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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 1 Registered provider: Olive Grove Learning Limited 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 who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living in 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take time to get to know the children. They know children’s individual needs and what is important to them. Children say that they have specific staff who they feel able to discuss their worries with and seek support from. This supports children to build trusting relationships with those who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children make progress from their starting points. One child has been supported to progress to live in supported accommodation. Additionally, staff support children to access opportunities and activities in line with their interests. This positive distraction helps to reduce incidents of children engaging in risk-taking behaviour in the community. One child, who has left the home, described one of the best things about the staff and said, ‘They would push you into things you usually would not do and got me back into boxing.’ This enables children to have new experiences and promotes their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to access education. One child has made progress in their attendance. Staff support children with schoolwork and to look for part-time employment. This means that children are supported to reach their academic potential. Staff engage children in discussions about their identified needs, such as building resilience. Some staff are trained to deliver therapeutic interventions, which one child finds beneficial. Children feel able to discuss aspects of their care with staff. The manager also commissions some children to access equine therapy, which supports their emotional health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager recognises when the staff team is no longer able to meet children’s needs or support them to make progress. She includes staff in discussions to inform decision- making. Children have not always had planned moves from the home; however, the manager advocates on behalf of the children to ensure that plans are formulated. One child who has left the home remains in contact with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Generally, the home is in a good state of repair. However, some areas need to be updated, such as the paintwork. The child living in the home has a personalised bedroom. However, sleep-in arrangements for staff continue to be unsuitable.

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

Staff understand the risks for each child and implement safeguards when new risks arise. Professionals say that there is good communication with the staff. This ensures a multi-agency way of working in the best interests of the child.

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

Staff engage children in discussions about risks. For example, they discuss topics such as self-harming behaviour, substance misuse and negative peer influences. One child feels able to openly discuss sensitive topics. Staff implement advice from partner agencies, for Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 4 example by ensuring that the child has a distraction box, from which the child chooses items. This has supported a reduction in incidents of self-harm.

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

There have been no incidents requiring staff to hold children since the last inspection. This is due to staff using de-escalation techniques in the first instance. The managers are developing workshops to ensure that staff continue to have the skills to physically intervene should the need arise.

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

All children have a risk assessment, which is reviewed regularly. However, there is no specific guidance for staff, and some aspects of the risk assessments are generalised. This prevents staff from knowing the individualised strategies to use for each child.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff call them and liaise with the police. However, staff do not always actively search for children. This is despite knowing key information about children’s potential locations. This prevents children from being located in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child focused. She is motivated to make changes and reflect on practice. She values feedback from others, such as the independent person. This supports her to make improvements to the quality of care and service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is now a more stable staff team. This has provided the children with consistency. The provider has also benefited from employing two deputy managers to support the manager to focus on management duties. However, some gaps in employment have not been explored. This means that the manager cannot be completely assured that staff are safe to care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers now have effective auditing tools. These have been developed since a shortfall was raised at the previous inspection and are accompanied by a service development plan. This has supported the manager to address shortfalls and issues during team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they find supervision sessions beneficial, and they occur regularly. These are enhanced through regular team meetings and in-house training sessions, although they would benefit from having more reflection. This is something that the manager is keen to develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager addresses staff practice shortfalls in line with children sharing concerns. This supports children to feel listened to. When allegations are made, leaders investigate these in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that she produces a quality-of-care report. However, the reports are more descriptive and do not provide an analysis of the quality of care or feedback from children about their experiences. This prevents the manager from hearing directly from the children about their care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)) 27 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality-of-care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities, and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 27 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff who sleep in the home overnight are provided with appropriate accommodation and facilities to do so. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 17, paragraph 3.26)  The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision, and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Olive Grove Learning Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Jess Elliott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2691034 8 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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