing so, staff provide a consistent approach to the quality of care that children and young people receive.

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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: SC433451 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: St Cuthbert’s House, West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 7PY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Sheila Errington

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC433451 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

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