Children's home run by Newcastle City Council

Inspection report children’s home: 1233307 1 Registered provider: Newcastle City 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

A local authority operates this home. Care and accommodation is provided for up to six children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager has been registered for three years.

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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 outstanding

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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: 30 January 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1233307 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/05/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1233307 3

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Recommendations

 Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home, so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14) In particular, safeguarding should be a standard agenda item.  It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people at this home are extremely well cared for. They receive a consistently high level of individual care. The staff are knowledgeable about the children and young people and provide a supportive and nurturing environment in which they succeed and flourish. The children and young people like spending time with the staff and have positive relationships with them. They are well supported and confident to voice their opinions about all areas of their day-to-day life at the home. This means that they are able to influence the quality of care that is being provided. This ensures that children and young people feel valued. School attendance is high. Staff are creative in the way that they encourage and support the children and young people’s education. There is a range of educational books and games available. This contributes to learning being made fun and accessible. Staff have

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

high aspirations for the children and young people. This helps them grow in confidence and self-esteem. The children and young people take an active part in their plans and in decision-making in the home. All of the children and young people have ‘about me’ plans that are child friendly. Key-worker sessions are used creatively to ensure that the children and young people can actively contribute to their plans and, as part of this, they are able to set realistic targets and goals. Plans are reviewed and updated on a regular basis and shared appropriately with families and professionals. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘The staff are brilliant, absolutely fabulous and really go the extra mile. They are professional and support the children and young people to participate in their children looked after reviews.’ This makes children and young people feel listened to and valued. The emotional well-being of the children and young people is given the highest priority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff are well trained and have a thorough understanding of the children and young Inspection report children’s home: 1233307 4 people’s needs. Staff work in collaboration with the local child and adolescent mental health team in finding creative and effective ways to meet the children and young people’s needs. The confidence, self-esteem, mental health and well-being programme has been firmly imbedded into practice since the previous inspection. The staff use a number of useful resources, to help and support the children and young people; these include the health relationships booklet, and relationship bingo. These resources are effective and accessible, ensuring that the children and young people have fun while developing self-esteem and resilience. The home is well maintained, warm and welcoming. Staff have worked closely with the children and young people in respect of decor and furnishing throughout the home. The

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

children and young people’s bedrooms are personalised spaces that they are proud of and reflect their individuality. The children and young people have developed age-appropriate independence skills that have helped them to manage their personal care needs. They have become confident and are proud of their achievements. Progress is well recognised and rewarded. Staff have created a culture in which the children and young people are praised and valued, which gives them a sence of being loved and nurtured.

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

The children and young people said that they feel safe. Staff provide them with a safe and secure place to live. They are helped by the staff to understand risk and how to keep themselves safe. Staff understand that the children and young people need to take appropriate risks. Staff help the children and young people to manage their behaviours and to regulate their responses. This gives the children and young people the skills to manage their feelings and behaviour in a positive way. There is a robust and strong response to risk. Staff understand risk well and are extremely vigilant. Clear and comprehensive risk assessments support the children and young people’s safety inside and outside of the home. Consistent and clear boundaries in the home safeguard the children and young people effectively. The manager and staff consistently role model and promote effective, positive behaviour and interaction with others. Good manners are seen as important and this helps the

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

children and young people to develop an exceedingly strong sense of how to treat others. Physical interventions are rarely used. On the occasions when they have been used, they have been low level and brief to ensure safety. All physical interventions are well recorded and have been reviewed by a senior member of staff. The use of sanctions is minimal and is counterbalanced by incentives and rewards for positive behaviour. The children and young people are able to choose their own sanctions, and this fosters an awareness of responsibility and the consequences for the choices that they make. The number of missing episodes from the home is decreasing. The staff team is aware of the risks to children and young people when they are away from home and staff make meticulous efforts to minimise such risks. The staff team makes sure that the children and young people are aware of what they will do in each circumstance to improve

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

safety. This means that consistent messages are given to the children and young people, Inspection report children’s home: 1233307 5 helping to reinforce the need to keep safe and make good choices. The staff have a clear understanding of the impact of early childhood experiences on the ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships. They are dedicated to developing protective relationships with the children and young people. Staff display genuine affection and warmth, ensuring that the children and young people are safe, secure and happy in their home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has created an excellent service. She is skilled and experienced. She is well supported by her two deputy managers. Between them, they have put considerable effort into creating a culture and ethos in the home that is consistently successful. The manager is a dynamic and effective role model. She is ambitious for all of the children and young people, knows them well and ensures that they are at the centre of all practice in the home. The manager has created a staff team that takes on her values and is able to put them into practice. She ensures that the staff are well supported and she closely monitors their efficiency and effectiveness. Staff are able to reflect on their practice during regular and effective supervision. Staff spoken to felt valued, supported and motivated. To strengthen practice in the home, safeguarding should be added to the supervision agenda. This will enable staff to discuss safeguarding concerns regularly during

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

supervision. The manager should ensure, following every supervision session, that notes are made and shared with the relevant member of staff. An area of strength in this home is the work that the staff do in partnership with others. There is an abundance of evidence of effective partnership working. Professionals spoken to confirmed this and complimented the staff team for its professionalism, immense dedication and commitment to all of the children and young people. Another strength is working with families, who are encouraged to contribute and be part of the children and young people’s lives as appropriate. A family member said, ‘I think they are doing a wonderful job. Knowing that my child is happy, well looked after and safe makes me happy, too.’ The staff are qualified and highly experienced in providing an exemplary level of care for the children and young people. They benefit from an extensive training programme. The

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

manager has ensured that staff are equipped to meet the individual needs of the children and young people. Recently, adverse childhood experience training has been undertaken which has helped to broaden the staff team’s knowledge of trauma, loss and abuse. The manager is innovative and encourages this in her staff team. She clearly uses wide- ranging research to inform practice and to help the staff to develop and learn more about the work and the needs of the individual children and young people. The manager, deputies and staff team work relentlessly to promote positive outcomes for all of the children and young people. They fully recognise the value of developing the children and young people’s confidence, self-esteem and resilience. They provide an environment in the home in which the children and young people are able to thrive and Inspection report children’s home: 1233307 6 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: 1233307 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Newcastle City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Public Safety & Regulation, Civic Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland NE1 8QH

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Inspector

Dot McGough, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1233307 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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