Children's Home run by Stockton Borough Council in Stockton-on-Tees

Inspection report children’s home: SC442886 1 SC442886 Registered provider: Stockton on Tees Borough 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

This children’s home is registered to care for up to four children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The registered provider is a local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered for three years.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 September 2019

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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: 22 January 2019

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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: SC442886 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/01/2019 Full Outstanding 29/11/2017 Full Outstanding 02/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC442886 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive exceptional care from the adults who look after them. Staff have an in- depth knowledge of the children and understand the impact that childhood experiences can have on them. This knowledge enables staff to respond quickly and effectively to children to ensure that their needs are met without delay. This knowledge is enhanced by the expertise of an independent therapeutic social worker who supports the staff team to find creative and effective ways to meet the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children enjoy a wide range of activities both in the home and out in the community. Memories of these activities are captured in photographic logs which will provide children with fantastic memories of spending time with the staff who care for them. In addition, children can keep pets. This helps children to develop a sense of responsibility, love and care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff team works extremely well with other professionals to ensure that children receive the best possible care. Professionals who provided feedback could not be more complimentary about the standard of care provided by the staff team. One professional commented, ‘It’s lovely. It’s like a family. I’ve worked in children’s homes in Ireland and England and this is right up there with the best.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy attending school and their attendance is high from their starting points. Staff work with other professionals to ensure that children are attending schools that can meet their specific needs. This ensures that children can reach their social and intellectual potential. A teacher commented about one of the children, ‘Since living at [name of home] she is much more confident and will hold conversations with me, which is something she would never do before coming to live at the home.’ Communication between school and home is excellent. When issues arise at school, staff are quick to offer support to ensure that any disruption to a child’s education is minimal.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff understand how important it is for children to maintain contact with their families and other people who are important to them. Staff go to great lengths to ensure that contact is promoted, and that children and families are fully supported and prepared for any contact. This ensures that children maintain relationships with loved ones, thus reducing anxieties created by being separated from them.

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

Children said they feel safe in the home Staff provide children with a warm, safe and homely environment in which to live. Children know the expectations of the home well and are helped to manage their behaviour by use of an innovative traffic-light system that is a visual cue to children that they may require additional support from staff. In addition, the use of a research-based restorative approach enables children to reflect on Inspection report children’s home: SC442886 4 their behaviour, understand their feelings and use this knowledge to learn how to regulate their emotions.

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

Highly effective planning for the management of children’s behaviour ensures that staff know the risks to children both inside and outside the home. Children are further encouraged to understand risk by completing child-friendly safety plans with staff. This teaches children to understand and identify risk as well as providing them with strategies to keep themselves safe. One-to-one sessions take place with children around issues such as stranger danger and appropriate relationships, to ensure that children can grow and develop skills for independence in a safe and controlled way.

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

Behaviours such as going missing, or behaviours that require a child to be physically held, have not occurred for a significant amount of time. Safeguarding discussions are embedded in team meetings, supervisions and at daily handovers. This ensures that staff are always fully aware of their responsibility to keep children safe and strengthens the safeguarding culture that exists in the home.

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

Staff know the children very well and, as a result, can quickly and effectively spot signs, risks and triggers. Professionals spoken with highlighted how proactive the staff are at informing them of issues relating to children that may impact on their behaviour at school. This ensures that children receive a consistently high level of support before behaviours escalate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is suitably qualified to meet the aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose. She has extremely high aspirations for the children and leads a team of staff who share her commitment, drive and passion to work passionately to ensure that children are cared for, loved and are able to achieve their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children’s case records are excellent. Care planning is demonstrated through detailed notes and recordings. These notes reflect children’s everyday lives and experiences while living in the home. The records detail the level of support offered and the clear and sustained progress children are making. The use of photographic journals and journey letters, supplemented by exceptional life-story work, will give children an understanding of why they came into care, as well as documenting the fabulous experiences they have enjoyed while living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home well. She uses a variety of monitoring tools to assist in identifying and analysing information. This enables her to put strategies in place to ensure that children are receiving the most effective care. On one occasion, the manager was not satisfied with the quality of external monitoring and appropriately challenged another agency to ensure that this was improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager provides her staff with detailed and reflective supervision and appraisal. This supervision is highly effective and evidences how staff’s skills and knowledge are continually developed. This not only ensures that children receive care from staff who Inspection report children’s home: SC442886 5 are confident and knowledgeable, but that staff feel supported and motivated as a result.

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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: SC442886 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Municipal Buildings, Church Road, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland TS18 1LD

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Inspector

Mark Proffitt, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC442886 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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