Children's Home run by Right-Trak Limited in Northumberland

Inspection report children’s home: 2530253 1 Registered provider: Right-Trak Limited 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 owned and managed by a private provider and is registered to provide care for up to five children. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2021.

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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.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 3 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 good

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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: 12 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2530253 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2530253 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy caring, trusting relationships with their carers. Staff supervision of children is high and the reasons for the placements are detailed in children’s individual care plans. Staff engage with children in play, support their routines and provide a positive environment. The result is that children are settled and making progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

From their starting points, children are making positive progress in all aspects of their education. Staff support children to attend school and they work closely with schools to ensure that communication is purposeful, for example sharing strategies to manage behaviours and recognising children’s individual achievements. Staff give consistent praise and encouragement to children. As a result, children develop confidence and a sense of well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have access to specialist support when required. Staff have a close working relationship with professionals to promote positive outcomes for children. A professional commented on working with staff as ‘very child-centred’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Throughout the COVID-19 restrictions, children have continued to enjoy the outdoor spaces at the home and in the community. Children have access to the provider’s caravan, which enables them to spend time with their families and friends, supported by the staff. This helps children to keep a sense of identity and supports them in developing socially.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The provider is completing work to develop the outdoor space at the home to further improve the extensive garden area. The home environment is good and has been well maintained. However, the condition of the dining-room chairs was found to be poor. This shortfall needs to be addressed as it does not promote a homely, domestic environment to support the well-being of children.

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

Children’s risks are identified and recorded in well-written placement plans. Staff work with the provider’s in-house clinical psychologist to identify clear and simple strategies to follow. These help children to manage their behaviours and stay safe from potential harm.

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

Staff help children to understand risk and behaviours that are inappropriate and can leave them vulnerable. Staff work alongside a range of relevant professionals to reduce children’s known behaviours that leave them at risk. As a result, missing- from-care incidents are reducing significantly.

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

Children receive structured and personalised responses to their behaviours when they are feeling emotional. Staff help children to follow consistent routines at Inspection report children’s home: 2530253 4 particularly challenging times of the day. This is enabling children to feel safer. As a result, they are learning to manage their anxieties and worries.

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

Allegations against staff are reported to the appropriate agencies and comprehensively investigated. Staff follow safeguarding procedures to ensure that children are kept safe from harm. However, staff do not consistently record whether the outcome of an investigation is shared with children. This does not enable children’s views to be valued and respected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has been through a management transition. A new registered manager and deputy are in place since the last visit. They are working together closely in developing and promoting the staff team’s understanding of the model of care preferred by the provider. This provides stability for the staff team, which is enabling children to receive consistent care and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Throughout the Covid-19 restrictions, the management team has regularly supervised staff. Supervisions include opportunities to reflect on practice and to improve on staff knowledge. For example, case scenarios linked to safeguarding practice and policy are on the supervision agenda. This enables staff to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and his team provide social workers with a monthly report which highlights children’s individual experiences and progress made. These reports are of an exceptional quality, and are child-centred and creative. They reflect the supportive and nurturing environment in which children are developing emotionally and physically.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The care provided is monitored by regular monthly visits from the independent visitor. This enables the manager to understand the strengths of the service and areas for development. The manager includes the findings in the quality of care review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager revises and updates the statement of purpose. However, the manager has not sent the revised version to Ofsted as required. Inspection report children’s home: 2530253 5

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to accessing and recording children’s views in safeguarding documentation. 24 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 24 June 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of children, and provides a homely, domestic atmosphere. In particular, dining-room chairs need to be repaired or replaced. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report children’s home: 2530253 6

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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: 2530253 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Winovation, Houghtons Yard, Shields Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 2YP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Melanie Spriddell

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Inspector

Michael Dack, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2530253 8 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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