Children's Home run by Impact Childcare and Education in Northumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2758201 1 Registered provider: Impact Childcare and Education

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to care for five children with learning disabilities. There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since April 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

Date of last inspection: 15 January 2025

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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: 2758201 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/01/2025 Full Good 17/09/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2758201 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff understand the children’s needs well. They implement a model of care that is underpinned by a nurturing and relationship-based approach. This is a strength of the home and supports children to have a sense of belonging. Children display spontaneous affection towards the staff that staff respond to warmly. This helps children to feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with their social skills. The staff support children to achieve goals such as fastening their shoelaces, travelling independently, and maintaining personal hygiene. Children’s plans also include important educational objectives like learning to tell the time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work to strengthen friendships between all of the children by arranging shared trips and experiences. One child calls the other children in the home their ‘brothers’. The staff take photos of their shared experiences. However, children do not always have access to the photos. This does not help children to revisit positive memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged and supported to build safe friendships outside the home, taking part in activities such as Scouts and attending youth clubs. Children invite friends to visit the home. Staff provide effective support to help children to help them to understand and manage difficult situations. Children are learning to navigate social situations and to seek support when their relationships become challenging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to engage in the wider community. Staff have supported one child to prepare and distribute their CV, which helped the child to secure voluntary work at a local charity shop. This helps children to learn valuable skills that they can take into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has recently moved into the home. The manager carefully considered the needs of the children already living there and took steps to mitigate any identified risks. The move was planned in accordance with the child’s individual needs, helping to ensure a smooth and positive transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager generally provide effective support for children to engage with their education placements. For example, one child is now enrolled in college after being helped to recognise the value of completing a foundation course, while another is preparing to start sixth form.

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

Staff support the children to make progress in managing their behaviours. When children are angry or upset staff use interventions that are focused on guiding rather than restraining children. If children are held, they are then supported to understand Inspection report for children’s home: 2758201 4 why staff held them. Staff reflect on their practice following the use of holds to contribute to their ongoing learning and the continuous improvement of behaviour management strategies. Consequently, the use of physical holds has decreased significantly.

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

Risk assessments and care plans are reviewed and updated regularly. Staff generally have a good understanding of the risks for each child. However, staff do not have a clear understanding of some children’s self-injurious behaviour. The current risk assessments do not describe how these behaviours present or what action staff should take in response. This limits staff’s ability to provide the appropriate care and support should children harm themselves.

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

The manager exercises a safer recruitment process, including the verification of references. However, on one occasion the manager did not complete an overseas check for a member of staff. As a result, the manager cannot be assured of that member of staff’s suitability to work with children. This was rectified during the inspection.

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

Staff understand the whistleblowing process, and the manager reviews this regularly in supervision sessions with staff. More recently, staff raised concerns about some behaviours displayed by colleagues while working in the home. In response, managers updated the policies to clarify what types of behaviour are not acceptable. This helps to provide consistent expectations to staff related to the standard of care for children and appropriate role-modelling behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since April 2025 and has submitted their application to register with Ofsted. The manager is deeply committed to providing good-quality care for the children. She is ambitious for their progress and consistently expects high standards from the team. The manager has a thorough understanding of each child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the manager who some describe as a ‘wonderful’ and ‘approachable’ leader. The manager supports staff to carry out their roles effectively. Leaders and managers have a strong awareness of areas for development and have worked diligently to achieve improvements across all aspects of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision sessions are reflective and held regularly. They help the manager to be assured that staff maintain an up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding, internal policies, and relevant regulations. Supervision is also a means to assess staff’s knowledge and identify any gaps or areas for development. Supervision sessions offer staff the opportunity to discuss their professional development. This helps staff to feel valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff are up to date with the organisation’s mandatory training. The manager arranges bespoke training to ensure that staff have the skills to meet each child’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2758201 5 individual needs. All staff either hold or are working towards the necessary qualification, with some expected to complete this well ahead of the required timescales. As a result, children benefit from a workforce that is equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and qualifications to meet their needs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager did not escalate an issue regarding a child being ‘informally’ excluded from school. This prevented the child from attending a school activity day. Instead, staff supported the child to participate in activities organised in the home. This was a missed opportunity to advocate for the child’s right to attend school, participate in this activity and to socialise with their peers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2758201 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

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

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans

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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(a)(c)) 1 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d)) 1 October 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert to any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Staff should keep and Inspection report for children’s home: 2758201 7 encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. Children should be supported to access these records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 2758201 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Impact Childcare and Education

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3-5 Brenkley Way, Blezard Business Park, Seaton Burn, Newcastle upon Tyne NE13 6DS

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Inspector

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2758201 9 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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