Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2616741 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private company. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There was one child living in the home at the time of this inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Date of last inspection: 20 September 2023

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2616741 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2023 Full Outstanding 31/08/2022 Full Good 07/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2616741 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One child has moved out of the home, and one child has moved in during this inspection period. The manager has developed comprehensive and child-focused plans, so children are well-prepared for changes they experience. For one child, this was challenging as they did not wish to move on from the home. For the child who moved in, relevant training was identified and delivered from the in-house clinical team, so staff had the right skills to support the child effectively.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have consistently positive experiences and make remarkable progress from their initial starting points. The dedicated staff team fosters a nurturing, calm, and supportive environment where children achieve. Staff help children to build and maintain meaningful relationships with those who are important to them, even in cases where past connections have been challenging. Understanding the critical importance of trust and stability, staff prioritise forming and sustaining positive, supportive relationships with each child, to ensure that their emotional and developmental needs are met.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive tenacious support with their emotional well-being. Staff are attuned and sensitive to children’s needs and have worked hard to understand how to appropriately support them. Staff often remind children that they are loved, and that staff care for them. Staff help children to find safe and socially acceptable ways to manage intense or confusing feelings.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are supported to develop their interests and identity. Staff provide positive every-day experiences, such as days out at sporting events, trips to safari parks and even holidays abroad so one child could see their favourite musician in concert. One child was supported into part-time employment while in college. This was an incredible achievement for the child, who previously struggled to leave their home. Staff record children’s experiences with meticulous love and pride; writing to children, from a strengths-based perspective, so that they have tangible memories when they leave the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make positive progress within education. This is not always linear or solely around academic achievement, but children have excellent attendance and staff provide unwavering support for them, so they attend learning. Staff ensure that children have positive attitudes and achieve well in school. Managers and staff foster strong and collaborative relationships between the home and education professionals.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The parent of the child currently living in the home shared that staff in the home do ‘everything they can’ to support their child. They believe their child has excellent relationships with staff. The parent is happy with the communication from the home and are grateful for the support, so they get to see their child as often as possible. Inspection report for children’s home: 2616741 4

p.3

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

Staff have an exceptionally good understanding of the child’s needs, experiences and risks that affect them. Staff are skilled at building positive and trusting relationships. This means that staff often respond to the child’s needs before they become upset and prevent situations escalating. When incidents do take place, staff respond appropriately and keep the child as safe as possible. Discussions take place after any incidents, empowering the child to consider alternative ways to manage their emotions, which prevents future situations developing. This is effective at reducing risks.

p.4

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

Care plans and risk assessments are comprehensive, well-documented, and provide clear guidance for staff on how to respond to any identified risks. Staff demonstrate vigilance and professionalism in their approach, responding swiftly and appropriately to safeguard when necessary. For instance, when one child left the home and concerns arose regarding their well-being, staff took immediate action to locate and safely return the child, utilising the support of the child’s network. This proactive and structured response ensures the ongoing safety and welfare of all children who live in the home.

p.4

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

Staff have rarely needed to physical intervene with children, due to the quality of trusting relationships. One hold has been used in this period to keep everyone safe during an unusual and distressing incident where a child tried to harm themselves. Reflective and purposeful conversations happened afterwards with staff and the child. These conversations focused on ensuring the well-being of everyone involved and considered opportunities to learn about how to support the child so they could move forward. The in-house clinical team provided support to staff after this incident, to make sure that the child continued to receive the right type of care.

p.4

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

Children who live in the home feel happy and safe. Professionals working with children are confident that staff in the home do everything they can to keep them safer and offer them care that meets their needs.

p.4

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

Staff understand the importance of balancing safety with age-appropriate risk taking. They work collaboratively to ensure that those who are responsible for making decisions, consider the need for children to learn and develop, while learning to take appropriate risks. This helps children to earn trust.

p.4

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

Positive behaviour is promoted through clear boundaries and expectations that are agreed with children. When things do not go as expected, staff use their skills as an opportunity to support children to understand that their actions have a consequence. Staff are good at understanding when to revisit things with children to ensure that they have every available learning opportunity. This helps children to consider how they can do things differently in the future and ensures that they have a good understanding of morals and values.

p.4

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

Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children. They have a good understanding of the underpinning legislation that they support children through. This means that they work collaboratively with Inspection report for children’s home: 2616741 5 children’s parents and are clear on who holds responsibility for making decisions for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is a strong, reflective, and confident leader. She is suitably experienced and appropriately qualified. She role models calm and thoughtful responses to children and has an unwaveringly child-focused approach. The calm home environment is a direct reflection of her leadership. This quiet yet decisive leadership filters through the team who delivers consistently child-focused care to children and feel empowered to make decisions for children, which are in their best interests.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff and managers are aspirational on behalf of children. Staff beam with pride when they speak about children and their achievements. Staff are well supported and are clear about their roles in caring for children. They have a good understanding of the therapeutic care that they provide and deliver this with love.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has extremely effective systems of oversight in place. She reviews all documents relating to the children. These systems enable the manager to ensure that staff provide consistently excellent quality care to children. Staff have regular supervision sessions, which are child-focused and give staff a platform for individual opportunities for reflection. This reflection is used to inform and improve individual practice and to support staff’s professional development. Any practice issues are addressed swiftly in ad- hoc discussions and clear action plans are developed. This quick response means that any issues remain low-level concerns. This ensures that staff are constantly learning and developing.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers engage staff in regular, reflective team meetings where the child is spoken about in detail. Staff consider what is working well and what needs to change. These discussions help to inform children’s plans and help to continue the incredible progress children make. These are complemented by additional clinical meetings where staff develop a deeper understanding of children’s behaviour and consider effective ways to support them. Therapeutic practice is completely embedded within the team.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager strongly advocates on behalf of children. She ensures that children have opportunities to access external advocacy when they do not agree with their proposed plan from the local authority. This does not detract from staff implementing support for the child to understand their plan, even if they do not agree with it.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

When new staff are recruited, safer recruitment checks are adhered to, meaning staff are safe and appropriate to work in the home. Staff, including bank staff, are enrolled onto the relevant qualification as soon as they have passed their probationary period. Their progress is regularly reviewed by the manager to ensure that staff are staying on track to complete the diploma within the right timescales.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations were raised following this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2616741 6

p.5

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: 2616741 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

p.7

Inspector

Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2616741 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.

p.7

Inspector

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8