Children's home run by Northumberland County Council in Northumberland

Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 1 SC468929 Registered provider: Northumberland County Council 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 local authority and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to four children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager was registered in July 2013 and is appropriately qualified.

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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

Date of last inspection: 10 January 2018

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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: SC468929 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2018 Full Good 16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/12/2016 Full Good 13/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home was very settled over the inspection period, with no children or young people arriving or leaving. In addition to this, changes within the staff team have been minimal, providing stability for the children. All the children at the home have made good or better progress through the last year and all of them have had a good experience of living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that the home is a homely and comfortable environment. There are good relationships between the children and the staff and the staff offer good standards of nurturing care. The staff continually consult the children about day-to-day matters and the children are clearly involved and part of their own care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have improved their school attendance and most of them are more settled in their schools. They are also now achieving better at school despite having missed some of their education in the past. The staff have supported some of the children to move to more appropriate schools where their education needs have been better met. This is very positive and the previous requirement around education has been met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have made progress with their emotional well-being. They have matured, grown in confidence and have become more resilient in that they are dealing with their difficulties and situations in more positive ways. One child has flourished, becoming more confident in social situations and friendships. Others have come to terms with difficult family situations and have learned how to deal better with these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have provided good individual support for the children. They successfully use a model of care to look in depth at children’s needs and help them to plan interventions and approaches to their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have taken part in a wide range of activities outside of the home and have been involved in various holidays and trips out. This has widened their experiences and provides interest, education and fun. At the time of the inspection, staff and children were planning an exciting trip to London and to the Houses of Parliament in particular.

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

The children living at this home have been kept safe while they are in the home. Staff ensure that any squabbles or arguments are dealt with appropriately and that there is no bullying in the home. The staff provide good boundaries and expectations and use their relationships to guide and advise the children about their behaviour and actions. There have been no physical interventions used by staff during this inspection period and very few sanctions have been used.

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

Some of the children have some history of going missing in the local area. These Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 4 situations have usually involved them wanting to be with family or friends in situations where they do not have permission. The staff always make good efforts to contact children when this happens and to find and return them as quickly as possible. One child who was missing for several longer periods was contacted frequently by staff, who were at least able to offer support and advice. The number of episodes of going missing for the children involved in this has reduced significantly over time.

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

Some of the children have been involved in drug taking while they have been missing from the home. They have been particularly influenced by family members but also by friends and acquaintances. The staff have provided good support and have referred these children to specialist drugs workers. The children have engaged with this work and again the instances of children taking drugs have reduced significantly over time.

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

There have been some concerns around sexual exploitation. However, staff have worked well with other agencies and have prevented children from coming to any known harm. The joint work around safeguarding with others has been good.

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

There have been incidents of some children bullying others while at school and again staff have worked closely with school staff to deal with this issue proactively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is doing an excellent job. She is very experienced, skilled and knowledgeable. She clearly wants the best for the children in her care. She is confident, highly motivated and is both efficient and effective in her leadership and management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has built a strong staff team whose members work well together. She supports her staff well and the staff say that they appreciate this. The supervision and training of staff are of a high quality. She has also continued to embed theory and research into everyday practice and this has contributed to the staff team members becoming increasingly skilled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has good relationships with many outside agencies and professionals. She works with a psychologist who is employed by the home and ensures that this support is used to full effect. This helps staff to explore in more depth the l model of care, based on theory, that they use and it helps with specific care issues. This resource is very positive in many ways.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff also have good access to a range of support services provided by the local authority, and the registered manager oversees referrals to these, maintaining good relationships and effective joint working. This includes some excellent work with staff at the virtual school to support children with educational difficulties and additional needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager empowers her staff well and is proactive in acquiring the resources that she needs. She monitors care practices thoroughly and has established high standards of record-keeping in the home. She is able to challenge others when this is necessary and is passionate about her work. Inspection report children’s home: SC468929 5

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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: SC468929 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: SC468929 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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