Children's Home, Residential special school run by Cambian Autism Services Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report for children ’ s home: 1227060 1 Registered provider: Cambian Autism Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is in the grounds of a residential special school. A private company manages both the school and the home. It provides care for up to six children. The inspector only inspected the social care provision at this home.

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Information about this children’s home

Various local authorities may place the children. Their residential placements are for 38 or 52 weeks of the year. The school also provides education for day pupils. The children may have learning disabilities and/or autism.

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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: 1227060 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2022 Full Good 08/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1227060 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are happy living at the home, and they like the staff who care for them. The home is welcoming. Staff and managers recognise how they can use the home flexibly to support children and young people. This includes creating space for them to keep their personal possessions and where they can do activities that they enjoy and relax. An additional kitchen has been created to support children and young people with cooking and preparing their meals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children and young people to prepare for moving in and out of the home. The plans for children and young people to leave the home are carefully considered based on their individual needs. This provides children and young people with the stability and the time they need. Children and young people are supported to stay in contact with those who mean the most to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people do many activities that they enjoy, and they are active members of the community. Staff actively support children and young people to go to places away from the home, which helps them to develop their independence and skills appropriately. One young person has made significant progress in their independence and now has a part-time job and travels independently in the local area. Other children understand how they are working towards becoming independent. However, staff are not actively supporting children and young people to keep memorabilia of their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children and young people have made significant improvements in their attendance in education since moving into the home. This means that they have attained or are expecting to attain qualifications which did not seem possible previously. Children enjoy good health. They attend regular appointments in the community and staff are responsive to changes to their physical and mental health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s individuality is respected and celebrated by the staff. Some staff have received additional training in gender identity and how children wish to be called. Pronouns chosen are respected by staff.

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

Children and young people feel safe at the home and have people who they can talk to should they have any worries or concerns. There is a positive risk-taking culture in the home and restrictive interventions and consequences are not used. Staff understand children and young people’s individual needs well, which means that they are supported to manage their feelings and behaviours. One young person is no longer taking medication as a result. Inspection report for children’s home: 1227060 4 Children and young people are better protected from risks to their safety through a strong safeguarding culture in the home. When concerns are raised, these are taken seriously, reported appropriately and investigated thoroughly. Managers ensure that the right checks are carried out for new members of staff to ensure that the risks to children and young people’s safety are reduced as far as possible. Staff receive

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

training and understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children. However, further training and procedures in safeguarding adults have not been provided to staff, and there is a young person living at the home. The manager has also not made sure that consent for the young person has been reviewed since they became an adult.

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

Staff assist children and young people with developing their practical independence skills inside and outside of the home. Although staff talk to children regularly about their thoughts and feelings, there are fewer recorded discussions with children aimed at helping them to recognise risks in the community and understand the world around them.

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

None of the children and young people have been missing from the home. There are missing-from-home procedures in place for staff to follow should this occur. The children and young people’s plans do not contain all the known information about children should they be missing from home. The children and young people’s plans have not yet been discussed with staff to make sure that they understand what is expected of them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a well-established and qualified manager. The manager has a good understanding of the home and the children who live there and is visible and supportive for staff. Staff feel a strong sense of teamwork and support. There are good working relationships with clinical and education staff involved in children and young people’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are effective oversight systems and processes in place which enable the manager and leaders to maintain oversight of the home and the care of the children and young people. Staff receive training, regular and effective supervision and have regular team meetings. The team meetings are used by the manager to set out their expectations clearly and for the manager to provide learning and support to staff. There were no significant shortfalls identified during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear plan and vision for future developments and improvements for the staff team and in the home environment. This is focused on increasing the number of children living in the home and making the dining room feel more homely and a more open space.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last full inspection, there have been two months where Ofsted has not received the reports from the reviews carried out by the independent person. There have also been occasions when the independent person has visited the home when Inspection report for children’s home: 1227060 5 children and young people are at school, which limits their ability to make sure that they are safe and well cared for. Inspection report for children’s home: 1227060 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

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

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must make sure that all staff receive suitable training to enable them to reduce the risk of harm to the children and young people they care for.

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Requirement Due date

The procedures in place must be suitable for reporting safeguarding concerns about children and young people who live at the home. 22 February 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that independent scrutiny of the home is sufficient. The independent person should see the children living in the home regularly to make an assessment of how children are being safeguarded and how their well-being is promoted. The registered person should make sure that Ofsted receives the report written by the independent person. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should make sure that staff encourage and support children and young people to keep memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them to record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 1227060 7  The registered person should make sure that there is a plan in place to minimise

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Recommendations

the risks to children should they be missing from home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.24)  The registered person should make sure that children and young people’s relevant plans are updated in line with their current circumstances. In particular, ensure that consent is provided appropriately and reflects children and young people’s legal status. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 11.1)  The registered person should make sure that staff regularly talk to children about things which may affect their safety to help them to learn about the world and potential risks to their safety. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 1227060 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Autism Services 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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Campbell

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Inspector

Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1227060 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 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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