Children's Home run by Action for Children Services Ltd in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 1 Registered provider: Action For Children Services 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 run by a children’s charity. It provides care for up to four children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection. They were all spoken to during the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 2641044 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/05/2024 Full Good 06/06/2023 Full Good 25/04/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have lived in the home for a long time. Staff have established positive and lasting relationships with children. This provides children with secure attachments and a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take care of children’s health. Children are taken to seek medical attention when this is required. Children have access to a healthy balanced diet and take part in regular exercise. Children also get access to regular support for their emotional well-being. One child has been discharged from a specialist clinical service because of the progress she has made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can spend time with their loved ones and staff establish good relationships with children’s family members. Family time has been progressive; two children are now receiving unsupervised family time. Children work with professionals around their life story. This helps children to have a better understanding of their identity and family backgrounds.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented and has a welcoming feel. Rooms are large and the home offers comfortable space for children. The home is filled with photos of the children. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and decorated to reflect their interests. Children have stability and view this as their ‘forever home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in education. Staff support children to do their homework regularly and children are always fully prepared and equipped for their school day. All children have recently moved into secondary school with extra support and transition days to help them settle in. One child is walking independently to school with friends. Children attend after-school activity clubs and their achievements are celebrated. For example, one child had a poem published and received a reward for this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are developing positive friendships with other children. Children go on visits to their friends’ homes and enjoy activities with them. There is regular encouragement for children to have hobbies and interests. Children can enjoy activities such as chess club, horse riding and Scouts. One child went to her first music concert. Children are having good social experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move out of the home in a planned way. Staff stay connected with children when they leave. One child who moved on from the home wrote staff an email expressing that she felt loved and thanked staff for always being by her side. Children have established lifelong relationships with staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 4

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improvement to be good

The staff’s approach to supporting children with their behaviour can be punitive at times. Staff do not always follow children’s plans and their actions are not consistently in line with the organisation’s ethos. For example, on one occasion there was inappropriate use of physical intervention and at other times staff have relied on police being called to manage children’s behaviour. This has led to children feeling rejected and caused them some distress.

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improvement to be good

The home uses a motion-detector system to alert staff when children leave their rooms at night. This is despite there being waking night staff in the home. The children’s plans do not show that this monitoring is required and there are no relevant safeguarding issues. Therefore, the use of this type of surveillance is disproportionate, intrusive and unnecessary.

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improvement to be good

The manager completes a thorough investigation of all allegations that are made against staff. This allows the manager to take action to safeguard the children and address issues with staff practice. The manager will liaise with the local authority and inform the local authority designated officer when allegations are made. However, the manager has not always notified Ofsted of all allegations. This hinders Ofsted’s oversight of whether children are kept safe and how allegations are managed in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children rarely go missing from home. This is because staff have established good relationships with children, who enjoy spending time in the home. When missing-from- home incidents occur, staff look for children and call the police if necessary. However, children do not receive a return home interview with an independent person. This does not provide children with a formal opportunity to share any worries or concerns that may have led to them going missing. Furthermore, there is no shared account of what happened to the child while they were missing from home. This could hinder the effectiveness of reviewing risk assessments and plans for keeping children safer.

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improvement to be good

Consequences for children are restorative. Children get involved in a ‘Putting It Right Day’ to repair any damage caused in the home. This helps children to take responsibility for their actions and understand the impact of their behaviour, but also helps them feel proud of their ability to make amends.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers respond effectively when medication errors occur. Learning takes place from medication errors and this supports the staff’s development. Staff are more confident and able to administer the children’s prescribed medication consistently and safely.

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improvement to be good

Staff have important conversations with children about their individual risks and behaviours. This is to help children to understand the impact that this may have on themselves and others. This understanding supports children to make safer choices and Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 5 enables them to keep themselves safer. Children say that they feel safe living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are experienced and available to support staff. The team is more stable and there has been an increase in the number of staff in the home. New motivational ideas have been introduced, such as staff nominating one another monthly for ‘Give a Colleague a Star’ awards. As a result, staff morale has improved and staff say they all work better together. Because the retention of staff has improved, this has helped to provide more consistency for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel listened to and supported by leaders and managers. The manager is present and available to staff and they have access to regular supervision sessions, team meetings and an end-of-day debrief. These forums allow staff to reflect on key events, discuss the children and address any issues. Staff say that communication has improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are effective systems in place to escalate issues to other professionals, such as not receiving appropriate services for children. The manager and staff follow the organisation’s policy when the responses of professionals are not helpful. This ensures that children receive care and services that align to what is in their best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager builds positive working relationships with the professionals who are involved with the children. There are clear lines of communication, and the staff share regular updates about the progress of the children. One professional said: ‘They are constantly updating me.’ There is strong multi-agency working for each child, which means that staff are better informed and able to meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff do not always communicate with children effectively and this can lead to an escalation in the child’s behaviour. The manager’s evaluation of practice does not always help her to identify those issues or the impact that this has on children’s behaviour. This means that the manager is not able to address this with staff so that children’s behaviours are responded to in an appropriate and consistent way. Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 6

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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(s) 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

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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(b)) 30 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; and

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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)(b)(h)) 30 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 7 The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(d)) 30 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 ((4)(c)) 30 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child).

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)) 30 July 2025

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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: 2641044 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action For Children Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Inspector

Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2641044 9 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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