Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC457573 1 SC457573 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.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living in the home at the time of 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC457573 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2024 Full Good 16/01/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/01/2023 Full Good 20/09/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC457573 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences of moving into the home even when this is at short notice. Staff are committed to providing stability for children. They know the children well. Staff listen to children, work hard to protect them, and they invest time in them. This helps children to feel valued and develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with resources to personalise their bedrooms and contribute ideas to make the home more comfortable. One child is enthusiastic about plans for a new sensory room. Children can often see the results of their views being listened to in different ways.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager actively advocates for the children’s health. Staff ensure that children have a healthy diet and take part in physical exercise. Staff accompany children to their football games and when volunteering at a local farm. This helps children to stay physically and emotionally healthy. Staff occasionally work with family members, who have positively influenced children to attend health appointments such as sexual health clinics.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make valuable contributions to children’s plans, including pathway plans. Staff keep children at the centre of their practice by supporting them to develop their independence through plans that consider the child’s pace of learning and understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are ambitious for children to do well in their education. Staff maintain effective links with education professionals and contribute to personal education plans. They help children develop their self-esteem and confidence to learn. One child will soon be taking their GCSE exams after a two-year absence from education. This is a significant milestone for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Warm and trusting relationships help children to feel well cared for. Staff’s communication with children is strong and effective. Staff help children to talk about the choices they make and educate them about negative influences from social networks. When risks increase, staff support children to access specialist services to reduce risks of harm.

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

Children feel safe, happy and settled. The manager promotes a safeguarding culture and staff’s proactive responses help to keep children safe. The manager’s risk assessments consider the risks and vulnerabilities of each individual child to ensure that they can live safely together, helping to create a safe environment for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457573 4 Staff are good at recognising where children have managed situations well. They reward and celebrate positive behaviour. Consequences for negative behaviour are restorative and they help children recognise the effects of their behaviour on others.

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

Staff follow procedures when children are missing from home. Their trusting relationships with children encourage them to answer their phone when they are missing. Leaders and managers carefully consider safeguarding concerns with a multi- agency group when family time creates risk for children. For one child, staff have an agreed response shared between professionals for when the child returns home, but there is a weakness in practice. Staff have not consistently taken time to speak to the child and understand their experiences when they have been missing from home. This is a missed opportunity to explore the child’s safety and experiences.

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

Staff respond well to children’s risks of offending behaviour, misusing drugs and criminal exploitation. Staff take the precautions of completing room searches when risks increase or when a child is missing from home. Staff have meaningful and focused conversations with children about these issues to help them to learn. Key-work sessions are well written and in a language that is caring and helpful for the child.

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

When risks increase, staff attend the children’s risk management meetings to share information. Staff update safety plans to reflect safeguarding decisions made. However, one child’s risk of criminal and sexual exploitation does not correspond to the risk analysis developed by the multi-agency group. This is not helpful to the child when they read their records and does not reflect the accurate assessment of lesser risk of the child’s vulnerability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child focused and cares for her staff and children. The manager utilises the home’s model of therapeutic intervention to help the children to feel safe. Staff are equally as aspirational as the manager for the children to achieve positive outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors the progress that individual children make. The manager has a range of tools that include a key-work sessions audit form newly devised specifically for the home. The manager uses learning from practice and feedback from the independent visitor, families and from children to improve the children’s experiences. Staff work well with other agencies to provide stability for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers recruit safely to the home. The manager ensures the appropriate vetting of staff. This means staff have the necessary skills and experience to deliver quality care to the children. The induction of staff is thorough. All staff are working towards gaining the relevant qualifications required for the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak with pride about the progress children make. They speak positively about using caring language in children’s records, implemented by the manager. This will enable children to reflect on the nurturing experiences of living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457573 5 Staff speak positively about the support they receive from the manager. Staff benefit from regular practice-related supervision. They view this as a time to receive feedback on their performance and a celebration of the work they are doing well. Supervisions are reflective and focus on the children and staff’s well-being. The managers recognise and manage well the effect on staff of managing complex emotions and behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457573 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should specify the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care and how staff should support the child on return to the home. Staff should provide an opportunity for the child to talk about their experiences when they were missing to ensure the child’s safety and well-being. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered person should ensure that where a child runs away persistently, or engages in other risky behaviours, the registered person, in consultation with the child’s placing authority, should ensure that an accurate risk assessment of criminal and sexual exploitation is made and understood by staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.32)

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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: SC457573 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: SC457573 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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