Children's Home run by Newcastle City Council in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report for children’s home: 2530086 1 Registered provider: Newcastle City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties and/or have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors spoke with both children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2025.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2530086 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/06/2024 Full Good 04/04/2023 Full Good 05/07/2022 Full Good 23/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2530086 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager understand the children’s needs well. This has led to children making good progress in a short space of time. The manager and staff implement a therapeutic model of care, which is underpinned by a relationship-based approach. This is a strength of the home and supports those children with attachment difficulties to feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s communication needs well. They are creative in implementing strategies to support children to understand their daily routines and transitions. This helps children to learn to manage their behaviour well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they feel safe living in the home. They say they are happy and would not change anything. Children know that staff care about them and want to help them. Children know how to make a complaint and say they could turn to any staff member for support. One child gave living in the home ‘10 out of 10’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build good relationships with those adults who are important to children. This helps children understand that staff not only care about them but also their wider circle. This provides children with a sense of being cared about by staff. Furthermore, information is shared between these adults and staff, which helps to keep children safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build friendships in the local community. For one child, this has resulted in them playing with a neighbour’s child. This helps to give children a sense of belonging in their local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to access education that meets the children’s needs. Staff empower children to have a say in the type of education they receive and how they feel about their education. Staff are creative in identifying resources to encourage children to learn. They are aspirational for children’s futures and are keen to plan for this at the earliest opportunity. Staff successfully advocated for one child to remain in school when there was a plan of exclusion. This has provided the child with a consistent learning experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not always have access to the statutory documents that set out children’s plans. This prevents staff from implementing the most up-to-date information about children’s health needs and targets. Some staff escalate requests for these documents, but the approach is inconsistent and therefore ineffective.

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

Staff know children’s individual risks well. Risk assessments are updated regularly, which helps staff to understand children’s changing needs. These documents reflect all the known risks that children currently face, and they record actions designed to mitigate Inspection report for children’s home: 2530086 4 those risks effectively. Staff work consistently in line with the strategies in children’s risk assessment. As a result, children’s risks are reducing.

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

Staff understand that children respond well to praise, and therefore, consequences are not used in the home. Instead, staff use natural consequences to help children understand the impact of their behaviour. Staff help the children to reflect on their behaviours, which helps children to learn how to improve their behaviour.

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

Children are only held as a last resort to keep them and others safe. Usually, children are guided or held in a way that helps the child to feel safe, rather than restricted. Staff have a reflective discussion with a manager after a child has been held. This helps them to process the incident and consider anything that could have been done differently. Children are usually spoken with after being held, but this is not always clearly recorded.

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

Staff respond well when a child is missing from home. There is effective multi-agency working to help find a child quickly. Staff complete welfare checks with the child if they are missing from home during the daytime. Staff create an inviting environment for the child to return to, providing emotional and physical support.

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

Allegations made by children are managed well. Investigations are completed quickly, and there is a clear record of steps taken to reach the relevant outcome. This helps to improve children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is new to the home. He leads by example and is ambitious for the children. The manager continuously reviews children’s behaviour and staff practice to improve children’s progress and outcomes. He is supported well by an enthusiastic and committed staff team. Staff are committed to the children, and one staff member has attended an important meeting about a child on their day off.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for children well. He challenges local authority plans if he does not feel they are in the best interests of children. This has resulted in a more balanced approach being taken to how one child spends time with their family. This helps children to feel listened to and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions are reflective, and staff have the opportunity to talk about their own welfare as well as that of the children. This helps staff to feel well supported. During supervision sessions, staff are provided with a hypothetical safeguarding scenario for them to reflect on and discuss. This helps to develop staff knowledge and helps the manager to identify any gaps in knowledge that may require addressing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff complete the home’s mandatory training within the organisation’s required time frames. He identifies bespoke training when he recognises that staff need additional support. This has helped staff to develop their resilience and has contributed towards team cohesion. Inspection report for children’s home: 2530086 5 The manager completes an assessment of the staff’s ability to meet a child’s needs before agreeing to care for a child. However, he does not clearly demonstrate how children’s competing needs and behaviours can be managed. This approach hinders the manager from mitigating against all known risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff either have or are working towards the required qualification to work in a children’s home. However, the manager does not determine the suitability of a staff member’s qualification when that qualification is not a specific children’s home qualification. This prevents him from identifying any gaps in that staff member’s knowledge. Inspection report for children’s home: 2530086 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure they have fully considered what impact any new child moving into the home may have on an existing child. This should include how the risks associated with the new child’s behaviours may impact on an existing child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should be assured that the content of any qualification held by a staff member corresponds with the qualifications set out in regulation 32(4) for those in a care role. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.13)  The registered person should ensure that they receive the required statutory documents containing information about a child from other agencies. When these are not made available, the registered person should ensure there is an effective escalation process in place to request these documents. (‘Guide to the Children’s

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Recommendations

Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.3)  The registered person should ensure that both they and the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2530086 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Newcastle City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Newcastle Civic Centre, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 8QH

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Inspectors

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Dawn McCluskey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2530086 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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