Children's Home run by Vita Nova NE Ltd in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2755434 1 Registered provider: Vita Nova NE Ltd

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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 provider. It provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties, and may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first inspection since the home was registered in November 2023. The manager was also registered in November 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home

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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: 2755434 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to children coming to live in the home, managers carefully consider the needs of each child. They visit the new child beforehand and create a plan for moving in. This includes the child meeting staff, having visits to the home and the opportunity to talk to the other children. This helps to reduce any anxiety the new child and existing children may have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to access a wide range of activities. These activities encourage children’s individual interests, but also provide new opportunities. Staff enable the children to access special trips. Staff capture these memories daily in a personalised photobook. This enables children to develop memories they can cherish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff speak about the children in a caring and loving manner. They understand the impact of the trauma children have experienced. Staff adopt a nurturing and loving approach with the care that they provide. Some children have experienced significant instability and staff show commitment to them. As a result, children say that they feel safe and have adults they can talk to about any worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have made progress with their education since living at the home. Staff understand the difficulties that the children face and they strive to find ways to reduce children’s worries about their education. This is done through discussions with the children and advocating on behalf of them during education meetings with others. Furthermore, staff enhance children’s learning through educational activities such as ‘missions’ and ‘badges’. This supports the children to strive to reach their educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable children to share their views in a variety of ways. They encourage the children to contribute to discussions about their plans. The children have access to their own ‘My File’, which staff write in a way that the children can understand. This supports children to know the details of their plans and helps them to feel listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff maintain the home to a high standard, providing a safe environment. The children all have personalised bedrooms, which express their interests. There is an extensive outdoor space where the children keep animals. Staff encourage the children to care for these animals and their own pets. This allows children to develop a sense of responsibility.

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

Staff have a good understanding of each child’s concerns and worries. They ensure that all the children have behaviour risk management plans. These plans give staff guidance to manage children’s presenting concerns, which ensures a consistent approach. However, there are some errors in some documents that could lead to confusion. The Inspection report for children’s home: 2755434 3 plans are regularly reviewed, and changes are made in line with any new presenting needs that arise for the children.

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

Staff take a proactive response when a child is missing from the home. They utilise the on-call manager to actively search for the missing child. Staff liaise with relevant professionals and family to ensure the child’s safe return. Staff welcome the child back to the home in a nurturing manner. This has supported the reduction in frequency and number of episodes of going missing for one child.

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

Staff do not often need to physically hold children and incidents have reduced. Any physical intervention used is to ensure the safety of the child and others. Staff use de- escalation techniques in line with the children’s individual plans to avoid crisis. Managers utilise the advice from partner agencies to adapt their approaches. Staff discuss incidents with the children to support them to reflect on their behaviour and to develop safer coping strategies.

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

Managers respond to allegations between children quickly and effectively. They liaise with other professionals to ensure that the children are safeguarded. One professional said, ‘It is refreshing to see they do not have a knee-jerk reaction and they are very child centred.’ Managers take the time to discuss concerns with individual children to ensure they feel supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are highly ambitious for the children. They spend time with the children to understand their views. The managers ensure that children can fulfil their aspirations and provide them with access to a high level of opportunities. The managers, alongside staff, create a nurturing environment for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak very highly of the support from leaders and managers. One member of staff said, ‘I feel supported, listened to and seen every day I am on shift.’ Staff hold the manager in high regard and say that they feel valued. As a result, the staff strive to provide good-quality care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access a high level of training to support them in their role. This ensures that they have the relevant skills and knowledge to meet the children’s needs. There are effective auditing processes in place to ensure that there is no delay in training. The manager recognises the need to provide staff the opportunity for progression and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that staff access effective and reflective supervision sessions. The responsible individual also has regular discussions with the staff. The managers take an interest in the needs of the staff. As a result, they recognise staff’s needs and support them to reflect on their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2755434 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the 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: 2755434 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 58 Lanchester Road, Maiden Law, Durham, County Durham DH7 0QS

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Inspector

Jess Elliott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2755434 6 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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