Children's home run by North Tyneside Council in North Tyneside

Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 1 SC038564 Registered provider: North Tyneside Council

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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 owned and managed by a local authority. It provides short-term care for up to five children who may experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

In March 2025, the home closed for a full refurbishment. The home reopened in July 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2003. The manager was not present at the inspection. He has been absent from the home since March 2025 and therefore a new manager has been appointed, and they have applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living at the home. The inspector met all the children and spoke with them about their experiences of living in 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 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: 9 September 2024

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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: SC038564 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/09/2024 Full Good 11/09/2023 Full Good 07/11/2022 Full Good 31/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their starting points, such as sleeping better, strengthened relationships, return to education and increased self-care and confidence. Children like living in the home, they feel safe and speak positively about the care that they receive. Children gave individual views to the inspector and said ‘the home is pretty chilled’, ‘it’s perfect’, ‘it’s well structured, staff are always there for you’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into the home are at the child’s pace and according to their needs. Children move into the home when the provider is satisfied that the staff can meet the children’s needs effectively, considering the impact on those children already in residence. Children receive information and visit the home so that they know what to expect. Children’s relatives are involved, supporting the move and, where appropriate, accompanying the child when they first arrive, helping to unpack and meet staff. Staff engage with children and provide a warm welcome. This means that children are well prepared for their moves and settle well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusting relationships with staff. Staff engage well with the children and are ambitious for them to achieve. They use activities and children’s interests to create connections that progress into strong relationships. As a result, children develop their self-confidence and feel valued. One child fondly described their enjoyment of spending time with their key worker. The child beamed smiles and said, ‘You can tell [name of staff member] is happy to be with us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in their health. Children attend medical appointments and follow medical advice. Staff are curious about the children’s health and well-being and recognise when children need more support from other agencies and make relevant referrals. For some children, this results in significant progress in addressing previously unmet health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in learning and make progress in their education Staff encourage children to value education and prepare for the school day, accompanying children to and from school if needed. Some children who have experienced a long absence from education return to school and progress in their academic attainment. Effective home-education partnerships with professionals support this progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The appearance of the home’s interior has significantly improved, making it more homely and comfortable for the children. After a large-scale refurbishment, the home is brighter with an improved layout that benefits the children. The new manager continues to work with the provider to finalise all areas of the home, such as the garden. Meanwhile, the staff and children are gradually personalising the space according to children’s views. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 4 Children enjoy spending time with their family and friends, including having sleepovers. Staff develop relationships with those in the children’s network and share information with them on a regular basis, appropriately consulting with them on the children’s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to develop independence skills in advance of their move out of the home, helping to increase their resilience of coping without the staff’s support. The new manager has recognised that more work is needed to strengthen this area of practice and meaningful plans are in place. Additionally, staff keep in touch with children when they leave, maintaining positive relationships with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like their bedrooms, which are private and well maintained. Children understand what is expected of them and contribute to tidying their rooms each week. They speak positively about the house rules, with the exception of the nighttime alarm on the ground floor. One child said that they find this restrictive if they want to leave their bedroom at night. There has not been an assessment or review of this arrangement to ensure that it is necessary and proportionate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Written records of the children’s family and free time are not always thorough. This will impact on the children’s ability to use their records to look back on their time living at the home.

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

Risks to children reduce, helping them to be increasingly safer. Children’s individual safety plans identify their vulnerabilities. Staff follow these plans and work with children, so that children understand potential dangers and how to be safer in the home and the community. Children’s family members and friends also contribute to safety planning. This enables children to enjoy playing in their community with a network of people who are looking out for them and who promote their safety.

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

Children talk to staff about things that matter to them and receive guidance from staff that helps them to make progress. The new manager has recently developed a new system to monitor the effectiveness of these supportive conversations. The renewed focus on ensuring that help is responsive is contributing to the children’s progress.

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

Staff consistently encourage positive behaviour. They use their skills and relationships with children to help children to communicate and express their feelings. Staff work well as a team and respond to incidents of children’s unwanted behaviour with sensitivity and a nonjudgmental attitude. This means that children’s behaviours are very well managed and serious incidents and holds are rare.

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

The children live well together. There is no bullying. Children are supported to be respectful, listen and show empathy to each other. The staff help the children to understand different perspectives, values and religious beliefs. This results in the children recognising diversity and having greater tolerance for others. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 5 Children do not go missing from home. There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home since the last inspection. This reflects the quality of relationships that children have with the staff and how much children like living in the home. Staff know the action that they should take if a child was to go missing.

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

Allegations against staff are rare. When they occur, they are taken seriously, and children’s safety and well-being are prioritised. Staff are also appropriately supported. Relevant professionals are informed, including the local authority designated officer. However, the written records of the action taken by professionals involved are not sufficiently detailed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has benefited from a consistent staff team for many years, which includes the registered manager. Due to the manager’s absence, a new manager has been appointed and provides effective management oversight and support to the team. The new manager has successfully co-ordinated the home’s reopening. She has engaged and united the staff, bringing them back together after working in other settings during the home’s closure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has a vision for the home and commitment to continuous improvement. She has introduced new systems and streamlined some processes that staff have found useful. The new manager has identified various other areas of practice to improve, but acknowledges that progressing these during the home’s reopening has been a challenge. In addition, there isn’t a development or improvement plan to provide focus and drive forward practice improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has a sound knowledge and understanding of the children’s needs, their background and experiences, leading up to the children moving to the home. She uses this knowledge to inform the children’s day-to-day care and to keep the children’s progress under review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The stable staff team provides consistent care to children. The team is made up of highly experienced staff who are confident and skilled in caring for children, particularly in developing relationships with them. Staff speak highly of the support that they receive from each other and their leaders. Communication between the staff is strong, enabling all staff to be clear about their role and contribution in helping children to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are encouraged to reflect on their practice through regular supervision. This provides staff time to think about their practice, discuss challenges and the impact that their work has on them. The new manager is approachable and monitors staff well- being. She identifies where additional support may be needed and ensures that this is provided. This results in staff feeling valued and well supported in their work. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 6 The new manager works proactively and positively with other agencies and professionals, building effective relationships with them. Feedback from professionals who work with the children and the children’s family was very positive and reflected the home working in partnership with the children’s networks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose is not up to date. Key information about staff such as the name of the responsible individual and staff working in the home is not accurate. Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 7

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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

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that any decision to use alarms in the home is fully assessed and reviewed regularly. This process should include consultation with the children and all the relevant professionals. 28 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that written records are detailed and provide full details of the action taken by staff to meet the children’s needs. 28 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should keep the home’s statement of purpose under review. The review should be child focused. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should have a workforce plan. The plan should be updated to include ongoing training and continuous development of staff, including the manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: SC038564 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Quadrant East, Cobalt Offices, 15b-15c The Silverlink North, North Tyneside NE27 0BY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jacqueline Ingram

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Inspector

Catherine Heron, His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC038564 10 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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