Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes North East Limited in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report children’s home: SC472795 1 SC472795 Registered provider: Artemis Support Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 8 December 2020 to carry out a monitoring 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: 4 September 2019

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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: SC472795 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2019 Full Good 14/08/2018 Full Good 25/07/2017 Full Good 15/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC472795 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop good relationships with their caring adults, who they identify as people they can trust. Staff get to know the children and they are in tune with the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children generally have good attendance at school and make good progress. When children experience difficulties with their attendance, the manager promptly liaises with education professionals. The manager discusses the potential barriers to the children’s learning, which helps her to address the issues that the children face.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with the necessary health professionals and they are supported by the staff to attend these appointments. Staff promote good health by encouraging the children to lead healthy lifestyles and helping them to understand the benefits of making healthy choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend the regular house meetings which the staff use to remind the children of the rules of the home. Children contribute to the running of the home by choosing the activities that they wish to do and agreeing on the weekly menu plans. This helps to give the children a sense of ownership and control.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning documents are kept under review and are updated by the staff when the children’s needs change. However, the staff do not always record the children’s information clearly. This has not negatively impacted on the care that children receive, but it could lead to inconsistent care practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been redecorated and updated with new furnishings. Children say that they are pleased with the appearance of the home, and that the new furniture is comfortable. The kitchen and lounge areas are routinely locked each evening once the children have gone to bed. Staff accompany children into the kitchen area if they require food or a drink after this time. This restrictive practice prevents the children from accessing all areas of their home freely.

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

Children know how to raise concerns and feel confident to talk to the staff when they have an issue. Staff talk to the children about the action that is taken in response to their concerns so that the children understand that their views are important. The manager takes any safeguarding concerns seriously and follows the appropriate safeguarding protocols when concerns arise. This ensures that the children’s safety is prioritised. Inspection report children’s home: SC472795 4 Measures are in place to support the children to have safe social time with their friends. Staff accompany the children when necessary to keep the children safe, while allowing them the opportunity to develop and maintain friendships.

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

Physical restraint is rarely used in this home. When this is required, the children are held by staff who are suitably trained to do so. The manager scrutinises this practice to help to ensure that it is safe. However, the physical restraint records do not always include a detailed description of the measure used. This limits the opportunity for the manager to identify any shortfalls in practice and to help her to further improve the care that children receive.

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

The manager promptly shares significant information regarding new and emerging risks for children in the community with the staff. This helps the staff to understand the risks that children may face. Staff talk to the children about the risks in the community to help them learn how to identify dangers and how to stay safe.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff try to locate them, which sometimes includes going out to look for them. However, occasionally, the staff report the children as missing from home before they try to find the children themselves, or when children are late for their curfew. While the staff demonstrate that children’s safety is important, their practice does not consistently follow the necessary protocols.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager, who is suitably experienced, is supported by a deputy and a small team of staff. Safe recruitment processes provide assurances that the adults have been appropriately vetted before they care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses regular team meetings and supervision to identify and address areas of weakness in her team. This enables her to resolve practice issues and raises the standard of care that the children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and her team work closely with a psychological service. They use this resource to help them to understand the children’s presenting needs and to guide the staff in how they should respond. However, the staff have not completed any further specific training in this area. This is a missed opportunity to extend their knowledge. All mandatory training is up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has improved the systems to monitor and review the care that the children receive. Additional health and safety checks take place and managerial oversight has increased. This helps to ensure that the home is safe and well maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has addressed the shortfalls raised at the last inspection and all the previously issued recommendations are judged to have been met. Inspection report children’s home: SC472795 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, 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 privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 4 December 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s procedures take into account the views of appropriate local services and have regard to police and local authority protocols for responding to missing persons incidents in the area where the home is located. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.29)  The registered person should ensure that the records of restraint enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. This specifically relates to ensuring that a plain language description of the measure used is included in restraint records. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) Inspection report children’s home: SC472795 6  The registered person should ensure that there are suitably trained staff (including someone in a management role) on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC472795 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Artemis Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Queens Lane, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland NE1 1RN

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Inspector

Paula Kelly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC472795 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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