Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Northumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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. It provides 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 February 2024.

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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: 2496864 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2023 Full Good 26/09/2022 Full Good 08/02/2022 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is furnished and decorated to a good standard and there is ample outdoor space, which is well maintained. The children have been involved in choosing the decor for their bedrooms, and staff ensure that each child’s bedroom is personalised. This gives children a space of their own.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well, including their likes and dislikes. The effort made by staff means that the children enjoy good relationships with the adults who care for them. Children can identify named adults they will turn to, when they need to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are making good educational progress. Staff support children to attend school. When children find it hard to get up for school, staff are determined in their efforts to ensure that children are provided with routine to get them ready for the day ahead.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend their health appointments and ensure they are registered with local health services. Staff give children accurate information to help them make better health choices. This has helped one child to give up smoking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to learn the skills they need to live more independently. Staff support children to keep their rooms clean and tidy, and to take care of their personal hygiene. Children do household tasks such as helping with shopping, and they are encouraged to plan healthy and nutritious meals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they enjoy activities offered in the home. Staff support children to take part in activities such as going for a walk, cycling and Bollywood dancing. Staff also help children to learn new skills such as baking in the kitchen. This encourages children to be active and enjoy new hobbies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to share their views about their life and what happens in the home. Children are given written feedback so that they can see that their voice has been heard, and what has been done in response. If a child’s request cannot be actioned, they are given a clear explanation. This shows the child that their voice is valued and helps them to understand why decisions are made.

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

Staff provide children with consistent rules and boundaries in the home. Children know what the rules are and the consequences for not following them. Children say they feel safe in the home.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks each child is vulnerable to. They update children’s risk assessments and care plans regularly to give clear directions on how to Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 4 safeguard children. This means staff are always working with the most up-to-date information for each child .

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

When a child goes missing from home, staff know how to respond, following each child’s individual care plan and risk assessment. There has been a significant reduction in the number of episodes of going missing since the current manager has been in post.

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

Children are always informed when a room search takes place. Staff safeguard children by removing items that could be harmful. Staff then support children to understand the associated dangers through key-work sessions. This provides children with the knowledge to help them make safer decisions in the future.

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

There is a clear policy to address bullying. Staff follow this policy and provide consistent responses to children. Staff work with children to help them to understand the impact of bullying. Consequently, incidents of bullying in the home have significantly reduced.

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

Children are only held when it is necessary to safeguard them and others. The manager regularly reviews all restrictions to ensure that they are used appropriately and are proportionate to the needs of children. Children and staff are provided with the opportunity to reflect on each incident to consider what can be learned. This helps to ensure that staff practice is safe..

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

Measures are in place and followed to ensure that new staff are recruited safely. This helps to prevent unsuitable people from being recruited to work with the children who live in this home .

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

Children know how to make a complaint. Complaints are dealt with swiftly and staff take appropriate action in response. The children are provided with a reply to inform them of the outcome of their complaint. This helps children to trust that their views are important and lead to change in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about the care provided to the children. The manager has a good knowledge of each of the children’s starting points and how children have progressed since coming to live in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes child-centred decisions about who lives in the home. The manager is thorough in their consideration of the competing needs of each child and the ability of staff in meeting those needs. This helps to ensure that the children have the best possible opportunity to settle into the home and make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a range of mandatory training and learning specific to the needs of the children. This provides staff with the skills and knowledge they require to meet the evolving needs of the children and raise the quality of care provided. Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 5 The manager has robust systems in place to ensure that she maintains oversight of all relevant documents for the children. When errors or gaps are discovered, the manager immediately addresses these. The information held in relation to each child is well organised. However, the language used is not always as helpful to children and, at times, can appear institutionalised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision takes place monthly in line with the supervision policy. While the manager states that reflective discussion forms part of every supervision, this is not consistently captured in the recordings. This does not provide an accurate record of the matters covered in supervision to inform the individual development and support needs of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that good practice is followed and that a note of the content or outcomes of supervision sessions is kept, and that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘ Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4).  The registered person should make sure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘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: 2496864 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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Inspector

Lisa Gordon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2496864 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 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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