Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456602 1 SC456602 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 managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There are currently three children living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager became registered in October 2022.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 5 November 2024

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC456602 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/11/2024 Full Good 13/09/2023 Full Good 27/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC456602 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build trusting and supportive relationships with children when they move to the home. The manager ensures that children are properly assessed before moving in and children move in a planned way. Schools are involved in the transition process to reduce the impact on children’s education when they move. This helps to ensure that children have the best possible start at the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family members and professionals speak highly of the staff and are positive about the care children receive. Children tell their teachers and social workers that they are happy at the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Collaborative working relationships with school colleagues helps children with their education. School staff value the effort that staff put into promoting the children’s education. For example, one child has completed their GCSE exams and has applied for college despite moving in the middle of the exam period. Other children have improved their attendance and engagement with education due to the strong links the staff have built with the children’s schools.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to address their health needs. Children learn healthy eating habits, lose weight and increase their activity levels. Children have access to therapists to support their emotional well-being. The manager explores what additional support is available for children, including supporting staff’s awareness, when the children develop new needs. This helps staff remain responsive to children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff work with the children’s lead professionals to enable children to increase the time they spend with the people who are most important to them. As a result, children have carefully assessed and supported time with their family. Where it is safe, the children have overnights with family and holidays with friends.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff help children to develop their life skills and move towards independence. Staff encourage children to have input into their planning, giving children a sense of autonomy. When children move out of the home, staff keep in contact with them and ensure that they are available for a chat if the children need it.

p.3

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

Children feel safe living in the home. Staff complete comprehensive individualised risk assessments that address all known risks for the children. Where there is a specific risk that affects more than one of the children, this is addressed with a joint risk assessment. Professionals report that the manager and staff do everything in their power to ensure that children are safeguarded. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456602 4 Staff use physical interventions to protect the children when needed. They respond in a nurturing way that helps children process their emotions. The consistent response of staff helps children to reflect and recognise the triggers for their behaviour. As a result, children are helped to manage their behaviours and feelings safely and the need for physical intervention is reducing.

p.3

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

The manager works with safeguarding professionals to ensure that allegations are well managed. When a child frequently raised concerns about staff’s practice, plans were developed with professionals to manage this effectively, ensuring that the child felt listened to and that, should concerns be present, they could be responded to accordingly.

p.4

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

The manager works with the children, specialist services and the local community to reduce the risks of the children misusing substances. The manager has sought input from local substance misuse services to support the staff team’s knowledge and the help staff can offer children.

p.4

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

When time-limited consequences have been agreed with children in response to unwanted behaviour, timeframes to review the consequences have not always been adhered to, potentially causing uncertainty for the children involved.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aspirational for children. He knows the children well and understands their individual risks and challenges. The manager is well supported by an experienced and settled staff team that feels sufficiently led by the manager.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from the children and their family members is regularly sought and acted on. This helps the manager continually develop the service and maintain positive relationships with the children and their families.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the team’s development needs, noticing staff’s individual strengths and areas for development. Staff have a comprehensive training package supplemented by a range of training developed to meet the needs of the children. The manager requests additional training when new needs develop.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that all incidents with the children are discussed and reflected on with staff individually in their supervision and as a group in team meetings. Supervisions and team meetings are regular and purposeful for the team.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that their main strength is the consistency of their approach with the children. This is enabled by a highly supportive manager. Staff said they were well prepared for a younger child coming to live at the home. Staff’s preparation helped them to reevaluate the importance of being extra vigilant in adhering to routines and boundaries to help them care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456602 5 The manager’s monitoring system ensures that he has oversight of the functioning of the home and the care and experiences of children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456602 6

p.4

Recommendation

 The registered manager should ensure that consequences are kept under review and any restrictions imposed are used for the least amount of time possible. The decisions should be informed by an assessment of that individual child's needs and be properly recorded. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.38)

p.6

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: SC456602 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Childcare Limited of 4th Floor, Parkview, 82 Oxford Road, Uxbridge, UB8 1UX

p.7

Inspector

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC456602 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