Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 1 SC457327 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

The home registered with Ofsted in February 2013 and provides care for up to 3 children with emotional and behavioural needs. It is owned and managed by a large national organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/07/2025 Full Good 01/10/2024 Full Good 24/05/2023 Full Good 30/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 3

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Summary of findings

Children make good progress from their starting points, particularly in respect of their education and emotional well-being. When children move into the home this is carefully planned. Children also benefit from good support from staff to maintain positive relationships with their families and enjoy varied positive childhood experiences.

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Summary of findings

Some shortfalls in staff responses to incidents have been found at this inspection. Overall leaders and managers respond to concerns raised by children well. Leaders and managers understand children’s needs and are committed to supporting staff to provide children with a good standard of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from carefully planned moves into the home. They are given opportunities to meet staff, visit the home and begin to build relationships before moving in, which helps them settle quickly and feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. Both children said that they liked living here, that staff do nice things with them and that they feel happy. The inspector also spoke with a child who has moved on from the home. They said that they felt upset while living at the home, did not feel safe and that they did not have good relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has made excellent progress in a short period of time. This child has previously spent 3 years out of education. They are now engaging part time with an alternative provision and feel optimistic about moving to a mainstream education following a recent visit to a school. They have developed their confidence and made considerable progress. The other child who lives at the home has made progress with their relationships. They continue to attend school full time and are achieving in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a range of enjoyable childhood experiences and activities, including weekly clubs and trips to theme parks and local beaches. Staff work positively with families and other people who are significant in children’s lives. Family members value the support offered by staff to maintain relationships, and children are encouraged to spend time with friends, inviting them to the home to spend time together and have sleepovers. Children and staff have close relationships. One child who was unwell during the inspection was closely monitored and staff showed them nurture and warmth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child moved on from the home after a turbulent period experiencing an unplanned ending, which was upsetting and difficult for them to manage. Support from staff at this time was lacking. Leaders, managers and the staff team have reflected on this experience and identified some learning to improve future practice. Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 4

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improvement to be good

Since the previous inspection, there have been several incidents when one child tried to harm themselves. While safeguarding measures have been implemented to reduce risks, these arrangements have not always been effective. Staff have not received the support necessary to equip them with the skills required to identify items that could be used for self-harm. This has meant that the child was able to access items which were then used to try to cause themselves harm.

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improvement to be good

Additional staffing, including the use of agency and pool staff, have been introduced to help meet the needs of one child. However, safety planning with these staff members has not been sufficiently clear. As a result, staff carrying out observations were not always clear about what they were checking. Permanent staff have ensured that they have had oversight of safety planning when working with temporary staff and ensured that safeguarding incidents were responded to.

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improvement to be good

One incident occurred which staff did not have the confidence or skills to manage, eventually retreating to the office for their own safety and awaiting the arrival of the police. During this incident, it was not evident that staff were using approaches rooted in empathy and trauma-informed practice to help children calm and prevent the incident escalating.

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improvement to be good

Management oversight following incidents considers children’s emotional wellbeing, however, there is a lack of robust analysis of staff responses. Learning from incidents is not sufficiently clear, which means that opportunities to improve practice are missed.

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improvement to be good

When children raise concerns about staff, these are taken seriously. Concerns are appropriately reported to external safeguarding agencies and investigated thoroughly. Proportionate action has been taken when necessary, including disciplinary action and referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear vision for the home and has high aspirations for what children can achieve. They are committed to ensuring that children experience positive relationships and have opportunities to thrive. When children move into the home, the manager ensures that they continue to access activities that are important to them, and community groups, and maintain important relationships whenever possible. This helps children settle quickly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a strong understanding of the individual needs of the children and the progress they are making. The manager has implemented effective changes to boundaries and routines for children that have supported children to achieve good outcomes. There are clear plans in place to further support each of the children with making continued progress. Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 5 Team meetings and staff supervision take place regularly, providing staff with opportunities for support, reflection and development. Following a turbulent period at the home, leaders brought the team together to reflect on experiences and held a team- building exercise to further strengthen relationships. Children are discussed individually in team meetings, and practice is reviewed to ensure that support remains reflective of children’s changing needs. Staff have felt well supported by leaders and managers

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is used to highlight and address concerns regarding staff practice. However, more could be done to ensure that there is critical analysis of any emerging concerns in relationships between children and staff, so that the timing of support can be improved. There is some reflection on safeguarding incidents, but more could be done to ensure that there is robust reflection following incidents to further enhance and embed any learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals speak positively about the communication they receive from the manager and describe the overall standard of care in the home as high. Social care professionals said one child has made excellent progress while living at the home and comment positively on the relationships that children have with staff. Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 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

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;

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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)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff have the skills and knowledge to be able to respond effectively to safeguarding incidents. In addition, they must ensure that staff have the necessary skills to enable them to engage with children when they are upset, and try to de-escalate incidents. 25 May 2026

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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

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— 25 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that their oversight of significant incidents includes robust critical analysis of staff actions. In addition, when concerns are identified in relationships between children and staff, that there is clear critical reflection on the reasons for these issues, and clear planning to address the underlying issues.

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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: SC457327 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor Parkview, 82 Oxford Road, Uxbridge, London UB8 1UX

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Inspector

Minnette Sims, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC457327 9 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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