Children's Home run by Park Blue Homes Limited in Gateshead

Inspection report for children’s home: 2800606 1 Registered provider: PARK BLUE HOMES LIMITED

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

Thia home is privately operated. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in July 2025. This is the home’s first inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home. The inspectors spoke with all 3 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2800606 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled in the home and have good relationships with staff. Children say that they enjoy living there. All children have made progress relative to their individual starting points. Progress includes attending school, being less anxious and understanding their emotions. These have been significant steps for each individual child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are involved in many activities tailored to their ages and interests. These include swimming lessons, trips to the park and beach, cycling and shopping. Activities are also arranged for the children as a group, which helps to develop positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are dedicated to meeting the cultural needs of the children. They educate the children about the cultures and religions of each child, so that children can appreciate and celebrate each other’s heritage.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend full-time education. When one child struggled to go to school, staff attended school with them for 45minutes every morning for a period of time to help them settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see their families where appropriate. One child’s sibling visits and stays over every month. Staff are mindful about including the other children in the activities during these visits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Unhelpful and sometimes stigmatizing language has been identified in some children’s records. This may have a negative impact on children should they request to read their files.

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

Children say that they feel safe living at the home. One child’s missing incidents have significantly reduced since moving to the home. Staff are curious about children when they do go missing and consistently look for children in their known locations. Professionals say that children are safer, and they feel well cared for.

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

When children struggle with their emotional health, staff are creative with resources to help children cope. Children are helped to create ‘self-soothing’ boxes. As a result, incidents of self-harm have reduced, and children are beginning to develop skills to be able to manage their own emotions. As staff spend time with children talking to them about their feelings, children now seek staff out when they need extra support.

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

Staff work closely with clinical professionals to reflect on children’s behaviour, and staff use therapeutic techniques when they respond to children. This has helped children to Inspection report for children’s home: 2800606 3 develop coping mechanisms to manage their emotions and, consequently, the use of physical intervention is reducing.

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

Children’s plans and risk assessments are at times difficult to read and understand. Staff do not always follow children’s safety plans. On one occasion when a child was suspected to be under the influence of a substance, staff did not follow the child’s plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of managers, describing them as supportive. Staff say that they are happy working at the home. Supervision sessions for staff are reflective about the children. They also include discussion about staff development and staff wellbeing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses his monthly reviewing and auditing systems to have effective oversight of all aspects of care for all children. On occasion, the registered manager has been unaware of incidents. As soon as he has become aware, he has been responsive, completing immediate reflective sessions with staff, explaining to the team what the expectations are and, when appropriate, checking in with the child involved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager challenges professionals appropriately on behalf of children. When one child was on a partial school timetable, he challenged the decision and raised concerns about poor information-sharing. His creative suggestions of support resulted in the child returning to school full time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On one occasion, senior leaders moved a child into the home when the registered manager was not present. The impact of this on the 2 children who were already living in the home was significant with them saying that they felt pushed out and frightened by some of the behaviour. While the registered manager said that he would not have agreed to the child being placed due to their competing needs, he has worked collaboratively with all professionals to ensure that all the children’s needs are being met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2800606 4

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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, 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

The registered person must ensure that staff 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 30/04/2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must enable, inspires and lead a culture in relation to the children’s home that 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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(g)((ii)) 30/04/2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2800606 5

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on the importance of careful, objective and clear language used. 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: 2800606 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PARK BLUE HOMES LIMITED

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 38 Freemans Way, Harrogate HG3 1DH

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Inspectors

Karen Karlsson, Social Care Inspector (Lead) Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2800606 7 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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