Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Devon

Inspection report for children’s home: SC457266 1 SC457266 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to two children who experience social, emotional and/or learning difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager is in post, who has been registered with Ofsted since May 2025.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 25 February 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC457266 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/10/2023 Full Outstanding 04/10/2022 Full Good 03/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC457266 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they like living in the home, they like the staff and that at times the staff ‘care too much’. Children have good relationships with staff and feel relaxed and happy in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are in part-time education, there is a lack of clear planning for educational activities that staff do with the child on days when they are in the home. Staff have completed past maths exam papers with one child, however, due to a lack of clear recording, there is confusion among the staff about the topics that the child struggles with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good routines. They regularly take part in activities that are of interest to them, such as baton twirling, attending the gym, horse riding and swimming. Children are also taken out on fun activities such as go-karting and trips to the beach. Children say that they like the activities that they are offered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote healthy eating in the home. However, due to a lack of clear recording, it is not always known if one child consistently has a positive diet. One external professional also said that the child has not made sufficient changes to their diet since being in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is generally decorated to a good standard. Furniture and furnishings are of good quality and give a homely feel to the downstairs area of the home. Children’s bedrooms are not well maintained. One child’s bedroom remains very cluttered. In the other child’s bedroom, a panel of wallpaper is missing following damage to the wall, and considerable repair work is needed. There are plans to repair this imminently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have close and supportive relationships with staff. Children also make progress with their personal relationships while living in the home. One previous carer said that their relationship with the child has improved considerably while the child has lived in the home, and that improvements have been noticed in other family relationships.

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

When children go missing from home, staff search for them appropriately and try to maintain contact with them. When they return, they receive a warm welcome from staff, who show that they are concerned about the child’s welfare. Return home conversations with children are consistently completed by an independent person.

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

Staff engage in conversations with children which focus on their risks, and external support is used at times to help the staff and children learn about risk-taking behaviours. When there are concerns about children using substances, room searches are carried out Inspection report for children’s home: SC457266 4 appropriately, and multi-agency planning meetings are used to discuss risks. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures.

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

When significant incidents occur, there is a lack of clear management oversight of individual incident report forms. Despite this, leaders and managers have been quick to identify new ways of working in response to significant incidents, to keep children safe. For example, increasing staff monitoring of a child in the evening, when it is known that they may go missing.

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

An experienced team of staff know children’s risks well. Staff know how to respond when incidents occur, and there are clear and consistent boundaries for children. However, Care plans do not detail all the children’s risks, and they lack clear information on how staff should work with children. One child presents risks in relation to substance misuse and the risk assessment relating to this does not detail all measures that staff should use to try to keep the child safe.

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

When children raise concerns about external professionals, these are clearly recorded and are appropriately reported to external agencies. Children are supported to speak with their social worker following disclosures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Weaknesses in leadership and management in the home have resulted in insufficient progress in some areas for children. There has been a lack of management oversight of children’s education and health needs, meaning that opportunities to help children progress further have been missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

External professionals report positively on the working relationships that they have with staff at the home. However, one professional said children could make more progress in some areas. Several staff feel there is a lack of strong leadership in the home, and that they feel undervalued at times, which has contributed to experienced staff leaving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

One child has a plan to imminently move from the home to semi-independent living, in line with their wishes. There is, however, a lack of robust planning around the child’s needs and risks. Leaders and managers have not sufficiently challenged external agencies when care planning has not been clear and robust, and more could be done to ensure sufficient support is provided to the child through this process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings and supervisions take place regularly, with the children as the focus. They include some reflection on how the team is working with the children and on significant incidents. When staff practice is not in line with children’s plans, this is quickly highlighted by managers and addressed with individual staff. Care plans have then been discussed in team meetings to ensure that all staff are working in line with protocols. Inspection report for children’s home: SC457266 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) 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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff –

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant persons performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is appropriate challenge to external agencies if care planning for children does not adequately consider all their needs. 28 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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 achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when children are on part-time timetables, they have structured educational activities on days when they are in the home. In addition, the registered person must ensure that there is effective oversight and review of children’s engagement with these activities, to ensure that any gaps in children’s knowledge are known, to allow further support to be provided as necessary. 28 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC457266 6 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables and inspires a culture in relation to the children’s home that –

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to their full potential; and

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvement in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are effective monitoring and review systems in place which promote children’s progress. Additionally, the registered person must ensure that there are strategies in place to help staff continually support children to reach their full potential. 28 July 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that there are plans in place to help staff manage children’s risks, and that these include all relevant risks for the child and all steps that staff should take to ensure that children’s safety is promoted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: SC457266 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

Min Sims, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC457266 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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