Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Cornwall

Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare 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 and support for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities. It is part of a large national organisation. Two children have moved out of the home since the last inspection. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, a new manager has started in the home. They have applied to be registered with Ofsted.

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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 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: 2617923 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/06/2025 Full Good 14/05/2024 Full Good 14/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 3

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Summary of findings

Children who live in this home are cared for by the staff here, who take the time to get to know them and their needs. Leaders, managers and staff are committed to making continuous improvements for the benefit of the children. They work with external professionals to ensure that children’s needs are met and advocate for children when necessary.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are able to reflect and identify learning to improve children’s experiences and outcomes. However, their usual strong analysis and evaluation of children’s experiences are not reflected across all areas of practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff spend time building trusting relationships with children. They have open and honest conversations with them about their care and their experiences. This makes children feel valued. When children approach staff to seek guidance and advice, they receive kindness, reassurance and guidance. Following a child raising concerns about their experiences in the home, prompt and effective action was taken to address their concerns. This has helped them to feel heard and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home are supported to make progress. For example, one child has developed positive relationships within the home and begun to engage with their education and is responding to boundaries. Another child is more able to express how they are feeling. Staff compile detailed and personalised books that provide children with lasting memories of their time while living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of meeting children’s educational needs. They prioritise securing appropriate education for children when they move to the home. Staff work with educational professionals to share essential information about children’s behaviours. When children have not been attending education, staff have engaged them in educational-type activities. This provides them with routine and structure to their day and prepares them for a return to education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved out of the home into independent living. This was a well-planned and supported move. However, planning to support the child to develop independence skills was not regularly reviewed to provide assurances that they had all the skills needed for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their family. Staff understand that family dynamics and relationships can be difficult and emotive for children. They seek children’s views on family time and advocate for what is seen to be in their best interests. Staff have listened to and promptly addressed concerns raised by a child’s family member. This helps children and families feel valued and heard. Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 4 Staff do not always consult children about their care planning. At times, documents about children are written as if they were completed by children when they have had no input. This may lead to children feeling confused about things that have been planned or written about them.

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

Staff understand how vulnerable children can be and the risks that they can face. Documents providing guidance to staff on how to manage risks and keep children safe are usually detailed and have a therapeutic underpinning. Staff use these strategies when supporting children. This helps children to feel safe and cared for. However, at times, information is repeated in different documents, and guidance is not always clear. Risk ratings are not always updated. This may lead to children not receiving the right responses from staff when risks arise.

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

Staff usually approach risk, trauma and difficult life events in a child-centred manner. Topics, including relationships, self-harm, the use of drugs and alcohol and trauma are addressed through open and sensitive conversations. However, staff rarely encouraged children to reflect following incidents of negative or risky behaviour and when they have gone missing from the home. This hinders children developing an understanding of these risks and the potential consequences of their behaviour.

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

During incidents, staff maintain boundaries and follow planning designed to support children. Staff have only used restraint on two occasions when it was necessary and proportionate to do so. However, at times, some records that detail staff’s and children’s actions during incidents lack information. This raises concern that essential reflection and learning about children’s care needs could be missed.

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

Overall, incidents where children have been missing from the home have been managed effectively. Staff maintain efforts to locate and to communicate with the child. In addition, staff usually communicate and share information effectively with other professionals, and those who know the child. However, on one occasion, staff practice contributed to a child going missing, and on another occasion, there was a delay in sharing essential information. One of these concerns has not yet been investigated. This has prevented learning being identified to prevent similar incidents occurring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers of this home are reflective. They are aware of the strengths and development areas of the home and the staff team. They exhibit a strong commitment to making ongoing improvements and in supporting children to have positive outcomes. Staff receive training that is essential to their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care planning for children collates essential details and identifies their care and support needs. Overall, managers have a good oversight of the child’s daily life and their experiences. However, at times, planning for children’s care and guidance for staff is not Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 5 clear and there is limited analysis of how the care provided to children has supported them to make progress. Despite this, staff show good insight into children’s care needs and lived experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by leaders and managers. They feel listened to and consulted. This is reflected within comprehensive team meetings, which show a collaborative approach to learning and caring for children. However, staff do not always receive regular, reflective, practice-based supervision sessions. This does not provide staff with the protected time to reflect on their roles and the care of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals speak positively about the quality of care provided to children. They identify good-quality communication, information-sharing and providing children with good care as some of the home’s strengths. Managers address concerns about the practice of external professionals promptly and respectfully, advocating for what they feel is in the child’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers gain information to inform their decision-making on whether this is the right home for a child. However, the analysis of risk and potential impact of children living together is not always robust. One child has experienced a move from the home due to staff not being able to keep them safe. Managers have completed a thorough reflective evaluation to consider learning about their decision-making, staff practice and the lived experience of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move to adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are provided with guidance and support to learn the skills necessary for independence and moving out of the home.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that they complete a full reflective analysis and evaluation of all available information to determine if the staff can meet the child’s needs before the decision is made to admit a child to the home. 14 August 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. 14 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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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

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)(ii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that information about risk is clearly recorded and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that recordings of the support provided to children include detailed information about the actions of staff and children.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff provide children with the support that they need to reflect on their decision-making, behaviours and the impact of these.

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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 14 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 8 and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that concerns about staff practice are investigated, and any identified action is taken in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that they complete thorough reviews of the quality of care provided to children to determine how the care that children receive impacts on their outcomes.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, carefully consider the appropriateness of recording the child’s information using first-person narrative. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted about the care that they receive. The views of children should be recorded in their care planning and available for them to review and revise at any time. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that all staff receive regular, reflective, practice- based and child-focused supervision sessions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2617923 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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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

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2617923 10 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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