Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456477 1 SC456477 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

A private provider owns and manages the home. The home provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2012.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke to both 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 outstanding

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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: SC456477 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2024 Full Good 25/07/2023 Full Good 28/02/2023 Full Good 09/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC456477 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a warm welcome and care that is sensitive to their needs and vulnerabilities. Staff encourage children to personalise their bedrooms and contribute ideas to make the room feel like home. This extends to decisions about having small pets kept in the home. The manager updates care plans to align to the changing needs of the children as they grow older. This keeps the children at the centre of decisions that affect their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have developed strong relationships with the children. As a result, children know they have trusted adults they can confide in. When staff find it difficult to have conversations with children about serious matters such as ongoing police investigations, the manager takes advice from professionals when this happens. This helps the children to feel that staff care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and prioritise the children’s physical and emotional health needs. They make good efforts to encourage healthy lifestyle choices and for children to enjoy a healthy diet and regular exercise. One room in the house is now a well-equipped home gym. Staff support children to attend health appointments including their medication reviews.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers work well with professional agencies. When decisions are made that impact the children’s education, the manager advocates on the children’s behalf. Staff ensure that children continue to learn in the home through alternative learning when there are challenges to attending school or college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In addition, the manager has escalated the lack of care planning for a child who will be moving on to independence. The manager challenged delays in the specialist assessment and review of the child’s health. These delays created emotional uncertainties for the child. This is critical to ensuring that lead professionals make timely and accurate evaluation of potential risks to the child and to others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have regular family time. Staff are alert to the children’s emotional well-being and understand triggers for emotional upsets from these relationships. When family time creates risk for children, the manager communicates with key agencies to ensure that plans are agreed for family time to be safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents and professionals say communication is a strength of the home. They speak highly of the manager and staff. They say children are safe and well cared for. One professional described staff as ‘highflyers’ because of the dedication and care the children experience. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456477 4

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

Children say they are safe and enjoy living in the home. They benefit from car journeys that help them to enjoy time out of the home and time alone to talk to staff. One child is particularly proud of a car journey which resulted in an unplanned trip to the Scottish borders. Such activities help children to manage stress and anxieties in a positive way.

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

There is a strong and proactive response from staff working to understand risks and act on concerns when children’s risks increase. The manager understands the children well and ensures that risk assessments are thorough. Staff diligently adhere to these plans to try to reduce the risk of harm for children. Staff have managed risks of knife crime, sexual harm and criminal offending effectively.

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

Children understand the need for daily room searches for their safety. Consequences such as withdrawal of gadgets are restorative, and they help children to understand the effects of their actions. Children understand that daily checks of personal computers by staff are necessary to guard them from risk of online exploitation and harmful content that could lead to criminalisation. Staff work with the children sensitively to help children to keep themselves safe. These conversations help children to express themselves more safely.

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

Staff have the necessary skills and experience to de-escalate unwanted behaviour with support from the home’s clinical team. When incidents become unsafe, staff work with the police in the best interests of children to keep children and the home environment safe. Leaders and managers enable the children and staff to participate in debrief sessions. This helps the children to reflect on their actions and learn how to manage their emotions more positively.

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

Staff proactively act on concerns about self-injurious behaviours. They help children to have access to mental and emotional well-being support services. When risks increase from the community and online, staff have open discussions with children to educate them against the potential risk of online groups that encourage harmful behaviour. This secures the children’s mental well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is an inspirational leader. She is aspirational for children to experience the highest quality of care and achieve the best outcomes. Staff are equally enthusiastic for children. The manager has sustained stable leadership of the home for many years and holds a deep insight into the needs of the children and the staff. The long-established staff team provides children with excellent levels of stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and staff ensure that they are always available for children and make a point of removing any barriers from the other aspects of work responsibilities. They are highly responsive to what children need, helping children to know there is always someone available to listen to them. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456477 5 The manager understands the team’s strengths and areas of development. She enthusiastically ensures that staff receive regular reviews of their skills and knowledge, so they are well equipped to meet the children’s diverse range of needs. Additionally, the manager uses a range of monitoring tools that give her comprehensive oversight of the home to promote continuous improvements in the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are firmly committed to working in partnership with other professionals to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children. Their joint approach to risk management with key agencies significantly strengthens safeguarding practices. Risks for children increased in the past few months after many years of stability in the home. However, the manager’s insightful practice enabled her to work robustly and openly with others to implement plans to manage these concerns effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager embraces independent scrutiny of the home and values this input to assist in reviewing the quality and effectiveness of the children’s care. Leaders and managers learn from their practice and use widely available resources to improve the experiences of the children. The manager has implemented a care plan document specific to the home that utilises the home’s therapeutic model of intervention. This simplified version helps staff to deliver care with more ease. There are plans for this document to be shared widely across the provider’s other homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff say they find their work rewarding and attribute this to their managers, who have established a positive and supportive culture. The manager’s high expectations help staff strive to improve the lives of the children. Staff proudly recognise the progress children make from their starting points. This supportive culture transcends into the care children experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff greatly benefit from practice-related supervision that is reflective. Their emotional well-being is prioritised, and they regularly receive offers to access clinical supervision and well-being support. Staff say this helps them to stay motivated and focused on providing excellent care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers recruit safely to the home. The manager focuses on matching the right person for the children. Inductions are intensive and supportive with more frequent support for new staff. The manager prioritises monthly team meetings, which double as all-day training days. This ensures that staff have up-to-date information to meet the needs of children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456477 6

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Information about this inspection

The 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: SC456477 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: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Tenji Wesa, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC456477 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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