Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 1 SC457182 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 is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to one child with emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2021.

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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 visited this setting on 23 March 2021, 11 May 2021 and 13 July 2021 to carry out monitoring visits. The reports are 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

We visited this setting on 23 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. Serious safeguarding concerns were identified at this visit that resulted in two compliance notices being issued, in respect of regulations 12 and 13. We carried out two further Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 2 monitoring visits to the home on 11 May 2021 and 13 July 2021, to consider actions taken in relation to the compliance notices. At the last monitoring visit, inspectors found that there had been sufficient action taken by the manager to meet these notices. Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/04/2019 Full Good 03/07/2018 Full Good 27/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child lives at this home. The child has developed positive relationships with a friendly and nurturing staff team. The child said, ‘The home is lovely and the staff are great. They really care.’ The child and staff were observed laughing and spent time relaxing in a warm, happy living environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to spend quality time with family members. This is helping her to maintain a sense of belonging and rebuild relationships with significant people in her life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively encourage the child’s education and have high aspirations for her. The child’s attendance at school is high. She has moved successfully from a reduced timetable to a full one within a short period of time. The child shows a positive attitude to learning and is eager to succeed in her final year. This is exceptional progress from her starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff organise a good variety of stimulating activities that take account of the child’s interests. For example, the child has enjoyed trips to the aquarium and the beach, where she searched for crabs and jellyfish. She benefits from regular exercise, such as swimming, which is helping her relax and stay physically fit.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly consult the child about matters that affect her life. They listen to her and are sensitive to her needs and wishes. Staff acquired a kitten called ‘Bertie’, which the child adores and looks after well. This is giving her a good sense of responsibility. At her request, the child used her creative skills to develop the garage area into a place that allows her to spend time relaxing.

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

Staff give the child’s safety high priority. They provide her with good support and guidance on protection issues such as sexual health. They talk to her sensitively in response to concerns, such as cannabis misuse, and carry out room checks with her consent. The child is perceptive to this and feels safe living at the home.

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

Staff provide the child with a safe place to live. They have a good understanding of the risk factors and ensure that they follow the strategies recorded in risk assessments to keep the child safe inside and outside of the home. Staff demonstrate a good awareness of the strategies to follow if the child goes missing from care. However, historic behaviours such as going missing from care have not occurred, which is a real positive. This is because the child has built up trust with staff and settled into a good routine. Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 5 Staff understand the need for the child to become independent and to take age- appropriate risks. For example, they carefully weigh up the need for her to have independent time in the community, balancing this against the risks. There are suitable safety measures in place to monitor the child’s independent time, for example staff make regular welfare calls and visual checks. The child is responding

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

well and showing maturity in returning to the home at the agreed times.

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

Staff know what to do in response to any allegations made. However, a referral to the designated officer was not completed within the time frames stipulated in the home’s child protection policy.

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

The child’s health needs are given priority. Staff are responsive to the child’s specific health concerns. They ensure that she is supported to attend relevant health appointments and that she receives the necessary guidance in the form of key-work sessions. The child is receptive to the input of the mental health practitioner and the staff team. The child said, ‘The support I am receiving is really helping me understand my feelings better.’ This support is improving her overall emotional well- being and helping her stay secure at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a manager who is passionate about her role and is child centred. She knows the child well. She has a good understanding of the child’s needs and the progress she is making. Staff follow good-quality individualised plans that are regularly reviewed. These capture the child’s journey and her lived experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads a settled team of staff who share the same positive commitment and drive in promoting good outcomes for the child. Staff feedback about the manager’s leadership is unanimously positive. One staff member said, ‘Staff morale is a lot better. The manager will listen and take on board individual views.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions from the manager and lead practitioners. Most staff are up to date with mandatory and non-mandatory training matched to the child’s needs. However, training records lack clarity in places. For example, the manager understood that six staff had completed self-harm training, but the record indicates only four. There is limited reflection on learning for staff and how this is to be embedded into practice. This does not demonstrate strong management oversight and can hinder staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good communication systems in place. Daily handovers and team meetings ensure staff are kept informed about anything they need to know about the child’s day-to-day needs and any emerging risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s internal monitoring and reporting about the overall quality of the care provided is overly descriptive with only limited evaluation. For example, the report does not demonstrate how the practice of staff at the home is having an impact on outcomes for the child from her starting points. The views of staff, social Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 6 workers and relatives are not captured, which are important mechanisms for informing any strengths or weaknesses in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is kept to a good standard of maintenance and repair. As part of development plans for the home, the manager has prompted minor refurbishments, including a new breakfast bar. Staff and the child are currently decorating the lounge area. The child chose the wallpaper and the colour scheme. This demonstrates good consultation and positive engagement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements set from a previous monitoring visit in March 2021 are met. Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 7

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to greater oversight by the manager in ensuring the training records for staff are clear and accurate and that there are added opportunities for staff to reflect on their learning from the training received, particularly how this is to be embedded in practice. 29 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)) 29 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 8 This specifically relates to ensuring that allegations made by children against people in a position of trust are referred directly and promptly to the designated officer for safeguarding in line with the home’s child protection policy and that there is a clear audit trail of the actions taken.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to reporting on the evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the practice within the home and what impact this is having on the children placed, including sourcing the views of staff, social workers and relatives where possible. 29 October 2021

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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: SC457182 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: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Mike Charnley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 10 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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