Children's home run by St Cuthbert’s Care in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 1 SC433451 Registered provider: St Cuthbert’s Care 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.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to six children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2024 Full Good 20/02/2023 Full Outstanding 05/10/2021 Full Good 05/11/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home is more settled since the last inspection. The children have lived here for a period of time and demonstrate that they feel comfortable living at the home through their use of the premises. Children receive personalised care from a staff team that continuously strives to learn about them. The children all demonstrate that they have positively progressed since living in the home, and this is supported by records and feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home is well maintained, and damage from incidents is immediately rectified. Children all have their own personalised rooms and bathrooms, which reflect their likes and dislikes. Children are consulted when reconfiguration or decoration happens in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s voices are paramount to the running of the service. The manager ensures that the child’s voice is captured at every opportunity and actively involves children in the development of materials that will be used in the service in future. Children’s views are sought in a variety of innovative ways, such as through celebration days and voucher incentives, to ensure that sharing their views does not become a burden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to maintain positive relationships with people important to them. Staff facilitate time with friends, including welcoming children’s friends to the home and hosting regular sleepovers. Staff sensitively help children to understand their family time arrangements, and these are respected and supported while ensuring they remain safe and positive for children. Staff quickly involve other agencies when decisions or changes to family time arrangements are required in the best interests of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff do their best to work towards moving on plans, such as reunification with family members, and offer training to meet children’s needs to families that may find their complexities challenging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children in the home are in an education provision. When children are suspended, staff tenaciously advocate for children to return to education quickly and safely. When other agencies are slow to respond, the manager appropriately escalates this. When children are in a placement, the manager reviews whether this is the most suitable placement for them. She continuously assesses the benefits of the provision to the child, seeking the best way for them to learn and develop. Education professionals gave excellent feedback about how the home communicates and works with them to ensure positive academic outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to have a healthier lifestyle. Children are able to name key members of staff that they have strong bonds with, which enables them to have sensitive conversations. Children now have access to all health professionals and are engaging well with their appointments. Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 4 When children leave the home, all appropriate professionals as well as children are consulted with, and appropriate provisions are found. The development and confidence of children are considered when exploring placements with them, and work is done before they leave to ensure their readiness for a new placement.

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

The manager consistently tracks and monitors risks to children. Individual risk assessments are up to date and reflect the children’s needs. They are reviewed regularly for themes and trends to identify whether risks to children can be reduced further. Staff follow risk-reducing strategies, helping children to be safer.

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

Staff ensure that they only administer appropriate medication to children. When children come to live in the home, the manager rigorously reviews their history, including their medical history. She ensures that medications are reviewed when needed to ensure they are still relevant for children’s health needs. This has resulted in children only receiving medications that they require.

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

The manager has a zero-bullying tolerance for the home. There is an anti-bullying champion in the home who ensures that best practice is up to date and implemented. The home has achieved both local and national recognition for its anti-bullying work. The risks of bullying are considered when placing children in the home. Where risks are identified, children complete ‘bullying versus banter’ training to understand the implication of their words and complete key-work sessions on kindness and empathy.

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

Staff do not call the police to the home to manage children’s behaviour, but they do share information with other agencies and work in partnership to tackle any concerns. When concerns are identified, children are expected to actively participate in the development of safety plans to encourage engagement, help them understand the risks and improve their behaviour.

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

Staff consider the history of each child when determining how restraint should and can be used. This is always used in the least restrictive way and only when necessary, and they consider how any use of physical intervention could add further trauma for children. Staff are observed by management in demonstrating how to correctly hold children, to ensure their competence and practice remain in line with their training.

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

Staff exercise professional curiosity when they are concerned about children’s use of technology. They educate children about the dangers online, and with children’s consent, check devices regularly to screen for any concerning content to ensure that any safeguarding risks online are found. As a result, children are safer online. Room and property search agreements are in place to ensure that staff can search children’s property to safeguard them appropriately. Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 5 The manager has reviewed the home’s location risk assessment, which identifies contextual safeguarding risks and the impact that these could have on children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home continues to benefit from an extremely experienced and qualified manager. She focuses on self-development and shares these learning opportunities with the workforce to improve their understanding of the needs of children. The manager has instilled a culture of kindness and child-centred practice with firm boundaries. She actively looks to further her understanding of children’s behaviour and needs and finds new ways to improve the quality of children’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has recognised opportunities for system-wide development when planning moves for children. The manager is completing outreach work with the local authority to identify how the changeover to adult services could be improved and made more supportive for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager carries out evidence-based assessments of how the children are doing. She identifies trends and their impact on the child to ensure that each child has the same opportunities to achieve meaningful outcomes. The manager works collaboratively with other agencies and tenaciously advocates for children. Professionals said, ‘The manager has a handle on everything,’ and, ‘They are always advocating for children in meetings and appropriately challenge.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has robust oversight of the service and ensures that quality is the responsibility of all staff. Audit tasks, such as a key-working audits, are delegated to staff to ensure that they are capturing all the information about the children. Key workers are responsible for writing monthly reports in a child-friendly way so that children understand the care they are receiving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular structured reflective discussions, observations and supervision sessions with a focus on safeguarding practice and learning and development. The manager and staff work alongside professionals to apply a trauma-informed perspective to exploring the children’s needs and behaviours. As a result, staff support children in a consistent way through complex situations and respond to children’s needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Workforce development is a priority for the manager. Training and development of staff are discussed at every opportunity, and new theory is discussed and embedded into practice, including teamwork, supervision and trauma-informed practice theories. When staff identify a progressive pathway they wish to pursue, individual development plans are put in place. The manager and company support them to follow these, which has resulted in some staff being internally promoted. From the commencement of their employment, staff observe daily practice and shadow the manager to understand how children’s care is informed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 6 Children benefit from a consistent and experienced staff team that uses handover and team meetings to share information about children effectively. Child-friendly language is encouraged, with staff referred to as grown-ups as opposed to staff, and pet names are

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

used between staff and children to express loving relationships. Staff are encouraged to talk about their well-being, how the company can support them and to identify training needs. The ethos is that if staff are happy, they can offer better quality, empathic care to children. Staff feel valued as a result and staff turnover is low. Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 7

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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: SC433451 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: St. Cuthberts House, West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE15 7PY

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Inspector

Vikki Thwaites, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC433451 9 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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