Children's Home run by Gateshead Council in Gateshead

Inspection report children's home: SC036773 1 SC036773 Registered provider: Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by a local authority to provide care and accommodation for five children who are aged between 12 and 17. The manager has been registered since April 2020 and is suitably qualified for the role.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 30 November 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on our website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC036773 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/05/2019 Full Good 04/09/2018 Full Good 09/01/2018 Full Good 11/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in all aspects of their care. They have developed strong relationships with the staff. Observations during the inspection and feedback from professionals and children were very positive.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate strongly for children to be provided with an education. Children who find it difficult to attend are supported to re-engage in schools or alternative forms of education. As a result, children are making progress from their starting points. These conversations form an important role in children developing resilience and trust in their carers.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is in need of redecoration to make it more homely and appealing to the children. Some improvements have been started and the manager has plans in place that have been sent to the provider. This helps children feel valued.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all children’s bedrooms promote their well-being. Children are not consistently supported to maintain and tidy their rooms. This potentially could lead to unhygienic environments and a lack of self-worth in children.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain family relationships. Staff provide transport, supervision and emotional support when required. This helps children to feel safe and promotes their confidence and sense of identity.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy activities with each other and with staff. During the pandemic, this has resulted in physical activities such as walking. However, as restrictions have eased, children are enjoying more familiar interests like go-karting, visiting places of interest and spending time safely with friends. This helps to improve children’s confidence. Inspection report children's home: SC036773 3

p.2

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

Children receive consistent guidance and support from the staff in keeping safe. These positive messages and conversations form part of the strategies to reduce and minimise the risk of harm to children. Yet, not all children’s written risk assessments are relevant as they detail risks that are not current. This means some are potentially ineffective.

p.3

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

Children continue to go missing from the home. Staff respond through agreed missing-from-care protocols for children. Staff ensure communication is maintained with families, professionals and friends to ensure children return as soon as possible. This is resulting in children significantly reducing the time they are away from the home without permission. As a result, children are increasingly safe.

p.3

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

Staff are proactive in managing children’s challenging behaviours. Police intervention is the last resort. As a result, the home is settled, and children are developing trusting and respectful relationships with their carers.

p.3

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

Children are increasingly safe in and outside of the home. The staff have managed the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions well. They ensure children receive and understand government guidance. This supports children to manage their day-to- day activities. All children have a COVID-19 risk assessment which is shared with them. This helps children to understand the risks and supports their safe care.

p.3

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

The staff are experienced and knowledgeable in understanding children’s behaviours. They respond well to safeguarding concerns. They provide a warm and open atmosphere. A social worker said, ‘The staff have been very patient and are always looking at how they can improve upon their approach to children.’

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a wealth of knowledge and awareness of the service, the community and the routines in the home. He has worked at the home for a long time in a variety of roles. This is reflected in a staff member’s comments: ‘The manager knows how everyone feels after a difficult shift. He has experienced the impact.’ This helps staff to develop trust and respect with management and enables staff to reflect on their practice.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children and takes time to build positive, trusting relationships with them. Children and professionals spoke about his good communication and availability to listen and support children.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been several changes in staffing and in children living in the home. However, children are responding well to the routines and boundaries expected in and outside the home. The settled environment is enabling children and staff to develop close respectful relationships. This has enabled children to learn from their carers who share the same dedicated and nurturing approach of the manager. Inspection report children's home: SC036773 4 A staff member stated, ‘We are still finding our feet,’ and went on to say in recognising the settled period, ‘it has been lovely to come into work and be able to close the house and take children out, even if just for a visit to shops or to get a DVD for the evening.’

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff are experienced and qualified, some having been at the home for a long time and others relatively new. Two assistant managers support the registered manager. They receive and provide regular supervision. Staff attend regular team meetings. Face-to-face training during this period has been limited with the majority of training being online. However, the manager has ensured that staff have completed all mandatory training.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last monitoring visit, children’s records do not represent the good practice shown by the manager and his staff team. Children’s care plans showed a lack of scrutiny and oversight. There were several areas where entries were not updated in a timely manner. This can lead to confusion when reviewing plans. The manager has not identified this shortfall .

p.4

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

p.4

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who —

p.4

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.4

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to —

p.4

Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare; 7 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC036773 5 provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(vii))

p.4

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring support is provided to children to help them acquire the skills to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that —

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to —

p.5

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(b) (2)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This relates to monitoring and review of children’s records to ensure they are accurate, individualised and up to date. 7 July 2021

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that for children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments, they will, in most cases be homely, domestic environments. In particular, ensure that refurbishment and maintenance is carried out in order to help children live in the home comfortably. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills for safeguarding which enables them to record, identify and maintain dynamic risk assessments that are specific to the individual child needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)

p.5

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC036773 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Regent Street, Gateshead NE8 1HH

p.6

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Caroline O’Neill

p.6

Inspector

Michael Dack, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC036773 7 to 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.

p.6

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

p.7

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn.

p.7

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7