Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report children’s home: 2616741 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for one child for a short-, medium- or long-term period.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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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: First inspection

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: 2616741 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has experienced a period of stability in the home and has built warm, trusting and helpful relationships with the staff team. The support the child receives from staff is individualised, child focused and consistent. This has enabled the child to begin to address their anxieties, fears and worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with the child’s virtual school and tutors to ensure that the child has an education plan that meets their learning needs. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, staff has ensured that the child has a weekly education plan and access to online tutoring within the home. As a result, the child’s engagement in education has improved, leading to a plan for them to transition to a school in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work in partnership with health professionals and the in-house clinician to prioritise the health needs of the child. Staff have worked creatively and resourcefully to ensure that the child engages in health appointments and assessments of their health needs. As a result, the child is now accessing specialist therapeutic services that include equine therapy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Throughout the pandemic, the staff have provided emotional support to help the child understand and manage the restrictions. As restrictions have changed, the staff have ensured that leisure opportunities for the child has continued. For example, the child is now accessing horse riding lessons, cycling in the community, enjoying days at the beach and playing out in the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has opportunities to share their views, wishes and feelings through key- work sessions and individual work. These opportunities have enabled the child to discuss the pandemic, internet safety, healthy relationships, activities, menus, trust and substance misuse.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s daily journal is colourful with photos of all the positive experiences they have engaged in from admission. The journals are written for the child and support them to develop their emotional resilience and build positive memories of their childhood. Inspection report children’s home: 2616741 3 Staff have worked in partnership with the child’s social worker to help the child to stay connected with their family during the pandemic. They have facilitated indirect contact with the child’s family members. This has helped to re-establish relationships between the child and the key people in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is welcoming and spacious. The child has been able to personalise their home and their bedroom. When there is any damage in the home, this is promptly repaired to maintain a homely and nurturing environment.

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

Staff follow policy and procedures and demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of risks, all of which help them to protect the child more effectively.

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

There have been no missing-from-home episodes or physical interventions since the home was opened. Staff have good knowledge of the child’s risk assessments and triggers, and staff are well placed to respond effectively should the child go missing from the home or is in crisis.

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

Professionals say that when the child is in crisis, the staff support them well. Staff action has contributed to a significant reduction in disruptive behaviours and has helped the child to develop alternative coping strategies. For example, the child will cause damage to their bedroom when feeling anxious. However, these incidents have reduced, and they are more able to regulate their emotions.

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

Staff have regular input from the in-house clinician. This enables the staff to provide the child with an environment where they can express their feelings and develop strategies to manage their emotions. As a result, the children are settled and benefit hugely from the nurturing and therapeutic care they receive from a consistent staff team.

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

The child engages well in key-work and informal discussions where they are able to address behaviours and risks with staff in a safe environment. Key work has been completed on substance misuse, internet safety, emotional well-being, healthy relationships, social media, education, child sexual exploitation, health and exercise. Key-work sessions are focused and provide the child with an opportunity to reflect and learn. They are child centred and promote the voice of the child.

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

Communication with the child’s social worker and other professionals is good. This has led to a real sense of a ‘team around the child’ approach. This multi-agency approach provides better support and guidance for the child.

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

Professionals said that staff have provided a high level of safety for the child through their nurturing therapeutic approach. As a result, the child is beginning to feel safe and secure. Inspection report children’s home: 2616741 4 There are low levels of sanctions and lots of positive praise and rewards. However, when sanctions are used, these are not always consistent to support the child in addressing their behaviours or clearly recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified manager. She manages another home in the local community and has been in post since December 2020. The manager has demonstrated that she aims to achieve good outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works with her team leaders to help provide structure and support through monthly supervisions, spot supervisions, team meetings, handovers and consultations with staff and other agencies. This helps to ensure that staff are able to meet the holistic care needs of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they are supported in their roles by the manager. The staff spoken to during the inspection came across as child focused, passionate and motivated. There is good staff morale and the team provides consistency of care for the child. As a result, the child is making positive progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates and challenges other professionals to ensure that there is no drift or delay in the progression of the child’s care plans. For example, she has progressed education for the child and also ensured the child can have access to specialist therapeutic support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good management oversight of the home. She completes monthly audits and spot checks, and she has oversight of all assessments, care plans and incident reports. This helps her to model practice and improve the outcomes for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are updated home development and workforce development plans in place, and these are reviewed regularly by the manager. The manager also makes good use of the monthly independent quality assurance visits to the home. These visits have enabled the manager to implement changes to the service as the needs of the staff and the child have evolved. As a result, the manager has a good understanding of the strength and areas for development of the service and has an action plan to improve the outcomes for the child and staff development. Inspection report children’s home: 2616741 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. In particular ensuring that sanctions have detailed recordings and are proportionate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.38)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Childare Limited, 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Fitzsimmons

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Inspector

Noel Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2616741 6 to 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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