Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Warrington

Inspection report children's home: SC456800 1 SC456800 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

This home provides care for up to two children who have emotional and social difficulties. It is part of a large national provider of children’s homes.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered for this home on 29 April 2018.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 7 October 2021 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: 26 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC456800 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 18/10/2018 Full Good 27/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC456800 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive high-quality care that has brought them stability and is making an important difference to their lives. They are happy and have a strong sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy warm and trusting relationships with staff. Children know that staff care about them and always try their best to help them. Staff know children very well. Staff are helping children to make significant progress in their education, health and emotional well-being and relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel able to talk to staff and know that their views are taken seriously. Staff respond appropriately to children’s views. Staff help children understand when their wishes may not be in their best interests and cannot be followed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to express their views to other adults, such as social workers, and take part in the decisions affecting their lives. Children’s views about their education and seeing their families have resulted in changes being made in their plans. However, children are not yet confident enough to go to their meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children see the important people in their lives more often. Children are now able to stay with their families overnight. Staff work effectively with children, their families and friends to make sure that seeing each other is a safe and positive experience. Staff are helping children to rebuild important relationships and helping them work through any difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s participation in education and their outcomes have improved significantly. Their attendance is very good, and they are motivated to learn and work hard. They are gaining qualifications. A child said that getting qualifications is something ‘I never thought I’d do’. Staff support and encourage children’s education. Staff work together effectively with education providers to provide children with individualised support that meets their learning needs. Staff have supported a child to change schools with positive results. They have helped another child to go to college. He said that staff ‘kept pushing me and helping me the whole time’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and monitor children’s health and emotional well-being. Staff make sure that children receive safe and effective advice, support and treatment. Children’s personal and dental care have improved. They are developing healthier lifestyles. Staff help them to enjoy healthy and nutritious food and to be physically active.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a comfortable and pleasant home. Their bedrooms are decorated and furnished to meet their needs and personal tastes. However, repairs to the kitchen ceiling and a light fitting have not been carried out promptly. Inspection report children's home: SC456800 4

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

Children feel safe. Staff understand each child’s vulnerabilities and know what they must do to protect children from harm. Staff actively and continually assess the dangers for each child and follow up-to-date plans effectively to reduce the risk of harm. Children are now safer from the risks of using technology, substance misuse, criminal exploitation, aggression, going missing and harmful relationships.

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

Staff are vigilant and take appropriate action when they have serious concerns about children’s safety. They work well with parents, social workers and the police to understand and manage risks to children’s safety effectively.

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

Staff have the skills and confidence to help children understand about healthy and respectful relationships and to know how to keep themselves safe. Staff always keep in touch when children go out or are staying with their family or friends.

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

Children are developing a sense of emotional security. Staff understand the impact of children’s experiences on their development and relationships. Staff provide children with emotional warmth and clear boundaries and expectations that help children feel safe.

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

Children are supported to manage their feelings safely. Staff are calm and patient. They understand that children may communicate their feelings through their behaviour. Staff think about what is happening in the child’s life at the time and what they can do to help.

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

Staff use clear and effective communication and their positive relationships with the children to deal with any problems constructively. The manager has recently used mediation successfully to improve the relationship between the child and staff following an argument.

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

Children are getting better at dealing with disappointments. Children recognise that things have improved. They are getting on better with adults and do not feel as angry. A child said ‘I’ve grown up a lot. Staff have helped me grow up and understand consequences. It’s better to walk away from situations to calm down and talk.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is very experienced and suitably qualified. She provides strong and effective leadership. The manager and staff are ambitious for children to be safe, happy and to reach their potential despite the difficulties children may have experienced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are caring and resilient. They place the well-being of children at the centre of their practice. They are an experienced, skilled and qualified staff team. They provide children with a high level of care and consistency. There are enough suitable Inspection report children's home: SC456800 5 staff available to meet children’s needs and respond flexibly to any unexpected changes. The manager has made sure that children are always looked after by staff who know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has made the necessary improvements to deal with the weaknesses found at the assurance visit in the recruitment of staff and the monitoring of the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s plans continue to be followed and reviewed regularly. Staff have strong relationships with partner agencies. They work together effectively to identify and meet children’s needs consistently, including their cultural and faith needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records provide a detailed picture of their views, experiences, achievements and abilities. Staff help children to reflect on the progress they are making and what they want to achieve in the future. However, children’s records are not always signed and dated by the person who has written them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides staff with the right support, advice and guidance. Staff receive regular practice-related supervision. However, staff do not always reflect critically on their practice, children’s progress and learning from training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses monitoring and review systems to have a detailed understanding of the effect that the quality of care is having on children’s progress and experiences. The manager uses this understanding to inform practice and find new and better ways to support children. The manager uses the views of children and the people in their lives to help her understand what is working well and what needs to improve. Inspection report children's home: SC456800 6

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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, the 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that the repairs to the ceiling and light fitting in the kitchen are completed without delay. 31 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that documents showing children’s reflections about living at the home are signed and dated by the author and show how the information has been gathered. 26 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff supervision records show how staff are reflecting critically on their practice and the needs of the children and show how staff are discussing their learning from training and its impact on their work with children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs 13.2 and 13.3)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff encourage and support children to feel confident enough to take part in important meetings about their plans, and to support them to express their views, wishes and feelings. (‘Guide to the children’s Inspection report children's home: SC456800 7 homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraphs 11.10)

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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’. Inspection report children's home: SC456800 8

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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 Childcare Limited, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC456800 9 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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