Children's home run by Pear Tree Projects Limited in County Durham

Inspection report children’ s home: SC000803 1 SC000803 Registered provider: Pear Tree Projects Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020 and is appropriately qualified.

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

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 25 September 2019

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’ s home: SC000803 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/09/2019 Full Good 07/08/2018 Full Good 19/03/2018 Full Good 23/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’ s home: SC000803 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Children’s overall experiences and progress are not yet good because of shortfalls with regard to their safety and protection and the leadership of the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

On some occasions, children are expected to travel with staff to take other children to see their family or to collect them from these visits. Children have no say in this activity. This unacceptable practice occurs due to low staffing levels and means that children potentially gain confidential information about other children.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s relationships with staff are mostly positive. They enjoy spending time with staff and learning new skills, including fishing and horse riding. These experiences help children to learn to trust adults in their life and this helps them to make progress. Children said that they feel safe and that they are able to talk to staff when they feel sad.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children make progress in education. The registered manager advocates for the children to have suitable education placements that meet their individual needs. This support includes working with other professionals to identify and fully assess children’s learning needs. This helps to determine any additional support children may need to help them to reach their full potential. During the COVID-19 pandemic the service continues to prioritise children’s education and learning.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend all routine and specialist health appointments. One child’s health has improved to such a degree that a previous diagnosis has been removed. Consequently, children’s health is improving as a result of living at the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

When children are ready to move on from the home, they are fully included in their plans. Children are able to visit their new home with support from staff. As a result, children are prepared for the next stage of their journey to adulthood.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staffing levels at the home are not appropriate to manage risks to children’s safety. Children require high staffing levels and cannot be left alone. When staff need to be excused from supporting the children, the children are asked to go to their bedrooms. Door alarms are then set to allow staff to hear if children leave their bedrooms. This inappropriate practice restricts children’s freedom around their home. Inspection report children’ s home: SC000803 4 Some risk assessments for children are not effective. For example, children are not always appropriately supervised by staff. Consequently, this means that children’s individual behaviours may expose their peers to harm and staff may not be in a position to prevent this.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children rarely go missing from the home. However, some staff are unclear on the action that they need to take in these circumstances. This inconsistency does not keep children safe and potentially increases their risk of harm.

p.4

improvement to be good

There have been no incidents of then use of physical restraint since the last inspection. Staff use verbal de-escalation techniques to diffuse behaviours when the children are upset or frustrated. This positive behaviour management strategy helps children to develop their own coping skills to manage their anxieties.

p.4

improvement to be good

Health and safety checks are carried out routinely by staff and reviewed by the registered manager. Any issues are then passed on to the director and are then repaired. This ensures that children live in a safe environment.

p.4

good

The registered manager does not demonstrate risk awareness around other children visiting the home. There is no risk assessment in place for staff to follow should a risk arise when other children visit the home. This potentially places all children at risk of harm.

p.4

good

The registered manager is supportive of staff and their ongoing development. Staff are in date with their training such as safeguarding and first aid. They also receive specialist training to help support children’s specific needs. The range of training supports the staff to care for the children and meet their needs.

p.4

good

Staff said that they feel supported by the registered manager and that they receive regular supervision. Supervision sessions are reflective and help staff to identify their learning needs and develop their skills.

p.4

good

The registered manager works with a range of professionals, including social workers, therapeutic social workers, teachers and the youth offending service. This integrated approach supports the children’s progress and has continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. All professionals said that communication with the home is good. This ensures that all professionals involved in the children’s care are up to date with their progress and that there is consistency in information-sharing. Inspection report children’ s home: SC000803 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b)) 29 October 2021

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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(d)) 29 October 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

p.5

Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

p.5

Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. 29 October 2021 Inspection report children’ s home: SC000803 6 (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d))

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: SC000803 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pear Tree Projects Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Peartree House, Bolam, Darlington, County Durham DL2 2UP

p.7

Inspector:

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’ s home: SC000803 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.

p.7

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.8

Inspector:

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

p.8

Inspector:

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

p.8