Children's home run by Sunderland City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 1 Registered provider: Together for Children Sunderland Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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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: 2741826 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is newly registered, and this is its first inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff care for two children who were welcomed into the home soon after registration. Children were gradually introduced to their new home to meet with staff before moving in. This means that children receive well-planned introductions to help them adjust to their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The property is a lovely, warm and welcoming environment. Children are the focus of the home, and there are photos of them throughout their home. Children have personalised bedrooms, and the communal areas are well maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given time to develop secure and trusting relationships with staff. The staff are developing their approach to caring for the children and getting to know them. This supports children to develop relationships with those that care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to activities within the home and are supported to engage in activities in the community. This supports children to socialise with those in the home and their friends in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are important to staff and are regularly sought. Conversations take place with children about their day-to-day care arrangements and how the home is run. Children are involved in developing the home’s rewards system. This helps children feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with those who are important to them with help from staff. This helps children to maintain connections with family who they no longer live with. One parent said that they could not think of anyone better to look after their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress in education is varied. One child is making progress in education and attends regularly. Another child’s engagement with education has declined since moving into the home, and a professional said the child has regressed. Children are not always receiving the right support to access learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not always provided with a structured routine to their day, and one child can spend lengthy periods of time in their bedroom. Staff have not developed plans to support the child to have a healthy routine. This impacts on the child’s sleep pattern and engagement in education.

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

Staff understand the risks associated with the children in their care and how to manage those risks. Risk assessments are detailed and provide information about Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 3 children’s behaviours and vulnerabilities. This allows staff to respond to the children in a consistent way.

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

Physical interventions take place in the home as a last resort. Staff speak with children about their experiences and listen to them about how they want to be supported. The recording of incidents that take place is thorough. The registered manager ensures that conversations take place with staff and children to learn from what has happened. This helps to develop safer and more-effective practice.

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

When children go missing from home, staff follow the children’s risk assessments and missing-from-home procedures. Staff are committed in their efforts to locate the children and actively search for them. When children return home, they are welcomed back, and return home interviews are arranged. This gives children an opportunity to speak to someone independent and discuss their experiences. This provides staff with opportunities to understand how best to safeguard children.

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

Consequences for children are not always recorded or linked to children’s behaviours. Because of this, the registered manager does not have oversight of consequences or evaluate how appropriate they are. This means children may have consequences imposed that are not effective in helping them to learn positive behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably experienced and qualified manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular team meetings take place. The home has access to a consultant psychologist who attends these meetings to focus on children’s individual needs. This helps staff to understand how best to support the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff have a structured training programme that is specific to the individual needs of the children. The manager and his team complete mandatory training, and training records are kept up to date. This provides staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said they feel supported by the management team and are confident in seeking advice and support. Supervision takes place regularly but not as set out in the statement of purpose. The staff have an opportunity to reflect on practice, but there are missed opportunities to discuss safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When staff write about children, the language used is not child-friendly and sometimes blames the child. The manager has provided training for staff, but this has not changed their practice. As a result, children’s records are not always helpful to children or a sensitive record of their story.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment practice is in place. The manager ensures that all necessary checks are completed. This helps to ensure that those employed to work with the children are suitable to do so. Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 4

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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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(viii)(x)) 15 March 2024

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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 recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 5 some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the children to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the children must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place so that all the staff, including the manager, receive regular supervision so that they can reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2741826 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Together for Children Sunderland Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Hall Floor 2, Plater Way, Sunderland SR1 3AA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Majella McCarthy

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Inspector

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 7 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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