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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 1 Registered provider: North Tyneside Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to 4 children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home, and 2 of them shared their views with the inspector.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/07/2025 Full Good 23/04/2024 Full Good 20/06/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 3

p.2

Summary of findings

There is a consistent staff team, which allows children to form positive relationships with staff. Children are able to share their feelings, both positive and negative, with staff, and this helps to reduce risks for them.

p.3

Summary of findings

Children are making progress with their education, and staff support them to overcome any barriers to their learning. There is good multi-agency communication and positive relationships between staff and external professionals.

p.3

Summary of findings

Managers support staff to understand the needs of the children. This provides staff with the skills and ability to support children in ways that are suited to their needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in their education. Staff support children at multi-agency education meetings, and there are appropriate plans in place for children who have previously not engaged with education for some time. Staff are creative in helping children learn when there are gaps in their education provision. This helps children to re- engage with education where there have been barriers, and to identify goals for the future.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have excellent relationships with children, and they are committed to positive outcomes for them. Staff help children to celebrate and acknowledge important anniversaries and milestones in their lives. Children say that they feel safe and that there is nothing they would change about where they live.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is good planning in place when children move on from the home. Staff support children to visit their identified home, stay over with them and help them to build relationships with new staff. This helps children to adjust to their new environment, increasing the likelihood of a successful move.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff generally build positive relationships with others who are involved in children’s care. Most social workers say that there is good multi-agency communication and that children are doing well. One family member said that their child is turning into a confident young person. However, there have been some instances when communication could be improved with some parents and social workers so that families feel more included.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate for family time to be increased when this is working well for children. This helps children to spend more time with family members, and some children have been able to return to the care of their parents. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 4 The home is a large and spacious environment with a warm and homely feel to most areas. However, some areas of the property are in need of routine maintenance and updates. Staff do not always ensure that children are encouraged to keep their bedrooms clean and well maintained. This normalises untidy environments for children.

p.3

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

The manager has good oversight of significant incidents when they occur. Staff are encouraged to consider motivating factors when children display behavioural challenges. This helps to ensure that staff understand children so they receive the right support when they are finding it difficult to manage their behaviours or emotions.

p.4

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

Children are offered specialist support to help them understand their journey and the decisions that have been made about them. Staff explore alternative therapeutic interventions, such as a virtual memory box or nurture books when children are not ready to engage with other support. Staff provide children with time to work through their emotions and to build supportive relationships. This ensures that children receive personalised support that helps to improve their emotional wellbeing. As a result, self- injurious and unhealthy behaviours have reduced for children.

p.4

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

Staff advocate for children when they experience relationship challenges in the home. Staff use restorative approaches and encourage children to apologise when they have displayed unwanted behaviours. Positive approaches to resolving conflict help to reduce the need for negative consequences. This approach also helps children to take responsibility for their actions and to maintain positive relationships with others.

p.4

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

Staff support children to have positive relationships outside of the home and to have appropriate hobbies suited to their interests. Staff support children when there are concerns in the community by ensuring there are appropriate boundaries and observations in place to keep them safe. This helps children to occupy their time constructively and remain safe, and it has helped to reduce unwanted behaviours for one child.

p.4

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

Children have excellent relationships with staff, and they feel able to share any worries. For example, one child shared that they had experimented with alcohol and substances. Staff mostly respond well when children share information and complete relevant education with them. However, on one occasion, an education session was not completed when a clear need was identified.

p.4

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

Incidents of children going missing from home have reduced significantly, and there are risk assessments in place to support children when there are known risks. However, these are not always reviewed in a timely way when risks decrease. Additionally, risk management plans when children go missing from home are not sufficiently detailed and lack clear actions for staff. This means that care plans and risk assessments do not accurately reflect children’s current level of risk. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 5

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a clear vision for the care provided to children and promote professional development within the team. Staff say they feel supported by managers and that they are approachable. Leaders encourage staff to focus on relationship-based practice, which helps staff to provide support to children in a consistent and trauma-informed way.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand the needs of the children and advocate on their behalf. They escalate worries to children’s local authorities when risks increase. The intervention of managers has led to changes in family time when this is working well, in addition to finding new homes for children when risks are unmanageable.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff listen carefully to children and ensure that they have access to an independent advocate. The manager has implemented additional internal processes to ensure children’s voices are heard. Children understand these processes and use them to express their wishes and feelings. As a result, children feel valued and complaints have reduced.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions are completed regularly with staff. This provides the manager with the opportunity to recognise good practice and to have oversight of the children’s care. Training needs are discussed and leaders signpost staff to additional resources to help increase their skills. However, some staff have not completed the relevant qualification within the statutory timescales.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When staff start to work in the home, the manager completes safer recruitment checks. However, identification checks are not always completed and gaps in employment history are not sufficiently explored. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 6

p.5

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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vii) (c)(i))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, staff must ensure that the environment and children’s bedrooms are well maintained and positive environments are provided at all times for children. 31 July 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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; 31 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 7 help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.7

Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v) (e))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, staff must ensure that risk assessments are reviewed and updated in accordance with known risks, that missing from home protocols include clear actions for staff in the event of child going missing from home, and children are protected from harming each other through education and careful planning.

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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)) 31 July 2026

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, must have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12) Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 8  The registered person should ensure that staff are an effective part of the wider support system for each child in their care. Specifically, staff should ensure there is effective communication with children’s families. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.3)

p.7

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: 2694582 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2a-2b The Silverlink North, Newcastle upon Tyne NE27 0BY

p.9

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jacqueline Ingram

p.9

Inspector

Shaun Martin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2694582 10 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10