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Inspection report children’s home: SC457501 1 SC457501 Registered provider: The Cambian Group

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation to three young people who require support with their emotional and/or behavioural care needs. It is operated by a national provider of children’s homes.

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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

Date of last inspection: 17 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC457501 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/12/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/09/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC457501 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the principle of listening to the child and taking their views, wishes and feelings into account when planning and undertaking their care applies to all children and that these views and feelings are incorporated into their placement plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 21, paragraph 4.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people living at the home benefit from and make progress through receiving high-quality, kind and nurturing care from the staff. A strength of the home is the positive relationships that young people build with the staff. These relationships help to build the confidence and self-esteem of the young people and help them to learn to trust adults. The manager and the staff recognise the importance of establishing regular routines for the young people and are supporting them to attain good attendance at school or college. One young person who has been out of education for a long time due to their very complex needs has gained a place on a vocational course. This achievement is possible due to the tenacious efforts of the staff to find an appropriate educational placement and enable the young person to feel confident enough to accept the college place. Since the previous inspection, two young people have successfully left the home to live

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

independently. The staff remain in touch with all the young people who have left the home. The young people regularly contact the staff and send them photographs of their achievements since leaving the home. The young people keep pets. This teaches them responsibility. They are expected to care for their pet. One young person has a rabbit and there is a house cat. The cat sleeps on the beds of the young people, who find this comforting and homely. Two other young people lived at the home briefly since the previous inspection and had to leave. The staff were unable to meet their extensive and complex care needs. These young people are now placed where their needs can be met. Learning has taken place from these experiences to ensure that, in future, all possible information is gathered from placing authorities, prior to a young person moving to the home. The young people are encouraged and supported to be as independent as possible. The

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

staff succeed in providing the young people with experiences where they are safely able to make mistakes and learn and develop as a result. Before they arrived at the home, one young person found it too difficult to make friends and attend youth clubs, but now Inspection report children’s home: SC457501 4 attends five youth clubs and is making friends in the community. The young people benefit from going on holiday with the staff. They learn to use an airport, foreign currency and enjoy staying in a hotel. The healthcare needs of young people are met at the home. The staff are well informed and knowledgeable about any physical and/or emotional healthcare needs of the young people. The staff have access to a company psychologist, who attends team meetings and offers staff strategies to use to effectively support the young people. The young people are fully involved in decision-making in the home. Staff were observed

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

to be fully involving a young person in choices of activities for the day and how they would like their hair styled. Following extensive damage to the house, which has been promptly repaired, the young people are being fully involved in choosing how to decorate the home. Placement plans and working profiles inform the staff about how best to meet each young person’s care needs and effectively support them to make progress. The information is clearly and concisely provided to the staff to give them clear guidance and strategies. These documents do not always contain the young person’s voice of how they think the staff could best support them. The staff comprehensively support the young people to see their families, who are welcome to visit the home. The staff effectively supervise family visits as agreed with placing authorities. One placing social worker commented: ‘My young person’s progress is amazing. They have built relationships with the staff. I can’t think of anything they

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

The staff respond to any concerning incidents with a strong safeguarding response. They are vigilant and know the young people they care for very well. The staff know if a young person is holding back information, or is acting in an unusual way for them. Due to the trusting relationships, the young people feel able to disclose to the staff if there is something that is worrying them or that has happened to them. The manager and the staff have strong and effective links with safeguarding professionals such as the local authority designated officer, the police and youth offending team. The young people rarely go missing from the home. If they do, the staff follow a comprehensive missing from home procedure. A strength of the home is how the staff establish effective routines and boundaries. Some young people arrive at the home with no routine, as they have previously been allowed to stay up all night and sleep all day. The staff use an effective programme of

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

gradually encouraging the young person to get up earlier, so that they can attend education and make progress. Behaviour is managed through supporting the young people to learn from their mistakes and praising and rewarding positive behaviour. One placing social worker commented that their young person is able to regulate their behaviour more effectively since coming to the home. The use of restraint at the home is minimal. When it is used, it is for the Inspection report children’s home: SC457501 5 minimal time, with the minimal force required to keep the young person or others safe. Risk assessment processes provide the staff with clear guidance and strategies to manage assessed risks. The young people say that they feel safe living at the home. Recruitment processes are thorough and help to ensure that only suitable people are employed at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the home has undergone a change of registered manager. Twelve members of staff have resigned and the young people who had lived at the home for over two years left to move to independence. New staff have been swiftly recruited. The core staff team members who were left have provided stability. They successfully support the new staff and manager to embrace the ethos of the home and continue to provide aspirational and quality care to the young people. The registered manager is experienced, appropriately qualified and is providing effective leadership in the home. She is well supported by the registered individual, who was previously the manager of the home. The staff comment positively about her leadership and the support that they receive from the manager. Placing social workers comment that the communication they receive from the home is regular and comprehensive. The manager and the staff strongly advocate for the young

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

people in their care. One young person recently moved to the home. The manager promptly secured an educational placement for them and is in close communication with the placing authority, to ensure that the placement is swiftly put in place. The staff benefit from a comprehensive training programme on topics such as safeguarding, first aid and physical restraint. The manager recognises the importance of new staff understanding issues around attachment and therapeutic parenting techniques. This essential training is now included in induction programmes for the new staff. The home is well maintained and decorated. The manager and the staff understand the importance of providing the young people with a homely and non-institutional environment. The young people said that they liked their bedrooms and can personalise and choose the colour schemes. The manager and the staff team strive for continual improvement. They are aware of the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

strengths and areas for improvement in the home, which are documented in the home’s development plan. This plan helps them to focus on priority areas for development and identify what is working well.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children Inspection report children’s home: SC457501 6 and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

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 children’s home: SC457501 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian, Waterfront, Hammersmith Embankment, Chancellors Road, London W6 9RU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Nicola McClements

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Inspector

Tina Maddison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457501 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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