Children's Home run by Gateshead Council in Gateshead

Inspection report for children’s home: 2570947 1 Registered provider: Gateshead Council

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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 local authority. It provides care for up to six children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home. The inspector spoke to three of the children.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 26 January 2024. However, the new manager has made an application to register with Ofsted.

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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: 2570947 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/06/2023 Full Good 07/07/2022 Full Good 23/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2570947 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a stable staff team to support the children, which provides them with consistency of carers. Staff take the time to understand what is important for each child. As a result, the children build trusting relationships with those caring for them. Children describe having staff that they can confide in with any worries. One child said, ‘Staff are caring and supportive. They are there for you straight away, they listen and help the best they could.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have made progress. Staff, managers and professionals can clearly outline how staff have supported the children to make these changes. For example, the number of incidences when children struggle to manage their behaviour is reducing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children access education in line with their individual needs. Staff have close links with educational professionals. When children do not attend school or college, staff encourage them to access educational activities or opportunities to develop their independence. Staff support the children’s future aspirations and offer a significant amount of praise when they do well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to engage in group discussions about the home and other aspects of their care. A child often chairs these meetings. The children wanted to include sharing something positive about each other, so this is now included in all meetings. This supports a sense of responsibility and ensures that the children’s views are listened to. Staff engage children in one-to-one discussions, although these are not always linked to the child’s care plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager carefully considers children moving into the home. She recognises that, without doing so, this can lead to a detrimental impact for all children. When children move into the home, staff prepare them by visiting them beforehand. Discussions take place with those children already living in the home to prepare them. This means children experience a planned move that alleviates any worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are also supported to move out of the home in a planned way. Staff take children to visit their new homes. Furthermore, the manager advocates on behalf of the children to ensure that their needs can be met in their new home. Children remain in close contact with staff after they have left. One young adult who lived at the home said, ‘When I was 18 you can call anytime, and they were there for me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is going through a large redecoration project. This means children live in a safe and comfortable environment that is personalised in line with their wishes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570947 4

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

The staff ensure that children have personalised care plans and risk assessments. These documents clearly highlight the child’s needs or area of concern. Furthermore, these plans give clear guidance to staff on how to support the child.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff respond proactively. Staff travel to known locations and liaise with associates of the child. There is close communication with partner agencies. This ensures that children return safely and, when they do, staff respond in a nurturing manner. The manager works with other professionals to deliver training in this area. This includes a focus on positive ways of working and understanding children in care.

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

Staff have a strong knowledge of exploitation and the impact on the children. They are proactive in how they support children when concerns arise. Even when a child’s risks escalate, staff focus on the positive experiences for the child. The manager ensures that there is a multi-agency response to tackling concerns. She attends and engages in safeguarding meetings and shares information with the team. This coordinated response helps to keep children safer.

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

Staff rarely need to hold children to keep them safe and rarely need to contact the police for support. Instead, they use effective de-escalation techniques in line with the child’s individual needs. Staff support children to understand their feelings and manage them in a safer way. This has led to incidents, such as property damage, reducing for some children.

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

The manager advocates on behalf of the children. When other agencies do not follow ‘trigger plans’ for a child, the manager challenges them. In doing so, this ensures that there is a consistent multi-agency response for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has embraced the changes the new manager has brought in. They value her experience and they are keen to embed the changes to improve their practice. Staff speak highly of the management team. They say that managers are supportive and have the children at the forefront. One staff member said, ‘The three of them make a fantastic team, and we all benefit from this, as do the young people we all care for.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers value feedback and take on board advice. There is a focus on service development to ensure better outcomes for the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access a range of training. The manager identifies refresher training when children’s needs or risks change. New staff receive a comprehensive induction. This means that children receive care from skilled staff. The timescale for completing the relevant residential qualification has passed for some staff. However, the senior leaders have plans in place to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570947 5 Staff receive regular supervision sessions and attend team meetings. They discuss the children and other aspects of the home. However, minutes of these meetings are not always reflective of the discussions held. This makes it difficult for those not in attendance to fully understand the details.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers have effective auditing systems in place. They use these to track events and incidents. This enables the managers to identify themes and make necessary changes to children’s plans or risk assessments. However, some documents for the children do not give accurate information such as actions taken by staff. Cross- referencing to other documents is also not clear, which can lead to confusion about where to find the details. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570947 6

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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. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, must have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 53, paragraph 10.12)

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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: 2570947 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, Civic Centre, Regent Street, Gateshead, NE8 1HH

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Inspectors

Jess Elliott, Social Care Inspector Natalie Clark, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2570947 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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