Children's Home run by Olive Grove Learning Ltd in Durham

Inspection report for children's home: 2691034 1 Registered provider: Olive Grove Learning Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience emotional and social difficulties. At the time of the inspection, 2 children lived in the home. Both children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The home was registered with Ofsted in November 2022. The manager has been in post since October 2025 and registered in December 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 requires improvement to be 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: 2691034 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/05/2025 Full Good 28/08/2024 Full Good 22/08/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2691034 3

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Summary of findings

Children are making good progress, particularly in education. Staff encourage positive routines for children and build positive relationships with them. With the support of staff, children are developing their confidence and building the necessary social and emotional skills to help them progress in different areas of their lives.

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Summary of findings

The home is a warm and welcoming environment. However, some areas of maintenance in the home remain an ongoing concern.

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Summary of findings

Managers and staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to keep children safe. However, on one occasion, leaders and managers did not escalate a safeguarding concern when there was a lack of response from a child's social worker. Furthermore, allegations made by children are not always managed effectively, and responses to them do not encourage trusting relationships between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they enjoy living at the home. Children are able to identify members of staff they trust and say they feel safe with. An independent reviewing officer for one child described the care provided by the manager and staff as 'second to none' and said that staff are 'amazing'.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has recently moved into the home and has quickly begun to form trusting relationships with staff. Positive, warm interactions were observed between children and staff. Staff know the children well and are committed to improving their outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in activities that they enjoy and benefit from age-appropriate boundaries and routines. Staff help children to learn about their identity and cultural background by planning meaningful experiences, including a trip abroad. This supports children to explore their heritage and develop a stronger sense of pride in their cultural roots.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make considerable progress in education when living in the home. Education is actively encouraged and promoted by staff. When an educational provision is not meeting the needs of children, leaders and managers advocate for more suitable provision. This means that children are attending provisions that best suit their individual needs, ensuring positive outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with children to prepare them to live independently. One child is approaching the age of planning for independence. This child does not want to move and feels settled at home. Leaders and managers are mindful of children's emotional and developmental Inspection report for children's home: 2691034 4 needs and advocate for children to remain in the home beyond the age of 16 when this is in their best interests and aligns with their wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have moved on from the home remain in touch with staff and regularly update them with their progress. This includes children going for a meal with leaders and managers, demonstrating that children have formed lifelong trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a warm and welcoming environment. Clear progress has been made in ensuring a clean and nurturing feel to the home. However, some issues persist in relation to damaged flooring and carpets, and damage to one child's wardrobe was not identified. One communal living area continues to double as a staff sleep in area during the night, preventing children from having access.

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improvement to be good

When allegations against staff are made, these are usually managed well. However, on one occasion when a child made an allegation about the behaviour of a member of staff, the child was challenged directly by the staff member concerned, who used blaming language towards them. Although the manager had oversight of this incident, they did not challenge staff practice or speak to the child individually about their concern. This prevents children from feeling that their concerns will be taken seriously.

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improvement to be good

Following allegations made by children, staff recorded their interactions with children without permission from the children or their social workers. While this was a strategy to protect staff from further allegations, it was not with the view to protect children and, therefore, was not child focused. This prevents children from forming secure, trusting relationships with staff and does not model acceptable behaviour around the use of devices to record others without their consent.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers appropriately share safeguarding concerns with the relevant professionals. However, on one occasion, a safeguarding concern was not followed up or escalated when no response was received from a child's social worker. Leaders and managers subsequently minimised their initial concerns and said they assumed other professionals would follow this up. This leaves children open to unassessed risk.

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improvement to be good

Sanctions are not always recorded appropriately. This prevents effective management oversight and means that on one occasion, it was not clear why a sanction was put in place. This prevents children from understanding the reason for a consequence and appropriate learning from taking place.

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improvement to be good

Children's risk assessments are appropriately detailed and help staff to understand and manage risks. They are updated as new risks emerge and provide clear guidelines on the actions staff should take to keep children safe. Children complete key-work sessions with Inspection report for children's home: 2691034 5 staff on relevant topics, such as online safety and healthy relationships, in line with their individual needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff generally have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and the individual needs of the children. Staff speak about children with warmth and positivity, which demonstrates a nurturing, child-centred approach. Children do not go missing when living in the home. This demonstrates that children usually feel safe and secure.

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improvement to be good

When children become upset or heightened, staff avoid using restraint and are skilled at de-escalation. When relationships become fragile, staff quickly restore and repair relationships with children, which demonstrates child-focused practice. Staff are skilled at building positive connections with children, and this makes children feel safe in the knowledge that staff will respond to them with patience and care.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers work effectively with a wide range of professionals to understand and support children, such as therapists and mental health practitioners. The manager strives to seek support for children, and they are encouraged to engage with specialist support that is tailored to their individual needs. This helps children to make sense of their life experiences and learn strategies to help them process past traumatic experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have high aspirations for children and want to see them do well, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the impact of children's previous adverse experiences on their wellbeing and progress. Managers are a consistent presence in the home, which encourages positive relationship building with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are responsive and have worked hard to address previous shortfalls, with new systems in place to help oversight of staff practice. The manager has a clear plan for staff development and is beginning to form a consistent and stable team of staff. Leaders and managers ensure that safer recruitment is in place. Leaders and managers recognise shortfalls in the home environment and have a clear plan in place to improve the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a thorough induction programme, in addition to regular supervisions sessions, which are reflective and support staff development. The manager also identifies external resources to improve staff practice. Staff training is focused and relevant to the needs of the children, which staff feel is beneficial in their role. Staff were keen to share their views, speaking highly about the level of support provided by the manager. Staff feel listened to and well prepared to safely care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication from the manager is described by external professionals as forthcoming and useful. Leaders and managers maintain productive multi-agency relationships, and this helps to ensure positive outcomes for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2691034 6

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 26 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child's placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child's age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 26 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2691034 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that consequences for children are adequately recorded and subject to systems of review to ensure that their use is fair. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves and the staff caring for them. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 46, paragraphs 9.36 and 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained and decorated to a high standard and repairs completed in a timely manner. Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child's needs. In particular, communal living areas should not be used as staff sleep-in rooms. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraphs 3.9 and

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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: 2691034 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Olive Grove Learning Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 35 Newbury Street, Sunderland SR5 1NG

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Inspector

Sarah Adotey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2691034 9 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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Inspector

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