Children's Home run by South Tyneside Council in South Tyneside

Inspection report for children’s home: SC032701 1 SC032701 Registered provider: South Tyneside Council Full inspection 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. The home can provide care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2020 and is suitably qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke with three of the children during the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC032701 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/08/2022 Full Good 17/02/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC032701 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make good progress, which is due to the positive relationships that they have with the staff. The children could identify someone that they can talk to or who they like to go on activities with. This helps the children to build trust with the staff caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children express their views and have a say about their day-to-day care. This includes the children telling the staff how they are feeling. Staff actively encourage this through their everyday conversations and during group discussions with the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to make sure that the children go to the right education provision, which might be school, college or an alternative provision to support their individual educational needs. There is also a specific space in the home for learning. Staff have discussions with the children to expand their knowledge about topics that are important in their daily lives. This includes the children recently creating an e-safety board.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children with their emotional needs to make sure that they have access to external support. However, one child does not have access to this help despite emotional support being recognised as necessary. This is due to delays in decision-making despite the manager escalating their concerns to the senior leadership team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

If it is appropriate, the children can see their family. The staff take time to develop relationships with the people most important to the children. Parents are welcome to visit the home and come for tea or other activities. This strengthens the children’s relationships with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff arrange activities that children want to do in their spare time, for example quad biking, surfing or going to football matches. The children also went on a recent trip to Disney Land Paris. One child described it as the “best place on earth”. These experiences help the children to have meaningful memories that they can carry with them into adulthood. Additionally, the staff collate photo albums and complete work with the children about their life experiences, which the children take with them when they move out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children build their skills in readiness for independence and for when they move out of the home. They have opportunities to cook meals, go shopping and learn how to budget. A child who has moved out recently has ongoing support from staff and help when they need it. They also return to the home to have Sunday dinner and to see the other children they used to live with. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032701 4

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

The children know how to make a complaint and the process to do this. The management team deals with these complaints, and there are consultations with the local authority designated officer. These actions and outcomes make sure that the children are heard and listened to.

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

The children’s individual risk assessments highlight the challenges for each child. Information in the assessments is up to date, and there is good management oversight. The staff are knowledgeable and understand what help each child needs to keep them safer. This makes sure that the approach from the team is predictable and consistent.

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

The dynamics of the group living together have changed, and concerns have increased recently. The staff struggle to manage to keep the children calm, particularly at bedtimes. Staff take a calm approach and use techniques to de- escalate the situation. This is successful most of the time. However, there has been one incident where two children injured each other. The staff work with other professionals to regularly review the relationships between children. This makes sure that the staff can act quickly and the children have the help they need.

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

The staff encourage the children and use positive reinforcement. There are also conversations with the children to help them look at the impact of their behaviour on others. Additionally, staff seek the children’s views about what they feel is an appropriate consequence. This means that the children take responsibility for their actions. For example, on one occasion, they agreed that they should have no fun activities on the day following an unsettled bedtime.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. In the event that a child goes missing, the staff understand the actions they should take. There are clear processes in place, and when the children return home, the staff have conversations with them. This helps the children to understand the risk of going missing from home and encourages them to keep themselves safe.

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good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and challenges of running the home. She understands the children and their needs and wants positive outcomes for them. The manager has good oversight of the home, and she provides support to the staff team.

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good

There is a thorough process in place before a new child moves into the home. This involves assessing the child’s needs and the impact on the children living in the home and the staff team. This ensures that when children move into the home, they have the right care for their needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032701 5 On one occasion, senior leaders moved a child into the home despite an assessment carried out by the manager which found this was an unsuitable match. This has had an impact on the children and their wellbeing, creating some challenging situations for staff to manage.

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good

Some staff have left since the last inspection, leaving some staff vacancies. Recent recruitment has been successful, and new staff are due to commence work shortly. The children sat on the interview panel, which they found to be a positive experience.

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good

There is a main core staff team, which provides consistency for the children. Staff know the children well and how best to support them. Their commitment is clear, and they want to help children to progress.

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good

The staff have supervision sessions and attend team meetings. These include reflective discussions that help to improve the quality of care for children. Additionally, training for the staff is good. Their induction ensures that all staff have the same knowledge when they first start working at the home. Other bespoke training enhances their skills. The staff also benefit from having a psychologist who provides them with the opportunity to discuss the children. This advice helps staff to understand the reasons for the children’s presenting behaviours and how nurturing parenting helps to support the children.

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good

There is good multi-agency working for children. Staff have good relationships with other professionals involved in the children’s lives. Information-sharing is a strong feature to ensure joined-up care for the children. The feedback from external professionals is positive. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032701 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, The 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)) 14 September

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— 30 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC032701 7 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. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should continue to challenge the placing local authority when children are not given immediate access to specialist psychological support, and they should challenge them through regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system) to ensure that children’s needs are met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)

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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: SC032701 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: FAO Karen Pippet, Early Years Team Manager, Town Hall & Civic Offices, Westoe Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear NE33 2RL

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Inspector

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC032701 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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