Children's Home run by Cameron & Cooper Limited in Surrey

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 1 Registered provider: Cameron & Cooper Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to six children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. It is owned and run by a private organisation. At the time of the inspection, five children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since September 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Most of the children living at the home attend the organisation’s school, which is located on the same site. Inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/08/2021 Full Good 15/10/2019 Full Good 14/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are being looked after by staff who are committed to giving them good- quality care. Staff help children to develop meaningful relationships with each other and staff. Interactions between children and staff are warm and nurturing. Children are living in an environment with a positive atmosphere, which supports them to make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff support children to maintain positive relationships with their families. One parent told the inspectors that staff have ‘worked miracles’. The parent spoke positively about the child’s progress, particularly in relation to their attendance at school and the improvement in their physical and mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most of the children attend the on-site school. The care and education staff teams are working more collaboratively. As a result, children are benefiting from consistency and stability. Attendance and achievement in education have improved for all children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The processes that are followed when children move into the home are thorough and thoughtful. Managers work closely with other professionals to create plans to ensure that children have the support they need. This approach creates the best opportunity for moves to go smoothly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to pursue their talents and interests, and they are supported to take part in activities that improve their physical fitness and emotional well-being. Staff are knowledgeable and well informed, and they teach children how to live healthy lifestyles. Staff recognise when children need to see medical professionals and encourage them to do so. The systems for storing and administering medication promote safe practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff continue to make improvements to the condition of the home, and the environment is bright and homely. Children’s views are valued, and they have a say in the way the home is decorated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff are aspirational for the children and set meaningful goals. However, significant conversations and key-work sessions are not clearly aligned to those goals. Additionally, children’s records do not fully describe the progress that children are making towards achieving all the goals that are important to them.

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

Safeguarding children is a priority. Staff understand the children well and demonstrate a good understanding of their complex needs. They know what to do in the event of safeguarding concerns arising. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 4 Managers recognise the importance of learning from safeguarding incidents. They involve external safeguarding agencies when necessary. When investigations are carried out by managers or safeguarding partners, managers ensure that any learning is shared with the wider staff team. This responsive approach reduces the risk that potentially harmful situations will reoccur.

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

Staff remain resilient when managing difficult situations. However, managers keep children’s placements under close review. They take effective action when children’s placements need to end because staff are unable to keep them safe. Managers work closely with children’s placing authorities to manage moves and avoid disruption.

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

The frequency of children’s missing-from-care episodes has reduced. Staff respond promptly when children go missing. They follow children’s individualised plans that describe the steps the staff must take to ensure that children are returned home safely.

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

Staff are encouraged to work therapeutically with children. Positive behaviour is promoted by providing predictable structures and routines for children. Staff receive good-quality training about how to manage behavioural incidents, and they are guided by informative care and support plans. As a result, the use of physical restraint is kept to a minimum, and when restraints do occur, they are brief and proportionate to the situation. However, records could be improved to ensure that they accurately describe the duration of holds.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are ambitious and passionate about providing a good quality of care to the children. Recent changes, such as improved staff induction processes, updated policies and procedures and more robust shift planning, have resulted in clearer expectations of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Robust recruitment practice ensures that the adults working in the home are suitable. There has been attention paid to recruiting staff who have the knowledge, skills and experience to provide appropriate care for children, taking into account the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report good support from managers. They receive good-quality training that is relevant to the needs of the children they are looking after, as well as regular and meaningful supervision. As a result, managers can be confident that staff know how to safely care for children in line with their care plans and risk assessments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals from external agencies who were spoken to during the inspection were complimentary about joint working and communication. Managers keep other professionals fully informed about children’s progress. Managers proactively advocate for children and challenge decisions made by other professionals when they believe those decisions are not in the children’s best interests. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 5 Managers ensure that diversity is welcomed and enjoyed. Staff provide strong role models for the children, and there is a culture of respect and acceptance. When children use discriminatory language, staff and managers take proactive steps to make sure that this is not accepted. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 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. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)) 30 June 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept, and they should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly when any issues or trends of concern emerge. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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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: 1256973 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cameron & Cooper Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Accord Accountants, 191-193 High Street, Hampton Hill TW12 1NL

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Inspectors

Helen Simmons, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Jay Shekleton, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 8 and inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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