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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC444289 1 SC444289 Registered provider: Pear Tree Projects Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider owns and manages this home. The home provides care for up to four children who may have social or emotional difficulties, learning difficulties or mental disorders.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2012.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector observed all the children and spoke with them.

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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: SC444289 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/01/2022 Full Good 21/01/2020 Full Outstanding 05/02/2019 Full Outstanding 30/01/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC444289 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak positively about living in the home. Children recognise the progress that they have made and have individual aspirations for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle, and they have good emotional and physical health. Children have good routines that help them to sleep well and enjoy regular meals and physical activity. The staff support the children to follow advice from health professionals, such as taking vitamins and prescribed medication when needed. When children are fearful of health appointments, the staff provide children with emotional support and are persistent in encouraging them to attend appointments. Staff help the children to prepare, for example by visiting a clinic in advance of the appointment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to learn about their family connections and their identity. This includes children meeting family members who they have not seen for some time and learning about their family tree. Children are well supported by staff during this process. The staff ensure that children are accompanied on family visits and life- story sessions to ensure that they have the necessary emotional and practical support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities based on their hobbies and interests. Children have a lot of space to play outdoors in the home’s grounds. For example, they help on the local farm, go horse riding and tend to the chickens. Children also attend community clubs, such as swimming classes and football. The staff help children to keep important mementos and photos of their activities and day trips. This helps children to reflect on their growth and remember fun times.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with the staff, particularly their key workers. One child spoke fondly of their key worker and said, ‘We really get along well together.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and provides children with rooms for privacy and peace in addition to group activities. However, the pantry and games rooms are routinely locked. Therefore, children ask permission from staff to access the rooms. This is restrictive and affects children’s freedom. The manager has not reviewed these arrangements to ensure that they are proportionate and necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Bedroom door sensors are used at night-time to alert the staff if any of the children’s doors are opened. This helps staff to ensure that the children are safe. The manager and staff ensure that relevant consents are held on the children’s files and that children understand the reason for the surveillance. However, the staff do not ensure that they follow the same practice in relation to consent, regarding the outdoor CCTV that films the home’s entrance. The registered manager took immediate measures to rectify this issue. Inspection report for children’s home: SC444289 4 Children’s care is well planned and underpinned by targets and goals. When the manager is worried about a child’s progress, he consults with relevant professionals and explores ways to improve the situation. However, when children experience an unplanned ending and move out of the home, the manager does not carry out a thorough analysis of the reasons why this happened or identify any learning from

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the event. This inhibits the manager from putting plans in place to prevent a reoccurrence.

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

Children say that they feel safe in the home. Children’s vulnerabilities and risks are well understood by staff. Staff supervision of children is high. When there are concerns about risks posed to a child, the staff take effective action. In addition, they consult with other agencies and follow advice from experts.

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

Staff continually help children to improve their understanding of online safety. When children struggle to use their electronic devices safely, the staff provide children with information, advice and additional supervision. Phone checks are carried out daily by staff, which has been effective in highlighting concerns about children’s online safety and behaviour.

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

When children go missing from the home, the staff take appropriate action to find them quickly. This includes searching and contacting other professionals for help. When children return, they spend time with an independent person so they can talk about the missing-from-home event. The manager analyses information about the event and identifies patterns and information that is used to avoid future recurrence. Other agencies are involved to support children to learn about the risks of being missing and how to be safer.

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

There has been a reduction in children being held by staff. This is because the manager monitors the reasons for holds and has updated children’s physical intervention plans, which resulted in fewer holds. On occasions when holds have been used, the staff complete a written record that is reviewed by the manager to check that any holds were proportionate and necessary. However, in two examples, the staff did not provide thorough detail when multiple holds were used, such as the duration of each hold. When such important information is omitted, the manager is unable to have effective oversight of physical interventions.

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

Children are supported to get along with each other. When there are instances of bullying between children, the staff intervene and provide children with advice and guidance. The manager has recently identified that the system to track and monitor bullying is not effective. Therefore, he has introduced a new record-keeping process for staff to follow. It is too early to evaluate the impact of this change.

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

Allegations about staff are investigated. Children say that they can trust the staff and that the manager will listen to what children say. However, in one example, there was a lack of consultation with the child. Although an attempt was made, this Inspection report for children’s home: SC444289 5 was not well documented or revisited with the child at a more suitable time. This meant that the child’s views were not considered as part of the investigation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is dedicated and has led the home for several years. The staff speak positively about the support they receive to carry out their roles, including consistent management advice and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The stable staff team has experienced few changes in the past year. On occasions when there are gaps in the rota, a relief team provides cover. These staff know the children and home well. In addition, emergency cover is available for unforeseen events, such as children needing one-to-one support. When planning the staff rota, the manager considers the group dynamics and the most appropriate staff to match the children’s needs. This helps to promote consistency of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication is good between the manager, staff and children’s network. This helps to ensure that staff, professionals and children’s families are aware of what is happening in the children’s lives and what help is needed in order for the children’s needs to be met. Professionals and children’s families speak positively about the care that the children receive. When describing the staff, a parent said, ‘They’ve been very professional and very caring at the same time.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager strongly advocates on behalf of children. This includes making complaints when other services are not meeting children’s needs. This approach challenges unnecessary delays and helps children to receive the right support from other agencies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good insight into the children’s needs and the home’s strengths and areas to improve. He completes a review of care on a six-monthly basis, with a sharp focus on safeguarding and the reduction of risk. However, the report does not evaluate children’s feedback and how this has been used to inform practice. In addition, it does not include how actions will be addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is reviewing the terminology that is used in written records to make them child-friendly and helpful to the children. This includes the language that staff use to speak to children. There are examples where this remains an area for improvement, and therefore, the previous shortfall for this has been restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager feels well supported by the responsible individual and receives regular supervision from him. However, there are no written records of these supervision sessions. This means that matters that were discussed and actions that were agreed are not properly documented. Inspection report for children’s home: SC444289 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

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 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 23 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there is a written policy that describes how the use of CCTV or other monitoring equipment will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home. The provider must gain consent for any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should ensure that procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying are in place and staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. This includes keeping good records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)  The registered person should ensure that when allegations are made, children are consulted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.17) Inspection report for children’s home: SC444289 7  The registered person should ensure that 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 when any issues or trends of concern emerge. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should be skilled in learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that a written record of supervision is kept for the manager. It is also good practice for the record to include the content of discussion and/or outcomes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the review of care report clearly identifies any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.4)

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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 for children’s home: SC444289 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pear Tree Projects Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Catherine Heron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC444289 9 regulates and inspects 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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