Children's Home run by South Tyneside Council in South Tyneside

Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 1 SC032697 Registered provider: South Tyneside Council 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 operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at 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 requires improvement to be 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: SC032697 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2024 Full Good 30/05/2023 Full Good 03/01/2023 Full Good 09/12/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspectors spoke to two of the children during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide stability for children and spend meaningful time with them building trusting relationships. Staff support children effectively when they are upset. As a result, children feel well cared for in knowing staff will be there for them. Two of the children lived away from the home for different reasons but remained under the care of staff. Staff maintained their relationships with children by being with them every day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children know their rights and how to raise complaints. For example, if there are proposed changes to a child’s care plan or if children are unhappy with something that has happened in the home, an advocate supports them. This allows children to share their views and know they are important.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves into the home are well planned. A thorough assessment process considers the needs of the child moving in and the impact on the group already living in the home. For the most recent child to move in, this has been successful and has ensured that they have settled well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff respect the children’s views and wishes, particularly in relation to seeing friends and family. When possible, staff enable children to see family overnight if they wish. Families also visit children at the home. If children choose not to accept these visits, staff support their decision. Families have commented that they are happy about the care and support given to their children. One parent said they would like to get to know staff better, as there have been some new people coming to work in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children, who are taking their examinations this year, are making progress in their education. They have aspirations for the future, with college placements and an apprenticeship. However, the other children continue to face challenges in terms of their engagement with education. Staff understand the issues children face and the reasons behind their struggles. However, progress in helping children is slow and limited.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support for their health and well-being. Some children experience issues around vaping and cannabis use. At times, children will test the house rules in relation to this. The effective use of challenge and consequences by staff to manage this is inconsistent, resulting in children feeling they are being treated differently.

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

Children can identify a trusted adult they can talk to about any concerns. They say that staff listen to them, take their concerns seriously and respond appropriately. Support is tailored to the children’s individual needs. Staff help children explore their feelings, Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 4 encouraging them to make better choices to keep themselves safe. This has helped one child progress in this area and be much more settled.

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

Staff are aware of the challenges that children face. These include concerns of drugs misuse, vaping, self-injurious behaviour and exploitation. For most children, the support from staff keeps them safe and manages these risks. However, one child left the home because risks to their safety were beyond the influence of staff and partner agencies.

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

Positive behaviour is expected in the home. Staff help children in times of crisis by trying to calm them when they are upset or overwhelmed. This is successful most of the time. When children find it difficult to manage their feelings, staff use specific strategies to help them. Staff do not use physical holds but guide children away from potential harm when necessary. The manager has good oversight of these incidents.

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

Missing-from-home incidents have increased since the last inspection. Staff respond effectively to find children when incidents occur, working with the police when necessary. This ensures that children are found at the earliest opportunity and brought home as safely as possible.

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

The manager takes allegations seriously. She follows safeguarding procedures, working with the children’s social workers and the local authority designated officer as necessary. This ensures that all concerns are dealt with appropriately to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The care planning for some children has been poor. Staff have done their best in difficult circumstances, but they have been unable to keep one child safe. Although the manager escalated her concerns, this was ineffective. The response from the leadership team has been slow, leaving a child in an unsafe situation for longer than necessary. For another child, there have been significant changes to their plans. Information shared with this child about their arrangements has been changeable, leaving the child feeling angry and confused. The manager has raised her concerns about ineffective planning. However, the leadership team has not taken steps to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Some requirements from the last inspection remain unmet. Monitoring systems have not identified gaps in important documents, such as children’s risk assessments, with some known risks being excluded from the information available to staff. Additionally, the chronology of two missing-from-home incidents lacks information, and it is unclear how staff managed an incident involving a child smoking in the kitchen. This does not help staff or promote effective management oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is experienced. She has worked at the home for a long time, knows the children well and is keen to ensure that they have everything they need. Staff speak positively about the children in their care. They feel well supported by the manager and enjoy working at the home. Staff recognise the manager’s commitment to her role and the care for the children and the staff. Staff said, ‘[Name of manager] lives and breathes this place.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 5 Staff receive regular, well-planned training on various topics, in line with issues they help the children with. Bespoke support is provided by professionals from specialist agencies who attend team meetings so staff can discuss the children and explore the strategies to help them. Regular team development days allow staff to take time away from the home to focus on their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Practice-related supervision is regular and of good quality. Every supervision session includes discussions about children. Staff can raise any concerns or worries and reflect on them with the manager. Supervision is supportive and sensitive, which staff value.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff write the daily accounts of the children’s lives to the children. They use helpful, child-friendly language that captures the children’s experiences. The records indicate that the children can express their opinions and that staff listen to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are positive working relationships with partner agencies. Feedback is positive about the team’s communication with others and the work carried out together to achieve the best outcomes for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 6

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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

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(e)(i)(ii)) 28 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 28 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 7 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 28 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(viii)(x)) 28 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature and consistent to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, and the staff caring for them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: SC032697 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Westoe Road, South Shields NE33 2RL

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Inspectors

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC032697 10 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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