Children's Home run by Lorac Lodge Ltd in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 1 Registered provider: Lorac Lodge

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private company and provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has left their post 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

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: 2729647 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/09/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were four children living at the home at time of inspection. The children were all spoken to. Children are positive about their relationships with the staff. The staff know the children well. Children benefit from good, supportive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have created a relaxed and open culture at the home. The children enjoy spending time in the communal areas together. Professionals and families are positive about the home and the way that staff support the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have education or there are plans for their education. One child achieved GCSE qualifications despite previous gaps in education. This child has started college. Another child attends a local school with a bespoke timetable to support their learning. Two children are new to the home and education plans are being developed to best suit their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A clinical psychologist visits the home regularly to support the staff and children. The children engage well with the psychologist. The psychologist spends time talking with staff to support them with therapeutic approaches. One of the children has recently agreed to a referral with the local mental health service. This is positive progress for the child who has not wanted to engage in this work previously. This shows that they feel settled and supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s interests. Children take part in a range of activities, including trips to the beach, bowling and playing board games. Children are involved in planning their activity choices. One child has recently been given a pet cat following a period of positive behaviour. This rewards positive behaviour and gives children the responsibility of looking after a pet.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is suitably decorated. Any damage has been repaired. There is ongoing redecoration work. Children are asked how they would like their bedrooms to be decorated. The children like their bedrooms. However, one child has several cardboard boxes in their bedroom containing their belongings. This does not provide appropriate storage.

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

There has been a reduction in risks for children since the last inspection. Incidents of self-harm and substance misuse have reduced since children moved to the home. Staff talk to children about their risks to support them in these areas. New workbooks have been implemented to further support children’s understanding of risks and how to minimise these. The therapeutic model used at the home is clearly understood and used by staff during incidents. This shows that children are receiving consistent, therapeutic care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 4 Safer recruitment is followed for new members of staff, including agency staff. There is an induction process for new staff which helps them to learn their roles. The induction for agency workers is being developed to support them to understand the ethos of the home, which will help provide more consistency to the children.

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

Relevant training is offered to staff. New training workshops support specific areas which are relevant to the children. The manager has introduced reflective scenarios to support staff skills and knowledge. This shows a learning culture at the home.

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

When allegations are made against staff, appropriate actions are taken. Referrals to the local authority designated officer are made in a timely manner and actions are completed. There was one incident when a staff member did not follow the reporting system to raise a concern. A lessons learned exercise was completed promptly to ensure that staff understand their responsibilities.

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

Restraints are proportionate and infrequent. However, the records of restraints and incidents would benefit from more detail to fully explain the situation.

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

Staff understand the protocol to follow when children go missing from the home. There has been a reduction in missing-from-home incidents for children. The actions that staff take when children’s locations are unknown are limited. This means it is not always clear to see whether staff have taken appropriate actions to search for and contact the child. Children’s behaviour support plans do not specify the actions that staff members should follow when the child is missing from the home. This means there may be inconsistent support provided while a child is missing.

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

Staff carry out room searches when they have concerns that children have items that could harm them. The searches are recorded and explain the reasoning for the search. However, when it is not appropriate to inform children about the search, there is no evidence to show that this is discussed afterwards. This could affect children’s privacy.

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

The manager was previously registered at the home, and moved within the company. Since then, he has returned as the manager and has applied to register with Ofsted again. The manager knows the home well and understands the areas that require development.

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

There is some management oversight following all incidents. However, due to having a new staff team, the manager is spending a lot of time supporting the staff and children. This means that his ability to provide good oversight and identify patterns and trends is limited. Although the manager understands the areas for development, he has not had the time to address these. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 5 The manager has not completed a quality of care review within the required timescales. This limits the effectiveness of identifying and driving improvement. The feedback from children, families and professionals is not evaluated to develop the home.

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

Appraisals do not all take place within timescales set out in the homes policy. One staff member has not had an appraisal within the time frame. Appraisals do not include feedback. This limits the opportunity for staff members to understand their skills and areas for development.

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

Staff supervision sessions and team meetings generally take place in line with the home’s policy. However, supervision sessions and team meetings do not discuss the individual children. This means that staff may not always have the most up-to-date information about children. There are supervision records that cannot be located for some staff members. Therefore, it is unclear whether these took place.

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

Actions from investigations are not always completed. When investigations are undertaken, actions are identified. However, several actions following an investigation have not been completed. This means that the staff member involved has not received the level of supervision and guidance identified to support their practice.

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

Staff members are positive about the support that they receive. They said that managers are approachable and supportive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 6

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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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that children’s plans clearly detail missing-from-home strategies and that there are clear attempts to look for and contact children when they are reported as missing from the home;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that all staff understand their responsibility to raise safeguarding concerns to management promptly. 20 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— 10 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 7 helps children aspire to fulfil their 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that management oversight identifies any actions or learning following incidents and that actions from investigations are completed and include discussions about how to support consistent care.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that records are written in detail and use child-friendly language;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that there are records of all supervision sessions. 10 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. 20 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 8 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with appropriate furniture in their bedrooms to store their belongings. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  The registered person should ensure that children’s rooms are only searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission, unless there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. If they are not informed beforehand for safety reasons, children should be informed following the search, so they are aware. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should

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Recommendations

take into account, when reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2729647 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Trust Care Management Ltd, 319b, Walton Road, West Molesey KT8 2QG

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Inspector

Leanne Lyon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2729647 10 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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