Children's home run by Vita Nova NE Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 1 Registered provider: Vita Nova NE Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home can care for up to three children who have social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post. They are not registered with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/10/2021 Full Good 08/06/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. The progress of some children has been better than that of others. However, staff support and encourage all of the children to make progress in all aspects of their lives. Staff consistently have high aspirations for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to move into the home well. They choose how they want their personal space to be decorated, and they choose what pet they want to care for. This helps the children to develop a sense of security and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive, and they seek independent advice when children have specialised healthcare needs. The manager ensures that the staff receive specialist training. The staff make good use of the home’s therapist, who provides tailored training to meet the needs of the children. One professional said: ‘Staff go above and beyond, which is rare to see.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education needs are known and understood. Staff support the children to build their self-esteem, and they encourage the children to achieve their aspirations. Children have individual education plans that identify the steps that the children are supported to achieve. This helps children to work towards their individual goals, and achieve their potential. When children do not attend school, the staff are creative, and they provide education in the home. The staff plan ‘missions’ and ‘challenges’ for the children to complete. This ensures that the children have fun while they learn.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have developed good relationships with the neighbours. This helps the children to develop safe adult relationships in their local community. Children offer to help their neighbours, such as mowing their lawns and delivering food parcels to older people. This helps the children to have a sense of belonging in their community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff forge good relationships with the adults who are important to the children. The staff recognise the importance of these relationships. The staff work hard to maintain these relationships for the children, which often extend beyond the children’s immediate family. Staff also offer support to the children’s family members, while ensuring that this does not compromise their relationship with the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop positive relationships with each other, and they enjoy spending time together taking part in a wide variety of activities. Children also develop friendships with other children outside the home. These children enjoy spending time together, as they attend the same activities and share the same interests and hobbies. However, the staff do not foster these friendships further. This hinders the children from building a strong social network to support them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 4 Children develop trusting relationships with staff. This forms the foundation for the progress that children make in the home. Children consider the staff as an extension of their own family, and the staff and children consider themselves to be one ‘team’. While these positive relationships are maintained when the children move on, the staff do not initiate contact with the child. This oversight prevents children from

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

accessing emotional support from a familiar and trusted adult when they are in their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to learn the skills that they need in their adult lives. While the children’s records identify the children’s targets, they do not identify the dates the targets should be achieved.

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

Staff understand the risks the children face, and the staff respond appropriately to keep the children safe. The staff and the manager respond quickly to any changes in the children’s behaviour, amending the child’s safety plan to support the child to be safe. Risks to children reduce because of this.

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

Staff advocate well for children to ensure that the children’s healthcare needs are met, and reviewed on a regular basis. Children are educated about healthy lifestyles and making healthy choices. This has supported one child to become increasingly safe as they have stopped smoking, and to continue to abstain from misusing drugs.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When they do, the staff follow the child’s safety plan, and the provider’s procedures to locate the child quickly. This helps to keep the child safe. All the children have a missing-from-home plan, regardless of whether they are at risk of this or not. This ensures that the staff know how to keep each child safe, should they go missing from the home.

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

Children are only held when it is necessary to keep them and others safe. Children are spoken with after being held, to help them understand why this was necessary. However, the manager has failed to conduct a debrief with the staff quickly after the incident, to ensure that the hold was necessary. In addition, the manager has failed to review and evaluate all the records of this practice. This prevents the manager from identifying any changes in practice that are required, to better support the children.

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

Children are helped to understand the consequences of their actions. The manager has identified when financial sanctions have not been effective, and he has implemented a restorative approach. Children are proud of the restorative tasks that they have completed. This gives them a sense of achievement, and helps the children to improve their self-esteem.

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

One child has moved out of the home in an unplanned way, as the manager and staff were unable to keep the child safe. The manager has improved the impact risk assessment process to ensure that all the children’s known risks are identified and shared before the child moves into the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aspirational for the children. He is driven and committed to ensuring that the needs of the children are met. The manager role-models positive behaviour, and this is reflected in the staff’s level of commitment to the children. The manager is forward-thinking, and he continues to develop the home to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have monthly access to a comprehensive training programme. It is tailored to the individual needs of the children, to the development needs of the staff and it considers the current challenges that affect the children, such as their identity. The diverse training programme ensures that the staff have a broad knowledge base, which they use well to support the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses the internal and external monitoring systems well. He ensures that any actions identified from these systems are completed quickly. The manager challenges staff when there are shortfalls in their practice, and he uses the independent visitor’s recommendations to make ongoing improvements in the home. This improves the quality of care the children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records contain pictures and often use age-appropriate language. However, some records contain language that children may not understand. This is unhelpful for some children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 6

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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

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)–

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii) 17 June 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they have fully considered what impact any new child moving into the home may have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) This recommendation was made at the last inspection and is restated.  The registered person should ensure that the children are able to have friends visit them at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.7)  The registered person should ensure that each child is supported to develop emotional resilience, so they are able to cope without the home’s support. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should ensure that the staff record information about a child in a non-stigmatising way, and in a way that will be helpful to the child.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page, 62, paragraph 3.27)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 7 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 for children’s home: 2615326 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Vita Nova NE Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 58 Lanchester Road, Maiden Law, Lanchester, County Durham DH7 0QS

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Inspector

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 9 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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