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 October 2024.

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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: 31 January 2024

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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: 2741826 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children living at the home were spoken to during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is nurturing and warm. Photos of children taking part in fun activities are displayed throughout the home, which remind the children of the fun times they have had. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual tastes. This allows the children to develop their sense of identity, belonging and pride.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Dedicated and caring staff take time to build trusting relationships with the children. The secure relationships with staff help children explore their feelings, which helps them to better understand their emotions and behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education and support children’s attendance at school. The registered manager strongly advocates for children to receive education and challenges the wider network when there are gaps. Staff provide a range of recreational opportunities for children to complement their education. As a result, both children are now in full-time education, which is significant progress from their individual starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively involve children in their care planning. Staff have been creative in supporting children’s exploration of interests and hobbies. This enables the children to have a range of experiences and have their likes and needs met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to ensuring that children enjoy regular, meaningful time with their family and friends. For children who have difficult family relationships, staff help them to explore and make sense of their emotions and feelings. This helps children to build a positive self-image.

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

Safeguarding concerns are well managed, with robust and timely action taken to address issues. Plans to support staff to minimise risk for the children are clear and concise.

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

Children are supported to identify and understand risky behaviours and why staff are worried about them. There is a nurturing response from staff when incidents happen, and there is encouragement to seek appropriate support from professionals. Children’s plans are comprehensive documents, with clear steps for staff about how to manage risks.

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

The children have different interests and personalities, and this sometimes creates tensions. When tensions arise, and bullying behaviours are identified, the staff address this promptly. Staff carry out anti-bullying work with the children on a regular basis, and Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 4 they encourage the children to be kind to each other. This helps the children to understand how their actions have affected others.

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

Physical intervention is a last resort to ensure everyone’s safety. When incidents take place, the manager and staff take time to reflect on what happened and consider what they could do differently to support children. This enables staff to improve the care provided to children. Staff help children reflect on their behaviour and understand why they may be struggling to manage their feelings.

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

Staff use rewards and consequences to promote socially acceptable behaviours. However, the use of consequences is not yet consistently effective. At times, the amount of financial deduction from children's allowances is unreasonable, and there is a lack of review of the effectiveness of the consequences. Children have not been offered opportunities to complete restorative or reparative work. This is a missed opportunity to help children understand the impact of their actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a new registered manager in place. She was previously working in the home as the deputy manager. Staff say they feel well supported by the new manager. They say they enjoy working in the home and that it is well organised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works well alongside other professionals and receives good feedback from the children’s care team members. Creating positive relationships helps to ensure children have effectively planned care involving all agencies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has made improvements to the monitoring and oversight in the home, and these changes are starting to be embedded into practice. Records are written directly to the children, and there is management oversight throughout case files.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that supervision sessions take place regularly. Supervision allows for constructive reflection on the quality of care provided to the children and of individual practice. This helps the managers to identify and monitor the development needs of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

More than half the staff have the required qualification. Staff receive consistent, good- quality training and additional therapeutic guidance and support from external agencies. Team meetings are regular, and clinical input from mental health services supports continual development of staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager welcomes challenges and scrutiny from the independent person. The manager has identified an area of development in the monthly report submission process to ensure reports completed by the independent visitors are sent in a timely manner. There is a plan in place to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 5

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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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child.

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum (which may be by instalments) by way of reparation. (Regulation 19 (1) (2)(f)) 30 December 2024

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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, Plater Way, Sunderland SR1 3AA

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Inspector

Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2741826 7 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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