Children's Home run by Cambridgeshire County Council in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 1 Registered provider: Cambridgeshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local-authority home provides care for up to four children with learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022.

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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: 8 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home. The children require high levels of support and use alternative communication systems.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s communication needs. They use pictures and social stories to help children to express themselves. Staff use facial expressions and body language to communicate, which the children respond to well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and have a good understanding of their needs. They help children to make decisions about their activities and their preferred food. This encourages children to make independent decisions and respects their wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to attend health appointments, and they seek out specialist services that children need. Staff help children to understand their health needs by using pictures and social stories. Consequently, one child has lost weight, which has reduced health complications relating to diabetes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children attend full-time education. They spend time with their peers and achieve their learning potential. Staff meet with education professionals regularly to discuss the children’s progress at school. This helps professionals to work together to provide children with a consistent approach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable children to spend time with their families. This helps the children to retain their identity and supports their emotional well-being. Staff work closely with the children’s families. Children spend quality time and enjoy positive experiences with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children with their personal care in a way that respects children’s dignity and privacy. They encourage the children to increase their personal care skills. Children become more independent as they approach adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy arts and crafts and sensory activities with staff. This enriches the children’s stimulation and encourages learning and expression. The children enjoy fun activities in the community, such as swimming, going to the zoo and trips to local activity centres and restaurants. This widens the children’s experiences and helps to develop their confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The plans for children are generally clear. However, the information about one child’s care and support is not recorded in enough detail. This does not provide clear guidance for new staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to support the children’s sensory needs. Most areas of the home are adequately decorated. However, the bath panels are Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 4 damaged, the front door lock is broken and paint is flaking on one of the bedroom walls. This does not encourage children to have pride in their home.

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

Children have an advocate who knows them well and meets with them regularly. This provides the children with an independent person who understands their needs and ensures that their rights are protected.

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

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to whistle- blow. The staff are confident in supporting children’s safety and who to contact in the event of any safeguarding concerns.

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

Internal investigations are carried out thoroughly. The manager responds to safeguarding concerns swiftly and attends multi-agency meetings. This ensures that information is shared and professionals are aware of the children’s vulnerabilities.

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

Staff understand the risks for children. They recognise when children may want to harm themselves or others and intervene appropriately. This helps children to feel safe. However, the manager has failed to monitor these incidents to evaluate practice and highlight when staff have not recorded medical support.

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

Staff use light touch to guide children from potentially harmful situations. This strategy is recorded in the children’s behaviour-management plans. Although this strategy does not require force, staff record these incidents as restraints. The manager has failed to review these incidents. Therefore, learning to improve practice and identify patterns of behaviour is not effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and is working towards a relevant level 5 diploma. Staff value her support and benefit from her knowledge and understanding of the children’s needs. The manager recognises the children’s progress and has high aspirations for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have undertaken training, including in managing diabetes and autism spectrum disorder. The staff either hold a level 3 diploma or are working towards this. The staff have developed their understanding of the children’s needs and use this to improve the quality of their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by managers and have regular supervision. Supervision provides staff with the opportunity to reflect on the children’s needs and share any concerns that they have. Staff discuss their professional development and reflect on their practice. This supports staff in all aspects of their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff participate in regular team meetings. This provides them with a forum to share practice experiences and discuss the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 5 Parents and professionals provided positive feedback about the children’s care and progress. The staff and managers have built positive working relationships with parents and professionals, which provides consistency for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring systems provide effective oversight of children’s safety and well- being. The manager acts swiftly on any recommendations made by the independent person to improve the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager does not consistently monitor records. Therefore, scrutiny and full consideration of how incidents are managed are not effective. Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 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, 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the bath panels are replaced, the front door is repaired and the children’s bedrooms are decorated to a good standard. 27 July 2022

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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)) 6 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 7 In particular, ensure that incident records and records of restraint are evaluated and reviewed to identify how to improve practice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, ensure that care plans reflect children’s current needs, the strategies to help them manage their anxiety and the detail of medical interventions used. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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 for children’s home: 2603668 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambridgeshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sunley House, Summers Hill Drive, Papworth Everard, Cambridge CB23 3AB

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Inspector

Laraine Edmondson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2603668 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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