Children's home run by Darlington Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2723795 1 Registered provider: Darlington Borough 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 operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. The inspector spoke with all the children.

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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: 21 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: 2723795 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2025 Full Good 23/01/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2723795 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive stable and nurturing care from staff who know them well. Staff work with children to develop trusting relationships and provide individualised care. As a result, children are making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed warmly and sensitively when they move into the home. Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home and two children have moved in. Children have well-planned introductions to staff and other children. Staff make every effort to help children settle with ease.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop skills for life at an early stage. Children are given financial responsibilities and tasks to help them develop essential skills. This approach embeds basic life skills in preparation for the children’s future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff speak fondly and proudly about the progress that the children make in their care. Children experience well-planned moves from the home. Staff stay in touch with children to ensure that they have access to support from a familiar adult while they settle into their new living arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make steady and slow progress in their learning. Staff advocate well for children who struggle to engage in their learning. All the children have arrangements for learning and plans that are reviewed regularly. Staff work well with education professionals and attend children’s meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children attend their health appointments and have their health needs assessed. Staff are strong advocates for children to ensure that they have access to the specialist support that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with new and exciting experiences. Staff go to extra lengths to ensure that children are active and engaged. Children enjoy holidays, day trips and activities of their choice. Memory books for children capture children’s experiences in a digital format.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm and welcoming environment and is well furnished throughout. Children’s photographs adorn walls, and books and toys are available. However, the addition of key turn locks on communal doors and the locking of external doors with a key impact on the children’s ability to access rooms and the property freely.

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

Children’s plans and risk assessments are detailed and include children’s known risks and vulnerabilities. Plans provide details of how staff can support children in different situations to help keep them safe. Although some plans require updates, staff know the Inspection report for children’s home: 2723795 4 children that they care for well and understand children’s behaviours, triggers and how best to support children in the home and community.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When they do, staff follow children’s safety plans and do all they can to locate the children, to ensure that they return to the home safely. Children are offered return home interviews to help staff learn from the incident and identify when additional support is needed. One incident led to a further assessment of the child’s vulnerabilities to better understand any potential risks in the community.

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

Staff are skilled in supporting children when they are distressed or in crisis. Staff understand how to respond to help children manage difficult emotions. The approach that staff use to work with children is working well, and children say that they feel decisions made with them about their care are fair.

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

The fire safety in the home has not been prioritised. The fire risk assessment does not reflect how communal and external doors are locked, to ensure that children can exit the home safely in an emergency. In addition, recommendations within the assessment, to ensure that fire doors operate safely, are still to be implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager who knows the children well. The registered manager acknowledges that taking on additional roles to cover gaps in the rota detracts from them undertaking some managerial responsibilities. Feedback from the staff attribute the positive experiences for children to the efforts and focus of the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a keen advocate for staff to have the skills to work with children in a therapeutic way. Staff are seeing the benefits from initial training in how they respond and support children. All staff receive the provider’s mandatory training and are either qualified to work with children in a residential setting or working towards a qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s monitoring systems are not always effective enough to have oversight of the home. Children’s essential records and information are difficult to locate and some records are out of date and incorrect.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all staff are receiving regular reflective supervision sessions. In addition, supervision session notes do not reflect the conversations that take place and, in some instances, are out of date. However, feedback from staff indicates that they feel well supported by the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that Ofsted receives regular notifications about the home. However, on one occasion, a safeguarding notification was not received in relation to one child. This prevents Ofsted from having oversight and being able to respond if necessary. Inspection report for children’s home: 2723795 5

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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 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)) 28 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due date

make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. 28 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2723795 6 In this regulation, "the fire and rescue authority" means the fire and rescue authority under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004(2) for the area in which the home is located. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that a fire risk assessment is updated so that this accurately reflects how the home is used.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must take actions identified in the fire risk assessment to ensure that internal doors provide the protection required.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. In addition, an accurate record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date and stored securely while children remain in the home. Case records should be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that there is a system in place so that all serious

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Recommendations

events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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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: 2723795 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Darlington Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Darlington Borough Council, Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington DL1 5QT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Bell

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Inspector

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2723795 8 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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