Children's home run by Vita Nova NE Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 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

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and/or have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Information about this children’s home

Currently, there are three children living in the home. All three children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2022.

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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

Date of last inspection: 6 December 2023

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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: 2615326 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/12/2023 Full Good 15/06/2022 Full Good 05/10/2021 Full Good 08/06/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff help children to make significant progress in all areas of their lives. The support that children experience gives them the confidence and determination to achieve their goals. One child is excelling in education after passing all their GCSEs and is now planning for university. Other children have returned to live with family members or moved on to independence. Children who are relatively new to the home are beginning to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The experiences of children who move into the home are excellent. Children are involved in the whole process, so they have opportunities to forge early relationships to reduce the impact of moving to a new home. The warm and nurturing culture that staff uphold helps children to settle quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff go above and beyond to support children when they leave the home. Their help and support are exceptional, particularly for one child. Staff have maintained their supportive relationships with the child even though the child has moved on from the home. This has helped to maintain the child’s sense of belonging and attachment to trusted adults. Managers arranged for the child to have work experience with the provider’s handyman, leading to an offer of employment. Managers and staff continue to advocate and offer a listening ear whenever it is needed. This continued support is helping the child navigate with confidence into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Managers and staff strongly advocate on behalf of children to ensure that they have access to education that meets their needs. Staff advocated for one child to stay in their local school to complete their final year. Staff’s tenacious pursuit of an education, health and care plan for another child enabled the child to access the right education provision. Staff creatively engage children in educational activities when they are not in school. This helps children see the value of education and have high aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are provided with plenty of enjoyable experiences and activities that help to build self-esteem. Children are introduced to new and challenging activities to broaden their horizons, overcome their fears and enrich their lives. This includes children going on holiday abroad with staff. Another child has been helped to join an inclusive football team, helping to fulfil the child’s desire to play football.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Every child has a lovely memory book full of photos of their activities and achievements. Each photo is labelled to support the child in remembering events when they are older. This creates wonderful memories for the children while developing their self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children experience individualised care aligned to their assessed needs. Each staff member’s insight into the child’s journey and challenges they face, ensures that support is responsive to what children need. Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 4

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

The manager has a clear vision for the service. He uses the ‘love-led practice’ model to create a family environment for children to live in. Children have strong and trusting relationships with staff and love living at the home. These strong and trusting relationships reduce the children’s risks. One child found it difficult to trust professionals before coming to the home. They now feel safe and confident to open up to adults about their worries and concerns.

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

Staff provide children with strong and consistent boundaries. This helps them to develop their own healthy routines. If children struggle, staff use positive distraction, supporting children to reflect and develop their own coping strategies. As a result, staff do not need to use physical intervention.

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

Missing from home is rare. When it occurs, it is well managed, and children are helped to return home safely. The sense of safety children experience deters them from needing to be away from the home. The confidence that children have in staff makes staff’s practice more influential, leading to positive change.

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

Staff encourage children to be restorative. Consequences are rare and are linked to the incident to ensure that each occasion is an opportunity to learn. Staff support children to understand consequences by revisiting them in key-work sessions. Children know what is expected of them and are helped to develop personal responsibility and empathy for others.

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

Staff work in collaboration with partner agencies to support them in reducing risk. Work with a specialist therapeutic service has significantly reduced concerns for one child due to staff receiving ongoing training and supervision from the therapeutic team. This ensures that children receive the help they need to reduce risk.

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

Staff tailor their key work and other interventions to the individual child. For example, one child is completing the online safety training that the staff team completes to give them a deeper understanding about the dangers of online safety. Staff’s knowledge of the children ensures that care is responsive to help maintain the children’s sense of safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and leaders are highly aspirational for children. They inspire the team to share the same values, wanting the best for the children. Everyone is equally invested in making an exceptional difference for the children living at this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The responsible individual sets high standards by leading the induction of new staff and quickly establishing the child-focused culture of her organisation. The wealth of training available to staff empowers them to learn the skills needed for their role and promotes a Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 5 strong, continuous-learning culture. Staff are skilled and confident, and new starters can integrate into the team with ease.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers invest significantly in developing staff. A new mentoring programme enhances the quality of support, building staff’s aspirations and developing future leaders. As a result, staff are self-motivated to learn and excel in their roles. This helps them have the skills needed to give children the best possible care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers ensure that children are at the heart of team meetings and supervision. The team agrees on how best to meet the children’s needs and shares any emerging concerns. Staff have a voice, and their reflections are central to the supervision process. Supervision records are detailed and thoroughly capture supportive conversations. In team meetings, leaders celebrate the achievements of staff members and examples of excellent practice through choosing the employee of the month. This helps to maintain a culture of positivity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have effective partnership arrangements with the local authority and the police. The local officer visits once a month. Leaders work hard to ensure that the children and staff are part of the community. They attend the village partnership and host events for the whole community. The home has recently been recognised in the local newsletter for their fundraising efforts. This helps children feel accepted in their community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager sends information to the regulator when there are serious incidents. However, the manager’s rationale for when not to notify the regulator is not always clear in recorded information. Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should judge whether an incident is sufficiently serious to require a formal notification and evidence their decision-making on an incident record to enable appropriate challenge. (‘The guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.12)

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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: 2615326 7

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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

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2615326 8 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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