Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 1 SC456474 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers care for up to six children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager was appointed in January 2025. An application to be registered has not yet been made.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home. The inspectors spoke with all children.

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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: SC456474 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2023 Full Good 01/03/2023 Full Good 08/03/2022 Full Good 25/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop positive relationships with the children. Over time, they have helped children to develop their tolerance of one another, helping to improve their relationships. Staff understand the nature of sibling rivalry and appropriately intervene when disagreements occur. Additionally, staff talk to children about forming healthy and safe relationships in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The mental and emotional well-being needs of children are a particular focus of the staff. They have input and guidance from the home’s mental health practitioner to help children cope with issues such as bereavement and self-injurious behaviour. Staff motivate children to access external specialist help when they are ready to receive therapeutic support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children regularly attend education. Leaders and managers focus on ensuring that the mental and emotional well-being needs of children are supported in preparation to participate in formal education. Personal education plans reflect the decisions made about education and training. Although staff do not ensure that there are learning activities for one child who is not in school, they work well with the child’s local authority and virtual school to get the child back in school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals speak positively about the care that children receive. One professional said that this is the best home their child has lived in. Professionals recognise the relationships that children develop with staff as a standout feature at the home. Family members appreciate the support and dedication of staff to ensure that children spend regular time with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend health appointments and children have up to date education, health and care plans. Children are encouraged to take care of their personal and dental hygiene. However, staff are not always able to encourage children to eat healthily or to exercise. Staff do not effectively challenge or discourage vaping in the home, despite referring children for smoking cessation help.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a large and spacious home. They are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms to their liking. However, the quality of the environment is not consistent throughout. Staff use the study area, designed for children to learn, for storage, leaving the space uninviting. Children have a large games room, but it is sparse.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who come to live in this home receive a warm welcome and this helps them to settle quickly. Children are admitted in a planned way and at short notice. The children’s experiences vary. Gaps in information meant the manager did not have all the necessary detail to assess some of the children’s suitability to live at the home before agreeing for them to move in. There was a lack of professional curiosity and challenge Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 4 of the referral information. As a result, two children moved out of the home in an unplanned way.

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

The three children say that they feel safe. Staff provide respectful and firm boundaries. Staff seize opportunities for children to engage in social and personal endeavours to give children a positive focus and distraction from unsafe behaviours. The trust that children have in staff gives them confidence to share their worries or concerns with the adults who care for them.

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

Managers and staff enthusiastically encourage children to enjoy a cheerful home environment. They celebrate the children’s achievements using incentives and rewards. This motivates positive behaviour and helps children to feel valued.

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

Staff use restorative approaches when consequences are given to children in response to negative behaviours. This has resulted in a reduction in risks and unwanted behaviours, and children are learning more-acceptable forms of behaviour. When staff hold or guide children, they do so in the best interest of keeping everyone safe. The manager provides effective oversight of incidents, which have noticeably reduced.

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

Missing-from-home incidents have significantly reduced. Children spend time together but do have time apart. In particular, two children are helped to enjoy time in the community in line with agreed risk assessments. This helps children to feel valued because staff give them trust to return home at the agreed time.

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

The registered manager and staff have not always taken effective action to protect children from discrimination. Appropriate referrals to safeguard children from limiting beliefs and racial and gender bias were not fully considered. The risks for those children presenting with these beliefs were not adequately explored. This resulted in police involvement and two children receiving community resolution orders in relation to biased behaviours.

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

Children are confident to talk about their early life experiences, and staff help them to make sense of their trauma. However, records of discussions that staff have with children do not always include follow up actions for serious matters that affect children, such as knife crime. Therefore, records do not accurately reflect the work that staff do to keep children safe.

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

The home has a full and stable workforce, including the appointment of a new deputy manager. Recruitment and induction for new staff are well planned, using safe recruitment practice. The staff enjoy working in the home and feel well supported. This offers children stability in their care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has a good understanding of the team’s strengths and areas of development. He knows the children well, having been the deputy manager for several years. The manager is ambitious and is clear about the goals that he wants to achieve for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s monitoring system supports him to have effective oversight of the home and the children’s progress. Information is shared with the children in pictorial format to help those with additional needs to understand their care plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Working relationships with partner agencies provide managers with information to evaluate that the home’s location remains safe for children to live there. In particular, the relationship with local police officers has been significant in helping to safeguard the children. This multi-agency approach to safeguarding is embedded in the team’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home and feel valued and supported by the manager. They receive a comprehensive package of induction and training. Staff benefit from good- quality supervision, which they find helpful, including input from the home’s therapy team. The manager ensures that staff receive debrief discussions and well-being support to help them to overcome the emotional effects of managing high risks when incidents occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are held regularly and are well attended and clearly recorded. Staff discuss the children’s progress and any emerging issues. Managers and staff encourage children to have input into their care using formal and informal feedback, which forms part of the meeting agenda. This ensures that the views of the children inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children share their views with staff and respond well to discussions. However, the language used in some documents is blaming. Some documents are handwritten, but these are not always legible. This is unhelpful to the child when they read their records. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iv)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments provide staff with adequate knowledge of previous and current safeguarding concerns so that staff are alert for signs that might indicate that children are at risk of harm.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments help staff to be alert to the possibility that children may be at risk from relationships in the home. This includes making timely referrals to external agencies. 28 March 2025

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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— 30 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 7 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the admission process for children coming to live in the home effectively scrutinises information in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home's statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home;

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; 30 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 8 manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child's placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iii))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This relates to any information about a child being written in a non-stigmatising, kind and caring way. In addition, handwritten notes should be clear and legible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff maintain a homely environment, which is personalised to reflect the children who live there. In particular, areas of the home designed for special activities, such as the games room and study area, should be inviting spaces for children to enjoy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care. In particular, key-work documents should include any

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Recommendations

follow up actions that will be taken to ensure that children are safeguarded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: SC456474 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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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

Tenji Wesa, Social Care Inspector Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC456474 10 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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