Children's Home run by HMO NE Ltd in Sunderland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2569358 1 Registered provider: HMO NE Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home provides care for up to three children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2020.

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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: 2569358 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/06/2022 Full Good 03/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2569358 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were no children living in the home, with one child having moved out the day before the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have successfully moved on to independent living or to live with family. Two children have moved in and subsequently moved out to their new homes. Children’s moves to and from the home are well planned and implemented effectively. This has helped to ensure that the children experience positive beginnings and endings to their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care from staff who know them well. Children are encouraged to take part in a range of activities, which helps them to build their confidence. Children enjoy day trips at weekends and going on holiday. These experiences are captured in the children’s individual memory books for the children to keep. This helps children to build positive memories of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to keep in touch with the people who are important to them. Good communication between staff and the children’s families ensures that family time is well planned and enjoyed by the children. This helps the children to maintain positive relationships with their loved ones.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are clear plans in place to address the children’s health needs. Staff support children to attend their health appointments and make sense of health information. Some children smoke, and staff work with the children to help them to understand the risks posed by smoking and vaping.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to promoting children’s education. Staff work in partnership with children’s education providers and support the children with their homework. This helps to reduce barriers to the children’s learning and support the children to make good progress in their education.

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

Staff understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. Staff know the vulnerabilities that may place children at risk of harm. Children’s risk assessments are regularly updated and detailed, and there are effective strategies to mitigate the identified risks. Incidents are well recorded and have good management oversight.

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

Staff sometimes hold children, but this is only as a last resort to keep them and others safe. Staff keep professionals and family informed following any incidents. The manager reviews all incidents and has discussions with staff and children to reflect on these incidents. This means that children’s views are considered and that staff practice is reviewed promptly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2569358 4 Staff know what to do when a child goes missing from their care. Staff actively look for children and follow the children’s missing-from-care protocols. When children return, they are welcomed home and offered the opportunity to have a discussion with an independent person. Professionals gather important information about what has happened and give the children time to reflect on what prompted them to go missing. This helps staff to develop strategies designed to prevent children from going missing and help them to return quickly and safely.

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

Staff work with the children to help them learn from their experiences and behaviour. Children are encouraged to be polite and respectful to one another. Staff use restorative consequences when the children’s behaviour is inappropriate. The manager reviews the effectiveness of the consequences in a timely manner to improve behaviour management strategies. This helps the children to develop and improve their social skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that her staff team is supported. Staff report that they find the manager approachable and always available. The manager has high expectations the staff. She has developed a progression tool to support her staff in their professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings and supervision take place regularly. This gives staff a safe space in which to discuss their learning needs and any welfare issues and develop their practice. This helps the manager to maintain oversight of her staff and the care they provide to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have up-to-date training, and the manager has a good oversight of staff training and development needs. Staff are offered training that is specific to the needs of individual children. This has helped the staff to develop their knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals is consistently good. The manager ensures that professionals are kept up to date on children’s progress on a regular basis. Monthly reports enable the children’s progress to be monitored closely. One social worker said, ‘The staff kept me up to date with [name of child]’s progress and achievement.’ This practice has helped to promote effective multi-agency working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some of the language used in the children’s records is not child-friendly or positive. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to ensure that language used in the home is helpful and caring for the children to read. Inspection report for children’s home: 2569358 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records relating to children are written in child-friendly language. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2569358 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hallgate House, 9 Grange Terrace, Sunderland SR2 7DF

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Inspector

Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2569358 7 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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