Children's Home run by Olive Grove Learning Ltd in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 1 Registered provider: Olive Grove Learning Ltd 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 company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first inspection since the home was registered in November 2022. The manager was also registered in November 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living in the home at the time of this inspection. Both children were observed by the inspector.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make progress from their starting points. The positive atmosphere in the home is welcoming and playful; children are seen smiling, laughing and enjoying activities with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from the nurturing and caring approach provided by the staff and manager. The positive relationships that develop help the children to feel loved and valued. Children trust the staff, resulting in them feeling confident to talk openly about their feelings and matters that affect them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One professional said, ‘[Child’s name] has come on leaps and bounds. [Child’s name] is finding a purpose. The staff give them messages, such as “we love you being here”.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When new children move in to the home, this is at a pace that is right for them. The new child receives written information, and is invited to visit the home and meet the staff team. This helps new children to know what to expect when they arrive and helps them to settle more quickly. During this time, the manager works in partnership with the people who know the child, including the child’s family if this is appropriate. When talking about the manager and staff, one social worker said,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘They looked beyond the referral. We chatted about [Child’s name] so they knew what [Child’s name] was like as a person, rather than just a referral. We do not always get a chance to do that.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are encouraged to value learning and to develop aspirations for their future. Some children are making progress in education and their attendance at school is good. Other children receive effective support from the staff to work through their barriers to education and the staff find suitable learning opportunities for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children receive help from the staff to develop new skills, such as travelling independently and how to apply for work. This helps the children to gain self- confidence and increases their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s day-to-day care is personalised, with age-appropriate routines and activities that they enjoy. However, the children’s care plans are not detailed and do not include all the actions that staff should follow when responding to the children’s needs. In addition, the manager does not have an effective system to monitor and track the children’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff offer the children the chance to participate in outdoor activities and encourage children to spend time together if they have fallen out with each other. However, when these strategies are not successful, staff do not persist and the children are not further supported to repair relationships with each other. Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 3 The manager has made continuous improvements in the home since it opened. She listens to the independent person who visits the home, and consults with the staff team. As a result, positive changes have been made that benefit the children.

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

The staff respond appropriately when the children go missing. They search for the child and inform relevant professionals who can also assist with finding the child. Risks to the child are considered throughout, and finding the child is the staff’s priority. Additionally, meetings take place after the child returns home, to help the staff team to understand the reasons why this has happened and explore ways to avoid recurrence.

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

The children’s emotional well-being has improved. This is because they receive nurturing care from the staff and are supported to access therapeutic services. This helps the children to make progress and recover from previous difficult life experiences.

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

When the staff are concerned that the children may have dangerous items hidden in their bedroom, they carry out a bedroom search, usually in the presence of the child. The staff hold regular discussions with the children to talk through current issues and help them to understand how they can become safer.

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

The children are encouraged to develop positive behaviour at home and in the community. The staff use incentives and consequences to help the children to reflect on their own behaviour and how it affects others. However, the staff are not always consistent in their approach and some consequences are punitive.

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

The children are rarely held by staff. On the few occasions that this occurred, the manager was present and involved in holding the child. There was no independent scrutiny of these instances of physical intervention to ensure that they were necessary and safe for the child involved.

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

Children’s individual vulnerabilities, likes and dislikes are understood by the manager and staff. However, in some risk assessments, including in how children can safely live together, information is missing, such as strategies that the staff should follow. This has the potential to lead to inconsistent practice.

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

Children and staff understand what to do if there is a fire in the home. However, when two fire extinguishers were moved to other rooms in the home, the manager did not consult fire experts to ensure that this arrangement is safe. This was brought to the attention of the manager at the time of the inspection and immediate action was taken.

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good

Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 4 The manager is committed and motivated to make improvements in the home. She is reflective of practice and determined to make improvements to the shortfalls found at this inspection. The manager has developed her knowledge of her roles and responsibilities. However, the quality of leadership and management remains an area for improvement.

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good

One of the shortfalls identified is that the manager allowed a child to move in despite the home not being registered to care for a child with their specific needs. This was for a short period of time and has not reoccurred.

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good

There has been a high turnover of staff, resulting in some vacancies in the home. To ensure that there is sufficient staff to care for the children, the manager has provided this support. This has taken her away from some of her management duties, but has enabled her to observe practice and build good relationships with the children. New staff have been appointed and the manager has carried out safer recruitment checks to make sure that the staff are safe to care for the children.

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good

The manager’s audit and monitoring systems are not effective. This includes failing to demonstrate that she is completing management auditing and scrutiny of the children’s care. This shortfall impacts on how well the manager measures the children’s progress and the quality of staff’s practice.

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good

The manager has not ensured that all records in the home are completed to a good standard. Although some documentation has improved, there are shortfalls in some essential records. The home’s statement of purpose is up to date and regularly reviewed. However, the manager has failed to ensure that the staff’s experience and qualifications are included. This means that the manager is not providing the information needed when people are considering the suitability of the home for their child.

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good

Staff team meetings and supervision sessions are used to help the staff to reflect on their practice and discuss the care provided to the children. However, the quality of the recording of these sessions varies and the frequency of supervision is not clear, particularly for staff in their probationary period.

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good

Staff sleep in the home overnight and have allocated rooms. However, one room did not have sufficient privacy. This was raised with the manager at the time of the inspection, and she provided assurances that action would be taken so that staff have appropriate overnight accommodation in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 5

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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

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, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(e)(f)(h)) 24 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children's home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)) 24 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 6 The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records are detailed and meaningful for children. 24 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) 24 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s plans form the basis of their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 10, paragraph 2.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home provides staff who sleep in the home overnight with appropriate accommodation and facilities to do so. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.26)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff help children to have positive relationships with others who live in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.6)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff regularly review risks to each child, that risk assessments are accurate and reflect the arrangements in place to protect children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 7 taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. Children should be offered the opportunity to access advocacy support to help them with this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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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: 2691034 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Olive Grove Learning Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 35 Newbury Street, Sunderland SR5 1NG

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Inspector

Catherine Heron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 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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