Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 1 SC456911 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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 home is run by a private organisation. It provides accommodation for up to six children. The home offers mental health support, education and care to children who may have experienced trauma that has left them vulnerable. The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2018.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 December 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/04/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/09/2017 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are happy and settled. They feel safe and listened to. The relationships between the children and the staff are good. These are forged on a cornerstone of open and honest communication. When asked what they liked most about the home, one child said, ‘The staff. They are brilliant; all of them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have made good progress from their starting points. They are in full-time education and achieving well. Attendance at education is high, and the children enjoy school. The staff understand the importance of learning and work with other professionals to identify and commission the most suitable education for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff seek the children’s views and opinions regularly through everyday conversation, weekly house meetings and individual key-working sessions. The children value this inclusive approach to planning their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children take part in a range of individualised activities in the community and at the home. They regularly visit the local library, where the staff know them and welcome them. This adds to a sense of belonging in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are sensitive to the children’s physical, emotional and mental well-being. Staff support is accessible and available to the children when they need it. The staff have been proactive in meeting the needs of a child who finds it difficult to attend appointments. Professionals now visit the child at the home. This reduces the child’s anxiety while ensuring that their psycho-social needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of family relationships and enable children to see their families. This can often involve the staff driving long distances. The children benefit from seeing their families regularly, which helps them to maintain positive relationships even though they are living away from home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The large home has had improvements made to the exterior and the ground floor interior of the building. Further work is required upstairs. A rotten window frame on the first-floor detracts from what is otherwise a welcoming and nurturing home.

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

The children speak with the staff if they have any worries or concerns. They know that the staff care about them, and this helps the children feel safe.

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

The children do not go missing from the home. The staff receive training in safeguarding and are clear about their responsibilities to keep the children safe.

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

The staff use positive reinforcement, which the children respond well to. Positive consequences are used twice as often as negative sanctions. The children enjoy Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 4 receiving rewards, and this reinforces good behaviour from the children.

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

The staff de-escalate unwanted and difficult behaviours to good effect. Restrictive physical interventions are seldom used, with just 11 since the last inspection. Despite the relatively low number, the records and oversight of these physical interventions requires attention. One record of intervention had no management oversight for three weeks following the incident. Such shortfalls have been an issue on previous inspections. The requirement in this respect is therefore restated. Failure to accurately record and monitor restrictive physical interventions places staff and children at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2018. She is working towards completing a relevant level 5 diploma. The manager is supported by a deputy manager. Both are respected by the staff, professionals and the children. The manager is passionate about her role and is child-centred. However, there are several areas that require improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff receive regular, practice-led supervisions and annual appraisals. However, this does not apply to the manager, who has not had an annual appraisal since 2017. The responsible individual accepted that this was an error and made immediate plans to rectify the situation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff receive a comprehensive training package and are enrolled onto a relevant level 3 diploma. However, one member of staff has been working at the home for three years and has not achieved the qualification within the timeframes. This does not ensure that staff are suitably qualified for their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The children’s case files are concise and up to date. However, one child’s behaviours have not been fully explored by the manager and therefore an appropriate response from the staff is not recorded. Failure to provide oversight of important behaviour plans could put the staff at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a bright welcome pack with a children’s guide for children when they move into the home. Although children know that they can complain to staff, the children’s guide has no information on the complaints procedure. This limits children’s awareness of the available avenues that they can use should they wish to complain.

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What does the children’s home need to do to improve?

Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

how to make a complaint or representations in relation to the home or the care the child receives and how any such complaint or representations will be dealt with. (Regulation 7(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(c)(d)(i)(ii)) 16/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 16/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 6 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (‘the Level 3 Diploma’); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1 April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1 April 2014, 1 April 2016. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 16/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)) 16/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure; 16/08/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 7 a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 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. Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 8 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC456911 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor, Waterfront, Manbre Wharf, Manbre Road, Hammersmith W6 9RU

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Inspector

Ricky D’Arcy: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456911 10 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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