Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2649772 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

A private national provider owns this home. The home provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2021.

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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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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2649772 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/05/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2649772 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home. One child very recently moved out in an unplanned way despite the good care offered by the manager and staff to meet this child’s needs. Altogether, three children have moved out of the home since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite the manager’s plans, children have moved in to and out of the home in unplanned ways. However, staff keep in touch with children when they move out and make their endings positive. Children’s moving-on plans were individualised. The manager appropriately challenged changes to children’s care plans at the time the children moved on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know children well. They make time to build relationships with children when they move into the home and they learn about children’s interests. Children have close relationships with their key workers. Children build trusting relationships, which help them to feel safe. Staff are working hard to help the new chid to settle into this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is not currently in education. The manager has engaged with a local school, ready for the September 2023 term. Staff are proactive at identifying daily activities to support learning and development for this child. Staff supported the other children who have lived at the home to attend education settings when they had previously been out of education. Staff helped children to improve their attendance and make progress in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to make healthier choices. Several children who have lived at the home have smoked. Staff engage with children through key-work sessions to understand the risk of smoking to their health. Staff have supported the child currently living at the home to reduce their smoking, which is progress from when they moved in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s meetings take place regularly and staff listen to children’s suggestions. Staff respond to the child’s views expressed in informal conversations. The child now has a pet rabbit living with them after requesting this at a children’s meeting. This has been positive for the child’s well-being. Children’s meetings are used to remind children how to complain.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to complain. There has been one complaint made by a child since the last inspection, and this was taken seriously. Children feel that their voices are listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in understanding their thoughts and feelings. Feedback from professionals is positive about children’s progress when living at the home. One external professional said, ‘I remember that there was such a change in [the child]. Inspection report for children’s home: 2649772 4 Over time, the child was able to verbalise what conversations they could or could not manage. The child was learning from the staff how to react differently.’ Staff are helping children to make sense of their complex emotions and children are developing better social and communication skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer frequent positive activities that are individual to each child and encourage them to build their confidence. Children can learn new things and have new experiences that build their self-esteem.

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

Staff respond consistently when children go missing from the home. Staff act quickly and in line with the missing-from-home policy. Staff offer positive messages of reassurance to children via text while they are missing and continue to try to engage with them. This helps children to feel cared for and helps them to know that they will be welcomed back when they come home.

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

Staff help children to keep themselves safe online. They regularly spend time with children talking about the risks posed by social media. Staff use online tools when appropriate to monitor children’s phones and provide access to age-appropriate internet content. Staff help children to learn how to better communicate with their peers online. The child living at the home is developing trusting relationships with staff, and they are starting to share interactions on their phone that they are worried about.

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

Staff have occasionally needed to restrain children. There was a period of 11 months when no restraint was used. Staff are good at providing children with reassurance to help them to feel calm. Interventions are used appropriately to prevent harm to children. Staff make sure that children have an opportunity to give their views following an incident of restraint. The manager has good oversight of any restraint used.

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

Staff give positive feedback and reinforcement to children. This helps children to see that they are making progress and feel good about themselves. Staff use consequences to help children to learn from their behaviour. Often, these are age- appropriate and proportionate. However, these consequences are not always restorative. Staff do not always record time frames of a consequence, or the time frame is not proportionate to the behaviour. The manager does not always review the effectiveness of these consequences. Children will not learn from consequences if these are not fair.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified. The responsible individual makes themselves well known to children who live at the home. The registered manager and the responsible individual know the children well and can easily talk about their needs and care plans. Inspection report for children’s home: 2649772 5 The registered manager has effective systems to review and evaluate the care provided to children; any shortfalls are acted on without delay. This ensures that children continue to receive good-quality care. In addition to the organisation’s audit tool, the manager has implemented a system to monitor the effectiveness of the therapeutic approach used by staff. The manager can demonstrate how staff have helped children to develop their confidence and self-esteem since living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is onboarding new staff. There are enough staff to care for the child who lives at the home currently. Leaders and managers know that they need additional staff if more children move in. This issue is under review by leaders and managers to make sure that safe decisions are made about staff ratios when working with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff experience a structured induction and complete the organisation’s mandatory training during this time. In addition, staff undertake a home-specific induction and are allocated time to familiarise themselves with children’s plans before they support children. This means that staff are fully prepared for their roles and are effective in building relationships with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff receive regular supervision. There is a focus on reflective practice and building relationships with the children and staff. Supervisions focus on staff well-being and training, and frequently reflect on the model of care used at the home. Staff’s feedback on supervision and their overall experiences of working at this home are positive. Staff feel well supported and committed to improving children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads in the model of care used. Staff are encouraged to apply this model in all their key-work sessions with children. The model of practice is well embedded at the home and is evident in staff supervisions, team meetings, children’s daily records and care plans. Staff use the care model to help children to develop confidence and make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has met the requirement set at the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2649772 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that consequences are proportionate, and that staff record the duration of any consequence and its effectiveness. 25 August 2023

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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: 2649772 7

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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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Inspectors

Mandy Start, Social Care Inspector Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2649772 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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