Children's Home run by Acedia Care Limited in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report for children's home: 2796314 1 Registered provider: Acedia Care Limited 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 private provider. It provides care for one child who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2796314 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/04/2025 Full Good 26/11/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2796314 3

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Summary of findings

There is a committed staff team providing consistent care for the child. Staff practice with patience and empathy, striving to understand what the child wants and needs, and staff work to ensure that the child's complex needs are well met.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are committed to continually improving practice and raising the quality of care. Bespoke training is provided, and this helps to maintain a strong learning culture among staff who are enthusiastic to develop new skills.

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Summary of findings

The child has a good relationship with staff and appears happy and comfortable in their home. They are provided with a variety of activities and experiences. Staff support the child's relationship with their important adults and collaborate effectively with external professionals to provide good-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys secure and trusting relationships with staff who nurture and protect them. Staff know the child well and take the time to understand their likes and dislikes. They demonstrate patience and empathy, which helps the child to develop trust for staff, contributing to a reduction in incidents of aggressive behaviour .

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are attuned to the child's communication style and use a variety of methods to help understand their needs. Staff use social stories and pictures to support the child communicate how they are feeling. Staff's effort has helped the child, who was previously non-verbal, to communicate with words.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming with a wide variety of equipment to support the child's sensory needs. There is a bespoke sensory room, reflecting the child's interests. The child's artwork and photos of activities and important people are on display in the house. This makes the home warm and inviting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of a structured education routine for the child. They advocate strongly and challenge other agencies to do all they can to support the child into education. Staff's determination has contributed to an interim provision being agreed. Meanwhile, they advocate for a permanent school place and ensure that they continue to support the child's ongoing development in the meantime.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to experience new activities and learn new skills so that they are able to do more things for themself. The manager uses research to improve staff practice around how activities can further support the child's development. This involves exploring the benefits of activities and evaluating their effectiveness to help consider future use. This helps to open the child's access to their world. Inspection report for children's home: 2796314 4

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

Staff know and understand risks to the child and manage these well. There are clear individual risk assessments and care plans. They are regularly updated and provide effective guidance to help staff to respond to the child's needs. Staff think about what is happening for the child and what may happen next so that they are prepared to manage demanding situations.

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

Staff are creative in trying new ways to help the child manage their frustration and associated behaviours. Staff use known strategies to avoid escalation in incidents, and physical interventions are only used when it is necessary to protect the child or others from harm. Staff use social stories to help the child to understand that staff hold them to keep them safe.

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

The manager takes all complaints seriously. They undertake a thorough investigation that generates an action plan of learning and development to improve practice. Bespoke training is provided when needed to upskill staff and support them in learning from previous practice .

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

Staff recognise that the child responds to structure and familiarity. Staff prioritise a consistent and predictable routine, which has developed with the support of the therapy team. However, staff do not provide the same structure regarding the child's food. This hinders professionals in being able to recognise the impact diet may have on the child's health and behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an enthusiastic and experienced manager, who holds high expectations for the child's care. They lead by example and maintain a respectful working culture and positive environment for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by management. They feel they are treated with respect and are able to speak to the manager to express any concerns or worries. They have a predictable staff rota, and the manager is flexible in being able to support staff's work– life balance. This improves staff retention and supports the child to have a familiar team of permanent staff caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff have good working relationships with partner professionals. They discuss the rationale for decisions with relevant agencies and strongly advocate for what they feel is in the best interests of the child. This is consistently recognised as a strength of the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has systems in place to review the progress of the child and the quality of care provided. The manager tracks patterns and trends and uses the information gathered to identify themes and implement change effectively to improve staff practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2796314 5 Staff supervision sessions are of good quality and reflective in nature. There are group supervisions and therapy sessions for staff to reflect as a team. However, there are gaps in individual supervision sessions, which restricts individual reflection on the impact of difficult situations on staff. This limits the manager's ability to put in place support that may be necessary to improve practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2796314 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change, negative behaviours in key areas of health and wellbeing, such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 35, paragraph 7.18)  The registered person should ensure that staff supervision enables staff to reflect and act upon how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 39, paragraph 8.15)

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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: 2796314 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Acedia Care Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 1 Maling Court, Union Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1BP

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Inspector

Lisa Gordon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2796314 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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