Children's Home run by Protea Care 2 Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 1 Registered provider: Protea Care 2 Limited

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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 privately owned home provides care for up to seven children aged between five and 18 who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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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: 2766417 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/10/2025 Full Good 04/06/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 3

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Summary of findings

Six children were living in the home at the time of this inspection. Most children are making progress. The inspector met and spoke with 5 of the children as part of this inspection.

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from stability. Moves in and out of the home are well managed. Children benefit from a good range of activities both recreational and educational. Children are helped to participate in decision-making.

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Summary of findings

Children feel safe. Incidents of children going missing have reduced. When concerns arise, these are generally responded to effectively. Children gain from specialist therapeutic support and support to develop their independence.

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Summary of findings

Staff receive good support and supervision.

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Summary of findings

Some physical intervention records have not been sufficiently scrutinised by managers. In addition, leaders and managers have not kept some surveillance methods under review to ensure they remain necessary and proportionate. The home is generally homely. However, some areas of the home require attention.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a prolonged period of stability for several of the children living at the home. Since the last inspection, 4 children have moved in. When children have moved out of the home, this has been a positive experience. One child had a trip away with staff prior to moving into their next placement. Another child chose to have a party and celebration meal with staff and the other children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have worked hard to help children build and sustain positive and healthy relationships with their family networks. Feedback from family members and professionals is complimentary of staff. Staff arrange and supervise the time children spend with their family. Professionals noted that staff are good at providing support to children before and after time with family, especially where these meetings have been difficult.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to share their wishes and feelings. Staff provide a variety of ways in which children can express their views and share their opinions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities based on their individual hobbies and interests. Children spoke about the high level of choice they have when deciding what activities and days out they have. Children also spoke about enjoying the variety of experiences they have. One child was able to visit their favourite football team’s stadium, which was Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 4 a dream of theirs. One child spoke about how they have been able to have a pet for the first time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to access education. One child has made significant progress in attending mainstream education full time, which historically was an issue for them. Children are encouraged to attend a variety of educational provisions that are individual to their level of need. Staff attend regular multi-agency meetings to ensure children’s educational needs and options are regularly reviewed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is generally comfortable and welcoming. The home is large and provides a variety of space for the children to spend quality time together. Children can personalise their bedrooms and these are decorated in ways that reflect their individual personalities. However, there were a few areas of the home that required attention, for example walls that needed painting and decking that was damaged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On moving in, all children are subject to bedroom door alarms as a standard surveillance measure. Leaders have not kept this under review and there are no plans to reduce the level of surveillance, despite there being no relevant concerns since the last inspection. Children’s views have not been sought about this element of their care.

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

Children feel protected and safe. Children have positive and trusting relationships with the staff, who know their individual needs well. Children feel listened to and supported. When children raise concerns, staff take these seriously and investigate thoroughly.

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

Missing-from-home episodes have decreased since the last inspection period. There has only been one missing episode since the last inspection. When children go missing, staff respond promptly and in a well-coordinated manner. Children receive caring responses from staff on their return, and all receive return interviews from appropriate professionals.

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

Staff respond appropriately and promptly to children’s specific needs. Children receive specialist therapeutic input and receive supportive direct work from staff that helps them manage and reduce these needs. Children have individual risk assessments that are clear and address known vulnerabilities for each child. Room searches are conducted in line with the children’s risk assessments and are only completed when necessary to keep children safe.

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

Children are encouraged to take risks proportionate for their age. Children are supported to learn how to use public transport safely and spend time with their friends out in the community. Staff regularly complete direct work with children on increasing their confidence in certain independence skills and in understanding various areas of safety.

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

Staff use deescalation and diversion techniques, only using physical intervention as a last resort. Children and staff are spoken to following any use of physical intervention. However, some physical restraint records do not clearly explain why the hold was Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 5 necessary. Leaders have not sufficiently explored incidents when some holds appear to have been for a long time. This limited scrutiny does not ensure that all holds are proportionate, nor does it create opportunities for learning and improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed efficiently by a permanent leadership and management team. This contributes to the stability of the home. The manager is suitably experienced and has a relevant level 5 diploma. Staff benefit from opportunities to reflect on practice with leaders and managers and are provided with constructive feedback.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they enjoy working in the home and feel supported by leaders and managers. Staff know the children’s individual needs and likes well. Staff report one of their biggest strengths is how they work well as a team and provide child-centred care, tailored to each child as an individual.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a good understanding of therapeutic practice. A consultant child and adolescent counselling psychologist has been commissioned to provide additional support and guidance for children and staff. They provided positive feedback about the staff and the trauma-informed care they provide to the children. Staff were described as invested and creative in their approach to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular and good-quality supervision as well as ad hoc reflective conversations about specific elements of practice. This helps ensure that staff are equipped to provide good-quality care and safeguard children. Team meetings are used as a learning opportunity and a space for development and training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have received up-to-date training that the provider deems mandatory. They have also received additional training that reflects children’s individual needs. This helps ensure that staff are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide effective care. This proactive approach improves staff practice and the quality of support offered to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Ofsted have not been receiving the independent person’s report in a timely manner. Leaders and managers have recognised this shortfall and have begun to make proactive efforts to rectify this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 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

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or

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Requirement Due date

a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)) 12 September 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—

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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

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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)(a)(b) (2)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 12 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that just as in a family home, limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). The registered person should ensure that any use of surveillance or monitoring, including bedroom door alarms, is individually assessed, necessary and proportionate to the identified safeguarding needs of the child. The home should ensure surveillance is not used as a default approach to monitoring children’s behaviour, and that the continued use of monitoring is regularly reviewed and removed when it is no longer justified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10).  The registered person should ensure that for the home to be a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of their children, it is a homely, domestic environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety

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Recommendations

legislations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9).

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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 Romes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Protea Care 2 Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 317 Horn Lane, London, London W3 0BU

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Inspector

Maisy Griggs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2766417 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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