Children's Home run by Action for Children in Northumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: SC000673 1 SC000673 Registered provider: Action for Children 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 charitable organisation. It home provides care for up to 5 children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is also registered to provide a short breaks service for up to 5 children with learning disabilities. However, short breaks have not been offered since September 2025. A variation to remove short break provision from this registration has been submitted to Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in this home and the inspector met with all 3.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2026.

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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: SC000673 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/05/2025 Full Good 29/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/06/2023 Full Good 31/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC000673 3

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Summary of findings

Children have lived at the home for some time and are all settled and making progress. Many of the staff have worked in the home since the children moved in and this helps children to build secure and trusting relationships over time. Staff understand children’s needs and any risks they face well, and this helps to ensure that they can keep children safe.

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Summary of findings

The home has been through extended periods with no registered manager. The current manager has been in post since September 2025 and is now registered with Ofsted. The manager has had a positive impact on the quality of care provided to children and on staff morale.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and are making progress in different areas of their lives. Staff know the children well and build strong and nurturing relationships with them. Staff are attuned to children’s individual communication styles and understand and respond to the subtle cues that children give.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good school attendance and are making progress in their education. Staff strongly advocate for what children need and are effective in bringing about change to improve children’s experiences in education. For example, one child now attends a local school which means they no longer spend significant time travelling to attend education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in a wide range of activities and trips. Staff tailor these to the children’s likes and offer them plenty of choice. Children let staff know what they like doing and if they have enjoyed their experience. Children go away on holidays and have regular and positive access to the community and their wider world.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are actively involved in making decisions about their care. Staff are creative in how they capture the children’s views. Children are given choices in line with their abilities and plans, and staff support them to develop their decision-making skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children’s relationships with their family members and friends. They do all they can to facilitate family visits to the home and make them feel welcome. Children enjoy family time and can see that everyone involved in their care has positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager thoroughly assesses whether the home is suitable for all children who move there. This includes considering if it is suitable for individual children to be living together. The children are well prepared for moving in and given opportunities to get to know each other and the staff before they move to the home. Decisions are child- Inspection report for children’s home: SC000673 4 focused and this contributes to children having positive experiences of moving to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children access routine and specialist health appointments. The children’s health needs are well communicated to staff, keeping them up to date as any changes emerge. However, while the manager is confident that staff undertake daily exercise routines as part of one child’s plan, there is no system in place to record this which hinders effective oversight.

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

Staff understand children’s risks and recognise how these impact on their vulnerability. Risk assessments are regularly updated and provide guidance for staff to help them keep children safe. Staff are attuned to children’s presentation and recognise quickly when they are becoming distressed. Staff seek to understand reasons for this and take prompt action to minimise risks and upset for children.

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

Staff recognise subtle changes in children’s behaviours and are curious to understand what causes these. Staff track patterns of behaviour and work together to find the most effective way to help children. Strategies are shared with the wider care team and children’s family members so that there is a consistent approach to supporting children.

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

There has been a significant improvement in medication practice and a reduction in medication errors. Children have a high level of prescribed medication, and all staff are trained to administer and manage this. Two members of staff are qualified in training the team in medication management. This means that this training is bespoke and ongoing and can be adjusted as new needs emerge.

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

Staff help children to understand risks. Staff know how best to communicate with each child and adapt their communication to ensure that children can understand them. Staff are creative in how they share information about risks with children using social stories and visual aids.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is organised and enthusiastic. She knows the children and staff well and this helps her to keep children’s wellbeing at the heart of management decisions. Staff share the manager’s high aspirations for children and talk positively about the manager and the impact they have had in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a fully staffed team, many of whom have worked in the home long-term. Staff have a good knowledge of resources in the area. This helps children to integrate into the community and spend less time travelling.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers provide good support for staff. Regular supervision give staff the opportunity to discuss how to best meet the children’s needs. The manager challenges Inspection report for children’s home: SC000673 5 any practice issues effectively and puts support in place for staff while setting appropriate targets for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s effective monitoring and review systems mean that they know the home’s strengths and areas for development. They have worked through a plan for improvement with significant changes for the team. Through open communication staff understand the need for change and say that the manager has helped to improve staff morale and bring them together as a team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. The manager uses this arena to share essential learning with staff so that they have a consistent understanding of practice expectations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are strong working relationships between the manager, staff and external agencies. Professionals say that the consistent and meaningful communication is a particular strength of the staff team. This means that when professional challenge is necessary, those relationships remain strong, with everyone working towards the same aim of meeting the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC000673 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being. In particular, staff should support children to exercise in-line with their plans and ensure there are clear records of this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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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: SC000673 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Action for Children, 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, WATFORD WD18 8AG

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Inspector

Lisa Gordon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC000673 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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