Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 1 SC459168 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for four children. The children may have experienced neglect and/or emotional abuse or had traumatic experiences that have left them vulnerable.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2019.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/04/2021 Full Good 16/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/05/2019 Full Inadequate 06/12/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were four children living at the home at the time of this inspection. This is a settled home in which staff help children enjoy predictable daily routines. The manager and staff know children well and are ambitious for them to realise their potential.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children regularly attend school. This has been an important step for some children who have not attended school for several years or have previously been excluded. Children are working towards qualifications, including GCSEs, and making plans for college placements and part-time work.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to lead healthy lifestyles, including eating healthily and doing regular exercise. One child has been supported to achieve significant weight loss. This has led to a dramatic improvement in their long-term health and boosted their self-esteem. Staff ensure that children do not miss healthcare appointments and actively encourage them to attend.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in beneficial activities, including going on summer holidays and special days out to theme parks and music shows. Children are supported to join local activities, including a street dance troupe and a roller-skating class. This has helped them to build new friendships and take part in competitions. Children said that they are proud of their achievements.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain relationships with their families. They enable children to spend time with their family members at the home or out on an activity. Family members feel that staff keep them involved in the care of their children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from having a settled and undisrupted experience of living at the home. Children who have had multiple placement breakdowns in the past have been able to enjoy a sustained period living at the home. Children’s self-care and independence skills have improved with guidance and support from staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy at the home. The support that they receive is helping them to make progress from their individual starting points and to address previous traumatic or negative experiences.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is spacious, with a large garden area in which children can exercise and relax. Children are helped to make their own spaces personal to them. They are encouraged to keep pets, which helps them to settle and feel secure. However, improvements are needed to ensure that the garden space is kept free from litter left by staff who smoke. Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 4

p.3

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

Children said that they feel safe. All staff undertake safeguarding training and know the provider’s system of reporting concerns. This helps staff to identify concerns of exploitation, gang affiliation, radicalisation and online abuse. Staff ensure that children understand the reasons why they put consistent boundaries in place, and actively encourage them to be involved in setting them.

p.4

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

Care plans emphasise the importance of de-escalation techniques to avoid incidents. Incidents of restraint have only taken place when there has been a need to protect children’s safety. Restorative work takes place following these incidents so that children understand the reasons why staff acted to protect them and trust is rebuilt.

p.4

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

Recruitment processes are robust and ensure that applicants are suitable to work with vulnerable children. Interviews with prospective staff explore how the applicant, if appointed, would treat children with kindness and respect.

p.4

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

Staff encourage children to form positive relationships with each other which develop mutual respect. Staff make clear their expectations of behaviour at the home and towards others. Staff encourage and reward positive behaviour, using a ticket-based system with clear steps and goals. This helps to provide children with a friendly and settled atmosphere.

p.4

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

Risk assessments for children are detailed and provide guidance for staff on managing risk. These assessments are regularly reviewed with children’s social workers and updated following any changes. Staff enable children to take age- appropriate risks and gain trust, which helps them to develop their independence.

p.4

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

Safeguarding concerns are shared appropriately with other professionals. This enables the most relevant professional to respond to any incidents. However, improvements are needed to ensure that children do not have access to age- restricted content in video games and DVD films.

p.4

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

There has been a significant reduction in the frequency of children going missing from the home. Each child has a clear plan for staff to follow if the child does go missing. This includes details of likely places to search and the immediate actions that staff should take. The manager works closely with external professionals, including local police, to safeguard children when they are missing from the home.

p.4

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

Children engage in restorative practice when they make mistakes. Staff encourage learning and embrace suggestions from children when they want to put things right. This helps children to feel valued and to develop compassion.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified for the role. Professionals report very good working relationships with the manager and staff. The home’s leadership team works closely with other professionals at the provider’s education provisions Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 5 which the children attend. The manager has made changes which staff and professionals say have led to improvements for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear about the types of support that the staff can offer children. She has improved the way in which children’s needs are considered before they move into the home. This has led to fewer placement breakdowns. Professionals say that this has helped to provide children with a settled atmosphere.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home. They are motivated by the manager to provide good-quality care so that children enjoy their lives and make progress. The manager is aware of the staff’s strengths and areas in which they need to develop.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a thorough induction and relevant ongoing training to equip them to meet children’s needs. However, not all staff have achieved a relevant level 3 diploma within two years of starting work in a care role.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff team meetings and supervision sessions are regular and effective, and they focus on the children’s experiences. These meetings encourage staff to reflect on their practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked hard to make improvements at the home over the past two years, including setting standards for staff to aspire to. The manager continues to try and recruit staff to fill vacancies, however, several posts are still vacant. Some staff are working additional hours so that the correct number of staff are on duty and provide consistency. However, some staff have felt fatigued by this. Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.6

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that checks are made so that children do not have access to films with content rated for adult viewing only, and ensure that children do not play, or watch others play, games that have been given an age rating for which they are too young to view. 17 June 2022

p.6

Requirement Due date

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

The relevant date is— 31 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 7 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

p.6

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))

p.7

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the children’s needs. In particular, ensure that litter from smoking is disposed of. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

p.7

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 for children's home: SC459168 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

p.8

Inspector

Jamie Cousins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC459168 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9