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'Exceptionally happy' children's homes found outstanding by Ofsted
A pair of children’s homes for autistic and neurodivergent young people have been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.
Cedar House in Newton Aycliffe and Tunstall in Sunderland, both run by the North East Autism Society (NEAS), were praised by inspectors for being places where children ‘thrive’.
Between them, the homes look after 11 youngsters aged six to 18.
The report described Tunstall as an “exceptionally happy, nurturing, and family-oriented home.”
Rae Robinson, registered manager at Tunstall, said:
“All the staff really care about the kids. We’re so invested in their development and in their happiness, and helping them find their happiness in different ways.”
Two of the children at Tunstall have been helped to start swimming lessons, learning through play in a small group, or one-to-one. They also attend an accessible gymnastics group in the summer.
Rae said: “Our little ones love gymnastics, but they struggle to cope with the lessons where it’s very enforced that they all have to stand on the line and do the same thing.
“This is an open gym, where they can access all the different equipment, but they’re not expected to conform to as many rules as in a typical gymnastics class.”
Inspectors also praised Tunstall for the impact it had on one child, whose spoken language skills had ‘developed significantly’ over a short period of time.
Rae said:
“When that young person first arrived, they had a couple of key words, and by the time Ofsted visited they were using full sentences.”
Staff used simple language, broke sentences down so the child could learn the key parts of each phrase, and used regular praise and encouragement.
Rae added: “I think Ofsted saw the difference in them, and you only get that difference from a lot of love, care, and hard work.”
Cedar House was inspected in September last year, and declared outstanding across all areas.
This latest report means a hat-trick for Cedar House, after previous inspections in March 2025 and December 2023 both declared the home outstanding.
The report praised Cedar House for creating “an environment that is calm, safe, and loving.”
It added: “The nurturing atmosphere can be felt throughout the home. From this secure base, staff support children to excel.”
Lee Miller, registered manager at Cedar House, said: “One of the things we want to make sure is that these children don’t have any barriers. We’ll do anything we can to help them achieve what they want to achieve.”
“They should live life to the fullest, like any child should, just because they’re in a care setting doesn’t mean that their opportunities should be different to any other children.”
For one young person at Cedar House, this meant having the opportunity to enjoy a trip to a theme park for the first time.
“Staff and key workers plan everything in detail,” Lee said. “For the trip to the theme park, key workers got in touch with the park and looked at everything that might happen, so nothing went wrong.”
“It’s just amazing to see the smile on their faces,” Lee added. “One of our young people going to the theatre and seeing a pantomime for the first time was lovely.”
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