Children's home run by Cynhenid Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 1 Registered provider: Cynhenid Care Ltd

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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 children’s home provides care for two children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 4 February 2025

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/02/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

There were two children present for this inspection. Both children were spoken to during the inspection. One child was going on a camping holiday. They spoke about the things they enjoy at the home and how much they like their bed. They like being close to people who are important to them. One child completed a session at a recording studio and played the inspector a song they had recorded. They like being able to spend time with their friends, as well as trips to Alton Towers and a holiday with people important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The members of the staff team are wholly committed to the children in this home. As a result, the children have achieved a strong sense of belonging and have made consistent progress and sustained improvement to their lives. There is significant evidence that the changes and improvements in the children’s lives are due to the excellent care that is provided. Staff are invested and interested in the children they approach their care with curiosity and kindness. Allowing the children to be wholly themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager has used a research-informed approach when advocating for the children in his care. This strong response is making exceptional differences in the lives and experiences of the children in his care. The research informed approach ensures the decisions made about the children’s future care arrangements are thought out and considered, fully informed and underpinned by a research base.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are helped to develop skills and strategies to manage their own conflicts and difficult feelings through developing positive relationships with staff. The staff know the children may not always be able to fully express their emotions and through consistent care, they have developed strategies to do so. There are clear, consistent and appropriate boundaries for children which allow children to manage any difficult feelings in a safe space. They have a vast range of new and positive experiences, including holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children attend school. They have made steady progress from their starting points, and both have completed GCSE exams. The staff aspire for the children’s future, and in turn, the children see a future for themselves. Both children have plans in place for their upcoming education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Both children are supported to develop independence in line with their age, understanding, needs and challenges. The home has been able to develop both children’s independence, while keeping them safe. The home has appropriately challenged the placing authority about the plans for the children’s futures when they had concerns about the children’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children in this home are treated with respect. Staff speak to them and record information in a non-judgmental way. They are sensitive and responsive to the fact that Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 4 both children have experienced trauma, and the children are supported to recognise their own individual identity needs. This approach helps children to develop a positive self-view, increase their emotional resilience and overcome negative past experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children in this home are at the heart of it, and staff and management place their well-being at the centre of what they do. The children are celebrated. They have developed healthy daily routines in relation to sleep, diet and independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff ensure that the children get to spend consistent and quality time with people who are significant to them, and the children have both spoken about the importance of this. The plans have developed so that these relationships can be built on further.

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

Highly effective planning by the manager has minimised risks inside and outside of the home. Risks to the children are understood and have significantly reduced.

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

There is a proactive and creative safeguarding culture. This enhances staff practice, and children are effectively protected from harm. There is a strong approach from all those who are working with the children, and this has reduced ongoing harm in relation to self- harm, missing-from-care episodes, exploitation, vaping and substance misuse. The planning and subsequent response from staff includes consistent contact with the children’s placing authority and family, which helps in reducing any possible harm.

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

The children have individual up-to-date risk assessments that effectively address any known vulnerabilities for each child and set out what action staff should take to manage the risks. Both the children feel comfortable in speaking to the staff about concerns, and these are listened to without judgement and taken seriously.

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

Staff understand the risks that using the internet may pose for the children in the home. Responses to concerns have been curious, not judgmental. They have sought to understand how to keep the children safe. They have well-developed strategies in place to keep children safe and to support them in learning how to keep themselves safe both now and in the future.

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

An in-house therapist helps the children understand and manage behaviours and feelings safely. Collaborative practice with others means staff understand children’s experiences, respond with appropriate boundaries about what is safe and acceptable for each child and seek to understand the ongoing behaviours to be proactive in care and not reactive.

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

There are physical restraints in the home in the form of window restrictors and bedroom door alarms. There is agreement from the children and their social workers for them to be in place. There is a gap in the review of them, and although the manager has reviewed their use, they have not captured the children’s feelings around their use for the purpose of review. Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 5 Staff in the home know and follow procedures for responding to concerns about the safety of the children in their care. Any concerns are immediately shared with local authority as required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager of the home is inspirational, confident and ambitious for the children in his care. He seeks to promote their best interests and improve their lives. He has created a culture of high aspiration. He has high expectations on the staff team to ensure that they help to improve children’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is dynamic and innovative in his approach, generating creative ideas to continuously drive standards of care. He has a superb ability to advocate for the children in his care, not accepting anything less than what they deserve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed well; it has a stable staff team. Management oversight is across the home. The active and regular monitoring of care means children are responded to in a way that continually improves their experience. Of note, is that the management oversight of the safeguarding incidents is analytical, constructive and in-depth. It shows learning to better safeguard children in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Plans for children are in place; the manager drives for achievement for the children. The members of the staff team are supported to do their jobs. The manager has been able to demonstrate a positive impact on the children in the home and their life chances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff receive regular and effective supervision that is focused on children’s experiences, needs, plans and feedback. Supervision is recorded effectively. The manager has ensured that team and management meetings are set in an environment which ensures good practice thrives. The members of the staff team report being motivated to do a good job. They know their roles. They are consistent in their approaches to care, and there is a sense of ownership about practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is well presented and maintained to a high standard, which helps make it feel mostly like a family home. Children have their own space, bedrooms that are clean, personalised and spaces in the home to relax and eat. Children do not have access to all rooms in their home, due to staff rooms being locked.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The culture of the home is characterised by high expectations and aspirations for all children. The ethos and objectives of the home as set out in their statement of purpose are wholly demonstrated in practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s privacy will be respected and the circumstances when it may have to be limited;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to prepare for any review of the child’s relevant plans and to make the child’s views, wishes and feelings known for the purposes of that review. (Regulation (7) (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the child’s views around restrictions on the physical setting of the home are gathered regularly as part of the home’s review process. 16 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 7

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15 paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2790296 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Swift Accountants, 1b Chowley Court, Chowley Oak Business Park, Bolesworth Estate, Chester, Cheshire CH3 9GA

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Inspector

Hannah Spencer-Townesend, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2790296 9 regulates 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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