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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 1 Registered provider: Cameron & Cooper Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

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, four children were living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

All 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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The previous registered manager left the home on 26 February 2024.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

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

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/05/2023 Full Good 24/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/08/2021 Full Good 15/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made significant progress since moving into the home. Staff quickly build positive relationships with children, which help them to settle and feel secure. This has helped one child who needed high levels of staff supervision and was subject to a deprivation of liberty order at the point they moved in, to settle and no longer need such supervision. The child is rightly very proud of their personal growth. Because of the staff support, this child is safer. As a result, restrictions are safely reduced, and the child has increased personal freedoms.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inclusive practice is central to the way that staff work to support the children. They accept the children for who they are, use their chosen pronouns, and celebrate difference. The children feel comfortable around the staff, and have been supported to attend events such as Pride and cultural events that celebrate difference and their personal heritage and identity.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social care professionals speak positively about the care and support that children receive. They are confident that the staff communicate any concerns or issues immediately. Feedback received from these professionals demonstrates effective partnership working.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff develop close relationships with those who matter most to children. They promote children’s time with their family and friends. All of the children attend school on the same site as the home. Staff are alert to how this can reduce children’s opportunities for developing appropriate wider peer relationships. They encourage the children to engage in activities in the community. This provides wider opportunities for children to develop friendships with others outside the home. Staff help children to develop the skills to build positive personal relationships.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well. They speak about the children with pride, warmth and positivity. This helps children to feel valued and that staff really care about them. Consequently, children feel able to open up to them about things that are worrying them. Staff are proud of, and celebrate, children’s progress. They consult with children on their views and opinions, and take action on these. The staff ensure that children are involved in their care planning. They work with the children to set thoughtful and achievable goals that matter to the children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education. All the children had been out of education for some time prior to living in the home. The staff work hard to help children who have previously been disengaged to rediscover the joy of learning. Staff are creative and child led. They are sensitive to each child, seize every opportunity for learning, and work at the child’s pace. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 4

p.3

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

The staff work effectively with children to help them better understand risk and how to keep safe. Some children have experienced complex trauma and need high levels of support from staff. Children present some complex vulnerabilities and safeguarding behaviours, such as self-harm. Staff are intuitive and professionally curious. They know the children well and use the positive relationships they have with the children to help them feel safe.

p.4

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

The children feel safe and are safer as a result of living at the home. The good-quality work that the staff do with the children helps them to better understand and manage risks in a way that meets their individual needs. When children move into the home, risky behaviours, such as self-harm and going missing, reduce or stop because of the support of staff. One social worker was surprised by the changes in their child. They said their child ‘is a completely different person’ from the child who moved in. One child’s self-harm risks have significantly reduced. This is down to the strong and trusting relationships they have with staff.

p.4

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

Staff are guided by detailed and regularly reviewed risk assessments and risk management plans. These reflect the children’s highly individualised and complex care needs. These plans help the staff to understand how best to support each child with their behaviours and how to keep them safe.

p.4

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

Staff rarely use physical interventions or sanctions. They work in a trauma-informed way. Staff understand that children’s experiences inform how they react to situations and how they use behaviour as a means of communication. Clear behaviour support guidance for staff, in addition to their good knowledge of the children, means that staff manage incidents well. Consequently, incidents have significantly reduced for all children.

p.4

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

In the last six months there have been no missing-from-home incidents. This is significant progress for some children. When children have previously gone missing from home staff have responded well to ensure their safe return. Staff and managers listen to the children and try to find out why they have gone missing. This information is shared with the child’s local authority. For example, staff helped a child to voice their wishes to be nearer to their family.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The new manager has been in post since January and has applied to register with Ofsted. They work alongside the deputy and staff team to make sure that children receive consistent, good-quality care and support. The manager ensures that the therapeutic approach is embedded in staff practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The overall training offer for staff is suitable. Staff complete the range of core training on offer. However, some training to meet the specific needs of children is lacking. For example, some staff have not received training in managing ligatures or keeping children Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 5 safe online. During the inspection, the leadership team arranged for this training to take place imminently.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The arrangements for managing poor staff practice and performance are not consistently effective. Concerns are responded to, and children in the home are kept safe. However, disciplinary investigations are not always carried out in line with the organisational policies and procedures. Clear outcomes are not consistently reached, and concerns are not always drawn to a conclusion.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children know how to complain. However, managers do not always provide feedback to children on the outcomes of complaints and allegations.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has a good understanding of the children’s needs and therapeutic approaches. They share their knowledge with the staff. They create a low-stress, high- nurturing and supportive environment that enables the children to feel safe and secure. As a result, the children make good progress. One member of staff described the manager as ‘open and supportive’.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Thorough safer recruitment checks are completed. Newly recruited staff receive a comprehensive induction, which includes shadowing experienced staff. Staff feel well supported. All staff benefit from regular supervision. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 6

p.5

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.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive appropriate training to meet the specific needs of children living in the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

Furthermore, ensure that there are effective arrangements for managing poor staff practice and performance. 5 August 2024

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are confident to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Managers should inform children of the outcome of any complaint or allegation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, and paragraph 4.13) Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 7

p.6

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 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cameron & Cooper Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

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

p.8

Inspectors

Sharron Dormand, Social Care Inspector Mark Dawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 9 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9