Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Northumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 1 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 owned and managed by a private provider. The home can provide care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke to both children living at the home.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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 September 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/09/2022 Full Good 08/02/2022 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Good 09/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good educational progress from their starting points. Children are supported by staff to attend school. One child is currently undertaking their exams and has plans to continue with further education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to stay in contact with those who are significant in their lives. This promotes family connections and supports the children’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff seek the children’s views before they arrange trips and activities so that the children are involved in planning them. Children enjoy new experiences and exciting activities. These are opportunities to explore the areas around them and have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to develop their independence skills by doing tasks around the home. One child has learned to cook and can now make their favourite meals. Children who have pet animals are supported to care for them, ensuring the animals are fed and have a clean living space. This provides the children with the skills that they need to live independently in adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children who move out of the home are well supported by staff. The staff understand the significance of these changes and celebrate them so that the children have a positive and memorable experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met and understood. Staff help the children attend all routine and specialist health appointments. Consequently, the children are making progress with their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most areas of the home are decorated to a good standard. This includes soft furnishings, which make these spaces feel homely and welcoming. However, staff do not support the children to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. As a result, the children’s possessions are disorganised and not well looked after. The children’s bathroom was observed to be dirty and unhygienic. This is poor role-modelling for those children who will be moving on to live independently.

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improvement to be good

The children’s risk assessments vary in quality. While some documents are specific and detailed, others are inaccurate. For example, some documents lack clear strategies for staff to follow, and others do not always include the child’s current risks.

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improvement to be good

When staff identify that children may be in possession of illegal substances or alcohol, room searches are not consistently carried out. When room searches do Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 4 take place, management oversight of the records varies. Some documents do not clearly show whether the child’s consent for the search was obtained or whether the child was informed that the search had taken place.

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improvement to be good

When children are missing from the home, staff take effective action. They understand their roles and responsibilities, such as searching for the child and alerting relevant professionals. The manager carefully reviews the action taken by staff to ensure that the correct procedures are followed.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint and feel confident to raise issues. Complaints are taken seriously and dealt with quickly. This helps to show the children that they are listened to, and their views and feelings are valued.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always carry out restorative work with children. This prevents children from understanding how they can manage their own responses to a situation. Staff repeatedly use the same consequences to help children improve their behaviour. In addition, some consequences are punitive in nature. Staff do not always record the rationale for the consequence or the children’s views. Additionally, the staff do not review the effectiveness of these measures.

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good

The registered manager left the home on 12 May 2023, although she remains registered with Ofsted until 6 June 2023. Five members of staff also left the home for new employment at a similar time. The only permanent member of staff who remains is new in the role and is still within their probationary period. As a result, at the time of the inspection, children had received inconsistent care for a two-week period.

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good

The registered manager informed the leaders of their intention to leave in March 2023. The action from leaders was slow, and they missed an opportunity to ensure a smooth and efficient handover to a new manager. This delay meant that management arrangements were made during the week of the manager’s departure. This caused anxiety for the children, who were unsettled.

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good

An experienced manager and two team leaders from another of the provider’s settings are providing temporary management oversight. The temporary managers have the skills and experience to bring stability and leadership to the home.

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good

The home continues to have five vacant posts, so the temporary managers are working directly with the children. Casual staff provide cover to ensure that appropriate staffing levels are maintained. Some of the casual staff work regularly in the home. However, the ongoing arrangement means that the children experience a number of different adults caring for them. This prevents continuity of care and hinders the children from building trusting relationships with staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 5 Professionals say that communication has always been good, honest and regular. One professional said, ‘The home always advocates for children and challenges any decisions or actions that are not in the best interests of children.’ The temporary managers have provided the professionals with assurances that the standards of good communication will continue.

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good

The quality of record-keeping in the home varies. Sometimes staff do not fully complete forms, with some sections frequently left blank. The information recorded about the children is disorganised. This contributes to inconsistent practice and affects the manager’s ability to review and evaluate the information effectively.

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good

Staff seconded to the home say that they feel supported by the temporary manager, who is introducing structure and support to improve morale. Because of this, children say they feel more assured that they will be looked after well. Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; and

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(b)) 30 June 2023

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(c)(d)(d)) 30 November 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 7 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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; and

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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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)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(vii)(ix)(c)(i)) 30 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1)) 30 June 2023

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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

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30 November 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 8

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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: 2496864 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 EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Claire Webster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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