Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 1236773 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

The home is privately run and offers care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose highlights that the staff are trained in a specific model of care.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. The child was spoken with during the inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: 18 October 2023

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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: 1236773 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2023 Full Good 22/11/2022 Full Good 25/05/2021 Full Outstanding 17/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1236773 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between the child and the staff have blossomed. The child’s presence in the home can be seen through a plethora of photos and personal belongings. There is a genuine sense of this being the child’s home. These characteristics have given the child a solid foundation to make progress in all areas of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are diverse in their backgrounds, interests and life experiences. They have embraced the child’s curiosity to explore and learn about different cultures and practices, such as around food preparation. This has enriched the child’s experience of care and has developed their ability to become tolerant and considerate towards other people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are skilled at naturally weaving learning opportunities into the child’s day. This is approached with an element of fun but is focused and with intent. In doing so, the child has learned a host of new life skills, including confidently managing money and enjoying preparing and cooking various meals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff have developed effective working relationships with staff at the child’s school. This has ensured that there is a cohesive response when challenges arise. The staff’s response to these challenges has been pivotal in supporting the child to remain on roll at the school. Cumulatively, these efforts have supported the child’s learning and enhanced the prospect for the child to succeed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have made extensive efforts to establish meaningful and trusting relationships with the child’s family, particularly with one of the child’s parents. This has paved the way for the staff and the child’s mother to work collaboratively to better support the child. Crucially, when the child is worried about a member of their family, they feel safe and able to seek reassurance and help from the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a focus across the staff team to embrace the child’s interests. This has involved the staff coming out of their comfort zone to learn new skills, such as street dance. This has improved the child’s confidence and has injected fun into their relationships with the staff. These efforts have contributed to the child pursuing their love of dancing and feeling confident to enter various competitions.

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

The manager has accessed support from the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). A practitioner from CAMHS has supported the staff’s awareness to better support the child. Additionally, this practitioner has also been a welcome support network at the child’s school. This has promoted improved levels of consistency and increased levels of understanding of the child’s needs across different services. Inspection report for children’s home: 1236773 4 The staff understand the importance of being positive role models for the child. The staff are skilled at sharing their personal life experiences in context to situations that naturally develop in the child’s life. This is approached with compassion, love and an intention to better support the child to be safer at home and in the community. This approach has been pivotal in the child building trusting and loving relationships with the staff.

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

The home environment has become a safe sanctuary for the child. This is a sentiment echoed by the vice-principal at the child’s school. Therefore, home is a place where the child feels able to recover from life events that have either upset or challenged them. This is particularly pertinent around the child’s life in school.

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

The pitfalls of the online world are well understood by the staff. There is a balanced approach to supporting the child in this area of their care. The staff have been effective at raising the child’s awareness and promoting the child’s self-discipline around using their mobile phone. This has promoted healthier sleep hygiene for the child.

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

The staff write reports following incidents that the child has been involved in. Quotes are written to show the support that the staff have given to the child. However, the manager and the staff acknowledge that the quoted language is not typical of the language that staff use with the child and is unlikely to have been said. This creates doubt in the validity of the incident report.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is driven and committed to the child and the staff. The manager has good awareness and skills to promote positive mental health in the home. Additionally, the organisation has supportive structures in place for the staff to access and seek support to promote their well-being. This approach, in the home and from the wider organisation, has contributed to there being a dedicated and cohesive staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are frequent and well attended by the staff. The manager ensures that this forum is best used to improve the child’s experience of care. Furthermore, the manager raises staff awareness of external children’s agencies and introduces topical information that is likely to complement the child’s care. Therefore, team meetings contribute to the staff working in a learning environment that better supports staff to develop and flourish.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established effective working relationships with the child’s local authority. Additionally, the manager ensures that the staff produce an insightful report for the child’s periodic care review meetings. This is helpful for the social worker to oversee the implementation of the child’s statutory care plan effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have a good training offer from the organisation from their induction onwards. The organisation often adapts the staff induction training to suit the needs of the staff. Additionally, there is a considered approach to online training that supports staff to retain and apply their learning. These attributes give the staff a good foundation to develop their role. Inspection report for children’s home: 1236773 5 The volume and duplication around some of the child’s written records add little or no value to the child’s care. Conversely, some of the recording systems hinder the staff from spending more quality time with the child. The responsible individual and the manager intend to revisit the regulations and statutory guidance before reviewing aspects of the child’s written records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager periodically carries out a review of the quality of care. However, this is a comprehensive report that gives a transcript of the child’s care as opposed to a tool to support an evaluative overview of the child’s care. Consequently, this approach undermines the manager’s focus to influence improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has oversight of all incidents that occur in the home. However, in one instance, the manager did not give enough credence towards the insensitive language that a member of staff used with the child. Although the manager instigated the right processes to address this with that member of staff, this oversight undermined wider learning across the staff team around the power of language. Inspection report for children’s home: 1236773 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should continually review the behaviour management policy and ensure that it is understood and always applied by staff. In addition, the registered person should apply any learning from significant incidents to develop and influence how behaviour is managed in the home by staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should review the implementation of the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, the registered person should review the unnecessary duplication of records that brings little of no value to the quality of care children are offered . (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’,

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Recommendations

page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should carry out a meaningful review of the quality of care. The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that time and any areas of high risk to the children the home is designed to care for, such as children who go missing or those at risk or experiencing exploitation. The registered person should also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the quality standards every six months. The registered person should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written

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Recommendations

report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery in the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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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: 1236773 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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Fitzsimmons

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1236773 8 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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