Local children's home achieves Outstanding Ofsted rating for the seventh time in a row

The Colombo Road home in Castletown is one of nine homes operated by Together for Children, the children's services partner of Sunderland City Council. Six young people aged between 11 and 17 live at the home.

This is the seventh time in a row the home has received this highest judgement from Ofsted, with inspectors saying: "The physical environment for children is safe and secure and offers a warm and homely atmosphere. All staff and managers are passionate about building a home for children that they can be proud to welcome their friends and loved ones back to."

Councillor Michael Butler, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Child Poverty and Skills said: "The children's homes in Sunderland provide a safe, caring, and positive environment for young people across the city and we are honoured that Colombo Road has once again been recognised by the independent Ofsted inspectors as leading the way in terms of the care and support in homes like this.  The team offer young people of the city personalised support, opportunities and give them the stability they need to thrive and eventually move on, and their passion and commitment to our young people is clear to see in the report."

Director for Children's Services and Together for Children's (TfC) Chief Executive, Simon Marshall, added: "The report highlights that Colombo Road staff consistently place children and their well-being at the heart of their practice and are they are highly skilled at responding to their individual needs. As a result, young people know they have a secure, comfortable, and loving home with people who genuinely care about them. We are incredibly proud of the support our staff provide to the young people at the home, and I extend a huge thank you to them for their ongoing hard work - this recognition is truly well-deserved."

The Ofsted report noted that:

• Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding
• How well children and young people are helped and protected: outstanding
• The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The Ofsted inspector's report said: "Staff provide a nurturing environment and strive to ensure that children feel loved and genuinely cared for. This has proved effective, as children begin to confide in trusted staff with sensitive issues and requests to keep them safe. Children develop an appropriate sense of permanence and belonging here and see it as their home."

The report noted that all the young people at Colombo Road attend school or other educational provisions, where they are learning and making good progress. They highlight that staff are ambitious for children and support them to attend and do well in their education and talk to them about the importance of achieving a full education.  The team also liaise well with schools, colleges and virtual school heads.

The inspector said: "Leaders and managers understand the plans for the children and drive and celebrate the achievement of important milestones, goals and permanence for their futures. Leaders and managers monitor the progress that individual children make and can demonstrate the positive impact that living at the home has had on individual children's progress and life chances. Feedback from other agencies and professionals was all extremely positive and demonstrated how leaders' and managers' passion drives positive progress and outcomes for children."

Home manager, Michael More added: "Achieving our seventh consecutive Outstanding Ofsted rating is a huge accolade for my team at Colombo Road. We welcome the Ofsted findings and take great pride in the positive feedback we received. The report highlights how living in our home significantly enhances the life chances of our young people, and notes that we are committed to placing their individual needs at the heart of everything we do.  We work closely with other homes across the city to support one another and for me this report really sums up the incredibly dedicated and passionate teams across all of our homes and we are incredibly proud to be supporting our young people in becoming the best they can be."