Children's home run by North Tyneside Council in North Tyneside

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 1 SC068243

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Registered provider: North Tyneside Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to six children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke to two children during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager is in post and has submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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The care of children

Since the last full inspection, four children have moved out of the home and four children have moved in.

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The care of children

Children’s educational progress varies and some of the children have struggled with school attendance. The manager is working with some of the children’s social workers and the virtual school team to explore the possibility of alternative arrangements for the children’s education. However, the manager has missed opportunities to escalate and provide additional challenge to these services to ensure that effective strategies are in place to promote the children’s engagement with their education. In contrast, other children have good school attendance and have made good progress in their education.

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The care of children

The manager has worked hard to improve the physical environment of the home so that it feels and looks like a family home. However, the home looks tired cosmetically, and there are several repairs that need to be addressed. In addition, the inspector identified a health and safety hazard in the home, which the staff were quick to address once it had been raised. These shortfalls impact negatively on a homely, welcoming and safe environment for children to live.

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The care of children

Positive relationships between the children and staff help to promote the children’s well-being. Children develop trusting relationships with the staff and say that they can talk to the staff about anything. Staff provide the children with structure and routine, which provides stability and gives the children a sense of security.

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The care of children

Children’s views are regularly sought and responded to. The manager and the staff have worked hard to build positive relationships with the children. The manager ensures that the children are offered the opportunity to share their views on a regular basis. This includes sharing their views after any incidents that occur. Any changes to the children’s care plans happen at the children’s pace and with input from the children. This means that the children feel valued and listened to.

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The safety of children

The manager has made improvements in the use of key-work sessions with children to gain their views or share expectations and information with them. This includes discussions on positive behaviours and expectations of the treatment of other people. However, key-work sessions are not consistently effective as the staff do not always focus on all the pertinent topics, such as promoting positive relationships among the other children. This is a missed opportunity for staff to Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 3 support the children to understand how to establish and maintain positive relationships with their peers and adults.

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The safety of children

Children’s care plans and risk assessments have been reviewed. However, the children’s risk assessments do not always contain all the information that relates to the children’s needs and vulnerabilities. For example, the manager and the staff recognise that the children’s relationships with their peers are a concern. However, this is not included in the children’s risk assessments or their care plans. Consequently, the staff are not provided with the relevant information and effective strategies to safeguard the children.

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The safety of children

The manager considers all known information about a child before they move into the home. However, the needs of the children who already live in the home are not always considered fully in this process. This oversight prevents the provider from being assured that the staff can meet all the children’s competing needs and be fully aware of any risks which may affect them.

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The safety of children

On occasion, children have gone missing from the home. Individualised missing- from-home protocols are detailed and are reviewed regularly. However, these do not always provide the staff with clear guidance on when they should report the child missing to the police. Consequently, the staff have failed to seek swift support from the police to locate one child who went missing.

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The safety of children

Staff make attempts to manage the children’s behaviour well. When the children are distressed, the staff respond in line with the children’s plans and in ways that help the children to settle and feel calm. While this helps to prevent some incidents from escalating, there have been frequent incidents when children have shown aggression towards staff.

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The safety of children

The manager ensures that any serious incidents are managed well. They take the necessary steps to support the children and notify all relevant agencies, including Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has worked hard to meet some of the requirements that were raised at the last inspection. Ofsted is now notified of any serious incidents, and the staff now receive supervision sessions and an annual appraisal. The staff also know how and when consequences should be used to support children to modify their behaviour. While there is a plan in place to meet the additional requirements raised, the provider has yet to improve the quality of the home environment, the quality of the risk assessments and the overall monitoring systems. For this reason, these requirements have been restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has a clear vision of how they plan to develop the home. The use of monitoring systems to review and oversee records has improved. The manager evaluates records to make changes to staff practice and to improve the quality of care provided to the children. However, the manager requires further time to embed Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 4 his improvement plan and to ensure that the children’s records in relation to incidents and key-work sessions are organised effectively. The records should include more attention to detail to reflect the discussions the staff have with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Safe recruitment of staff is thorough, and appropriate checks are carried out. This helps to reduce the risks of children being cared for by inappropriate adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Children are cared for by a skilled and supportive team of staff. The manager has delegated some responsibilities to the deputy managers, which supports their professional development. Staff now receive annual appraisals, which helps the manager to understand their strengths and areas for development. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/01/2022 Full Good 21/05/2019 Full Good 03/07/2018 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the children receive sufficiently thorough key-work sessions that focus on their individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

This also specifically relates to the overall appearance of the interior decoration and ensuring that individual items of furniture are replaced. The home environment must be free of hazards to the children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the last inspection. 20 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 7 The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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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)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the last inspection. 28 February 2023

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the last inspection. 28 February 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Quadrant, Cobalt Business Park, Wallsend, Tyne and Wear NE27 0BY

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Inspector

Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC068243 10 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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