Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 1 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

This home is owned by a large national provider. It is registered to provide care for up to 3 children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of inspection, and one had recently moved out. The child was spoken to and their views were considered.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a new manager, who has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 16 December 2025

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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: 2683445 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/12/2025 Full Good 26/06/2024 Full Good 07/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 3

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Summary of findings

This was a full inspection of the children’s home. The inspection was carried out due to concerns about incidents in the home, lack of leadership and children’s experiences of living there. There were shortfalls in these areas and some children have had poor experiences. Staff in the home have not been receiving the required support and development while being introduced to their roles. The provider has begun to respond to this, with the appointment of a new manager as well as an experienced responsible individual.

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improvement to be good

The decision was made to move a child from the home as the provider could not meet the child’s needs. The child living in the home had been moved in despite concerns raised at the time that the children would struggle to live together. The children did have a negative impact on each other. There were incidents of bullying and of aggressive behaviours between the children.

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improvement to be good

The child living in the home says that ‘ it’s ok’ in the home. They said they were unhappy that staff they had built connections with have been moved to other homes in the organisation. Relationships between staff and the child who moved out were not always positive. Staff struggled to support the child with their underlying needs and heightened responses to their care. This impacted on the experiences of another child living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Despite this, staff have continued to encourage children to have new experiences. This has resulted in children taking part in activities they enjoy. For example, during the inspection, the child was looking forward to visiting an art and pottery class with a staff member. Staff demonstrate enthusiasm for children to have a positive day.

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improvement to be good

The long-term plan is for the child to remain living at the home until they reach independence. The child’s bedroom is decorated to their tastes and interests. Other areas of the home that have been decorated are bare, with no pictures on the walls or photos on display. This does not create a warm and welcoming home for children to feel a sense of belonging. The new manager is aware of this and has a plan for refurbishment and to provide homely features.

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improvement to be good

The child does not have an identified education placement. The manager is working with external professionals to identify a suitable school. In the meantime, the manager has arranged for the child to receive tutoring at home. The child is beginning to build their confidence and is eager to attend school full time. Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 4 The new manager is focused on ensuring that children’s voices are captured and their views considered. This is achieved in various ways. An independent person visits the home and staff engage in meaningful discussions with the child. This is providing opportunities to explore their wishes and feelings further. The manager recognises that this is a work in progress and that staff still need more guidance and support to embed this in practice.

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improvement to be good

Staff have struggled to foster positive relationships between children. They have not been supported to develop the skills and do not have the experience to support children through conflict. Children have been subject to bullying and staff have, at times, struggled to manage this. Police or children’s parents have frequently been called to manage behaviours. There has been a lack of reflection and learning after incidents in the home. As a result, staff have not been able to identify how they can better support children in crisis.

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improvement to be good

Staff have lacked support to understand risk and how they can support children to be safe. Leaders are now considering this as part of the improvement plan. For example, the manager has identified a tailored training programme for all staff to attend.

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improvement to be good

Incidents that have taken place in the home have not always been recorded accurately. Key information has sometimes been missed, leading to incidents not being effectively evaluated and reflected on by managers. For example, an incident when a member of staff was assaulted and restraint was used, was not clearly recorded with what hold was applied. Debriefs with staff after incidents were not recorded so it is unclear if staff have been given the opportunity to reflect on incidents and their practice.

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improvement to be good

Children have made allegations of harm against staff. Leaders have not consistently followed required actions in a timely manner. This has led to gaps in investigation processes. Some steps have not been completed in line with the organisation’s policies and procedures. However, children have not been subject to harm because of this.

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improvement to be good

Children have not gone missing from the home. They have clear safety plans in place should this happen and staff are aware of steps to take if children go missing. Local police have been provided with completed profiles for children to assist if concerns for their safety are raised.

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

There have been significant shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home. The organisation has brought in support from managers of sister homes, but this has not provided the consistency of leadership required. There has been no registered manager since January 2026 and no identified responsible individual in a similar time frame. A new manager has been appointed and had been in post for just over 6 weeks at the time of the inspection. The manager is familiar with the organisation and has applied to Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 5 register with Ofsted. An experienced responsible individual previously involved with the home returned to this post in March 2026. They are supporting and working alongside the home’s manager.

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

The absence of an experienced and consistent leadership team in the home has led to a lack of guidance and support for the team. Staff have felt unsupported and unsure of their roles. Team morale was low and the welfare of staff was not being considered. However, since the recent management changes, staff say that they now feel listened to and the manager is doing all they can to support them.

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

Supervision has been poor and team meetings have not taken place. This has impacted the team as they have not had time for reflection, debriefs and learning. There is now an action plan in place, and the new manager is providing monthly supervision for staff. One staff member said, that the recent changes in management were ‘positive and that they now felt ‘management cared, and were ‘approachable and supportive’.

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

Children’s records have not routinely been reviewed and updated. Staff in the home were managing incidents and their own wellbeing but not updating records. Children had no day-to-day routines or support plans in place. The manager has identified this shortfall as part of their action plan. At the time of the inspection, plans were being reviewed.

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

Although staff are subject to a robust induction when new to their role, they have not received the appropriate training to help them to meet the needs of the children and enhance their knowledge and practice. The manager is now addressing this with a training programme. Staff say that they are looking forward to attending more training and are enthusiastic and keen to improve their practice and support for children. Staff are now being given time to explore and reflect on incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(v)(x))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to having plans that identify children’s needs and how staff can help children, ensuring staff are consistent in addressing children’s behaviour, and that managers provide the supervision and support to help staff to do this. 31 July 2026

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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. 31 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 7 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular this relates to staff having effective support in place to help them develop in their roles around understanding and managing risk.

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Requirement Due date

It also refers to allegations from children being responded to in a timely manner and in line with expected procedures, and all steps being followed.

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Requirement Due date

It also refers to risks of children to each other being managed to prevent impact and harm.

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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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. 30 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 8 (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that records of incidents are clear, detailed and demonstrate management oversight, reflection and learning.

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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—

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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 staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 31 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 9 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to a consistent and experienced leadership team being in place in the home.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to new and developing staff, including team leaders, receiving the support and protection they require to progress in their roles.

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Requirement Due date

It also refers to time for reflection and learning being protected for new managers to develop effective action plans for the improvements required in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that placement matching processes are robust and consider the impact of children on each other. 30 June 2026

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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: 2683445 10

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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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Inspectors

Chris Haines, Social Care Inspector Pauline Wigley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2683445 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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