Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 The young person living here reports that she is happy, safe and well looked after by a staffing team that genuinely cares about her.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 Leaders and staff are actively promoting the young person making and sustaining positive friendships and relationships outside of the home, which has dramatically increased her sense of belonging and self-esteem.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 The staffing team drives a culture of high educational attainment and economic aspiration for the young person, which has resulted in her gaining a place at her chosen further education college.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 Detailed and sensitive health-care planning has achieved considerable improvement to physical and emotional health outcomes.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 The young person benefits from highly effective, tailored key-work sessions, which have helped her to reflect on her behaviour and to learn positive strategies to adopt when making choices in the future.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 Risk-taking behaviour has diminished significantly and has more recently stopped entirely.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 Behaviour management is effective and thoroughly evaluated. The young person is encouraged, incentivised and appropriately rewarded for good behaviour.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 Staff have supported the young person to learn about keeping herself safe through innovative individualised practice that has developed from listening to her views.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 Internal and external monitoring systems of the home are highly consistent and detailed, resulting in constant development of the service.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 The stable and experienced staffing team is well supervised and supported, they share the managers’ high aspirations for young people in their care.

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

 The placing authority is extremely satisfied with the quality of service and there is good evidence of effective partnership working with other agencies.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, 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

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person: if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, with particular regard to promoting visits outside of school hours and ensuring the young person is asked to provide their views. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 31/03/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  As well as longer-term support for children to move on from the home effectively (Regulation 6 (2)(b)(vi)), the home has an important role in supporting each child leaving the home in the period immediately before their departure. The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is part of a large private organisation that also offers specialist educational provision, fostering services and adult residential care services.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 13/09/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/08/2015 Full Good 17/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Outstanding

There is one young person living at this home with a significant history of very challenging behaviour and highly complex needs. She has formed valuable and trusted relationships with the staff who are excellent role models. They have genuine aspirations for her to reach her full potential, and this underpins the outstanding progress she has made across all areas of her development. The young person said, ‘This is the best place I have lived, the staff really care about me.’

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Outstanding

The home offers an extremely warm and friendly environment, with the security of good evening routines and structured mealtimes. There is a range of age- appropriate resources on offer, such as a computer, games, jigsaws, books and films. Staff are nurturing, attentive and commit their time fully to ensuring that the young person in their care is provided with stimulating activities, both in and outside of the home.

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Outstanding

The young person makes decisions about key aspects of her day-to-day care arrangements. Her views are central to the care planning process. Staff ensure that she knows her rights, entitlements and how to make a complaint. The young person is aware of how to access formal advocacy services, but does not deem this necessary at present.

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Outstanding

Historically, the young person has not been committed to her education. Staff have supported her intensively to achieve 100% attendance at a specialist provision. She is thriving in the stimulating and nurturing environments that staff at the home and school are providing. She has progressed originally from 25 hours of education at home, to attending school full time and is on track to achieve A to C grades across core subjects. Staff at the home have supported the young person to apply to a range of further education colleges and she was absolutely delighted to have been accepted at her chosen campus, which is a fantastic achievement.

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Outstanding

Healthcare planning is outstanding. Staff have supported the young person through considerable dentistry, and this and improved self-care routines have resulted in significantly increased self-esteem. The young person has a history of exhibiting behaviours that indicate emotional distress, all of which have ceased. Staff have arranged clinical support to address mental health needs and the young person engages well and reports a marked decrease in her anxiety levels. The home promotes healthy eating and offers a varied, nutritious menu. The staff also promote active lifestyles and have enrolled the young person into a local gym, which she has attended with staff. Staff have promoted smoking cessation and this behaviour is now rare and, despite historic issues, there have been no instances of substance misuse.

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Outstanding

Staff ensure that the young person is receiving specialist help when required. She is accessing high-quality, weekly therapeutic intervention that complements the key work undertaken by the staff at the home. The staff have used research-based resources to undertake planned sessions that have assisted the young person in resolving internal conflicts and behaviour patterns. They embed the principles of this work into daily practice. The young person has recently learned about bullying, internet safety, healthy eating, engaging in education, keeping herself safe and exploring her ambitions. All of these topics have encouraged her personal growth and development.

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Outstanding

The progress made by the young person since admission is described by her social worker as, ‘remarkable’ to the extent that she said, ‘I’m so happy I could cry.’ As a result, the plan is for the young person to return to her home area in the near future. The young person has been supported heavily to learn skills for independence, but does not always commit fully to these tasks. Due to the success of the placement and achieving a place at college, the plan has altered to one of semi-independence. There is an imminent need for the young person to learn how to budget, complete household tasks and prepare meals. She would benefit from more progressively increasing free-time, which must be balanced carefully with identified risks. A recommendation is made to move this forward swiftly.

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Outstanding

Staff have promoted and facilitated contact in accordance with agreed plans. They have gone above and beyond the expectations of the placing authority, travelling very significant distances in order to ensure that a lack of contact does not hinder the young person’s progress.

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Outstanding

The setting has a higher than average staffing ratio of two staff supporting one young person. The young person benefits from intensive support to ensure that her safety needs are a priority. The staff follow a carefully considered risk management plan, which includes clear strategies to minimise potential harm.

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Outstanding

The young person has a history of absconding and exhibiting very high risk-taking behaviour. Since admission to the home there have been two different incidents of concern at a considerably lower level of risk than historically seen. Staff have responded to both with highly effective, formal key-working sessions, and informal discussions. These have encouraged the young person to explore the feelings and notions at the root of her behaviour, accept personal responsibility for her actions and develop strategies to make safer choices in the future. The young person said ‘I feel safe here and I’m being taught to keep myself safe outside.’ There have been no recent incidents of this nature and her social worker feels that she has ‘turned her life around’ as a result of the high level of support she is receiving from the staff.

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Outstanding

Staff work tirelessly to ensure that the young person’s goals have not been hindered by her vulnerabilities. Highly effective planning and multi-agency risk assessment have ensured that she can access a variety of activities in the community, including horse-riding, cinema trips and socialising with appropriate peers. The staff have promoted carefully managed, safe and positive friendships outside of the home, and these have flourished. This has provided the young person with a greater understanding of what constitutes a healthy relationship and has promoted a safer future, enhanced by people who strengthen her emotional health and well-being.

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Outstanding

When asked why the staff have been able to make such a positive impact on her life, the young person said, ‘They don’t go over the top here.’ Staff have listened to the young person’s preferences to have less structured key work and more informal intervention. The young person was able to recall a number of instances when staff used popular culture, such as film, and real life examples of young people who have been harmed as a result of risk-taking behaviour on social media. This has helped her to understand the severity of the risks she has previously exposed herself to. These innovative methods have helped her to formulate new ideas about how to protect herself within the lifestyle she will lead when she leaves the home.

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Outstanding

Positive behaviour is celebrated and rewarded with praise and encouragement. The staff have recognised the progress made by the young person and treated her to pamper evenings and days out, which have strengthened the bonds they have with her. The staff know how to defuse any difficult behaviour and have helped the young person to manage conflict effectively. There have been no instances of physical intervention being required or police involvement at this home, which is another example of the outstanding progress of this young person.

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Outstanding

Health and safety arrangements are well-managed, reviewed regularly and ensure that the young person is living in a physical environment that protects her from the risk of harm. Judgement grade

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Outstanding

The registered manager has significant experience of caring for young people in residential settings and is highly competent in her role. She works closely with the first line manager to ensure that staff feel well supported, and receive clear direction and regular high quality supervision sessions. Team meetings are evidently collaborative and child-centred but ensure that the staff’s support needs are also prioritised appropriately.

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Outstanding

The staff enjoy their roles and feel that the training provided is of a high quality and equips them to meet the complex needs of young people in their care. The home is exceptionally well-managed, and because of this the staffing team is stable, experienced and consistent in their approach to the young person they care for. All of the team have the required level 3 qualifications in residential childcare. Leaders are ambitious about continuous improvement in the home and ensuring that the care provided for the young person is of the highest possible standard. Record-keeping practices are exemplary and all documentation is scrutinised to ensure that it accurately reflects the young person’s needs and wishes, and that it captures the sustained progress she has made.

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Outstanding

The service meets and exceeds the aims and objectives outlined within the statement of purpose. The requirements and recommendations from previous inspections have been met. Leaders have a very clear understanding of both the strengths of the service and the vision for future development, which is informed by rigorous internal and external monitoring systems. The setting has an independent visitor who does not always engage directly with the young person because they attend in school hours. The manager agreed that this is not ideal and a requirement is made to address this matter.

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Outstanding

The manager champions the interests of the young person. She makes decisions that place the young person at the heart of practice in the home. She considers the young person before any matter of practicality or financial constraint. An example of this was agreeing to travel very long distances to take the young person to open days at colleges, stating, ‘Whatever it takes we will get you there.’ Professionals from the placing authority are highly satisfied with the service provided and know that it is making a sustained impact on the young person’s life. One independent reviewing officer said, ’I have known the young person for a long time and I know when she is not happy, she is very vocal. When I visited her I could really see a positive difference in her and I think that is down to the efforts of the staff at the home.’

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children’s home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children’s home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children’s home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children’s home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children’s home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, 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,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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

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