Children's Home run by Cameron & Cooper Limited in Surrey

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 1 Registered provider: Cameron & Cooper Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to six children who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties. It is owned and run by a private organisation. At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

All of the children living at the home attend the organisation’s school, which is located on the same site. Inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 6 June 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/07/2024 Full Good 09/05/2023 Full Good 24/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

While children are making progress and having some positive experiences, the overall judgement is impacted by shortfalls in leadership and management and the help and protection of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Children are shown love, care and reassurance by staff who enjoy being with them. Staff provide the children with experiences such as attending theme parks, going on holiday and trips to places of interest. Some of these experiences are provided as group activities to strengthen and encourage positive peer relationships in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Children are supported to spend time with their families, where this is appropriate, with staff supporting children to visit family members who sometimes live far away from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Children have access to an in-house therapist, who supports the children directly, works alongside staff and helps inform their care plan and risk assessments. Children are able to benefit from accessing therapeutic support and care as soon as they move into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Staff prioritise and encourage children’s education. Children have access to the on-site school. Staff who work in the home and in the school work in collaboration to encourage attendance and engagement. One child who did not attend school when they moved into the home was able to sit exams and gain a place at college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

After a sustained period of stability, several children have moved into and out of the home recently. This has changed peer relationships and dynamics within the home and created different risks for staff to understand and manage. For a small number of children, learning following placement endings and breakdowns have not been completed, this is a missed opportunity to inform future planning for children’s moves into and out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Children have mixed views on whether or not their voices are heard, but they understand the way they can voice their opinion and know how to make a complaint if needed. Complaints are dealt with well by the manager.

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improvement to be good

Some staff lack confidence in managing crisis situations and this has resulted in some incidents not being responded to appropriately. In a small number of circumstances staff do not always utilise effective de-escalation techniques which has increased risk to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 4 The use of restraint is infrequent and so staff do not always feel confident to physically intervene to keep children safe. In some incidents, the risk has escalated unnecessarily. The registered manager has acknowledged the need for further restraint training, which has been planned but not yet delivered.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment policies have not always been adhered to, with staff allowed to begin working in the home before the appropriate checks have been received and overseen by the manager.

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improvement to be good

Children who display self-injurious behaviours are supported using a therapeutic approach, which shows care and consideration. As a result, their frequency of self-harm has decreased over time.

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improvement to be good

Staff demonstrate vigilance in managing missing-from-home episodes. Staff attempt to prevent young people from going missing, follow children and search areas that children are known to frequent. Staff have a strong awareness of local risks and places of concern, which has led to them successfully locating children.

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improvement to be good

Children rarely make allegations against staff, but when they do, this is handled well by the registered manager, who considers all the information thoroughly, resulting in children feeling heard.

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

The leadership and management team lacks consistency when providing guidance to staff, which results in a staff team that lacks confidence in implementing boundaries for children. This leads to inconsistent boundaries for the children, with staff and children being aware that they will have a varied response from managers. Staff roles are not being used effectively, and a lack of confidence from staff results in on-call managers being contacted frequently out of hours for advice and guidance.

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

The systems for monitoring and reviewing the quality of care have not been effective due to inconsistent or poor-quality feedback being added to documents by managers. This does not provide evaluation or show professional curiosity to inform planning. The independent oversight that was sought did not effectively evaluate or consider significant information to provide additional oversight.

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

Staff are provided with access to training and staff training is up to date. However, there are gaps in essential knowledge and understanding around the differences in care responsibilities under legislation. For two children, this meant the correct procedures were not always followed regarding sharing information with those who have parental responsibility, and there was no consent recorded in regard to their care.

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

For most children, there is excellent and effective communication with their respective professional networks. However, in a small number of situations, communication is not Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 5 as strong and for one child, this has resulted in their statutory meeting not being completed within timescales to address urgent care planning needs. Supervision is provided regularly and is of good quality. A range of opportunities are in place for staff support, through direct supervision, reflective discussions and meetings and access to an in-house clinician.

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

The registered manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She is kind and caring and has a good relationship with the children and staff. She is praised by staff and professionals about the care she shows for the children and her therapeutic approach. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(b) (2)(a)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that there is a consistent approach in setting boundaries for the children and providing guidance for staff to do this;

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Requirement Due date

complete meaningful and effective monitoring to help evaluate incidents and provide oversight;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the independent visitor monitors and reviews information and provides them with a report that highlights areas of concern and assists them to make improvements. 31 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— 31 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 7 if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s 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, ensure that the placing authority fulfils its statutory duties to formally review a child’s care plan in line with guidance to ensure the care plan is meeting the child’s current needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that all checks under schedule 2 have been received and are satisfactory before allowing staff to start work in the home. The manager must have oversight of all checks. 31 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that any children accommodated under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, have signed consent and delegated authority from the person with parental responsibility on file so that it is clear in their care planning what permissions have been provided for the child’s care. 31 October 2025

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Recommendation

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 8  The registered person should make best use of information to ensure continuous improvement, such as learning from placement endings. They are responsible for pro- actively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. In particular, they should ensure that they are consistently evidencing learning from placement endings through the reflective reports they complete. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 1256973 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cameron & Cooper Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 7, Belhaven House, 67 Walton Road, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0DP

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Inspector

Faye McCarthy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1256973 10 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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