Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage

Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 1 Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage Savannah Lodge Limited Primrose Cottage, High Wych Road, Sawbridgeworth CM21 0HH Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This is a privately owned residential family centre. The centre registered with Ofsted in October 2021.

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre provides monitoring and assessment for up to 3 families. Assessments are generally completed within 12 weeks. However, the assessment period can extend to up to 16 weeks. The centre uses a range of assessment models and frameworks, including Parent Assess.

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Information about this residential family centre

The registered manager left in May 2026. An acting manager is in post and applied to register with Ofsted in June 2026. Ofsted has not yet assessed their suitability.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and parents are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and or the care and experiences of children and parents are poor.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 15 May 2023

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 2 On 13 July, Ofsted received the draft judgement in relation to an ongoing family court case for a child who was resident at the family centre in July 2025. The judge identified several very serious failings in relation to the care and protection offered to this child while they were staying at the centre. The judge highlighted that these failings presented serious transferable risks to any other family using the service. On 16 July 2026, Ofsted suspended the registration of the centre.

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Summary of findings

There are serious and widespread concerns in relation the protection of children and the leadership and management of the service. The environment is not safe or suitable for babies and toddlers. Serious failures in assessing and mitigating risk and following safeguarding procedures have led to a baby being harmed. Recording errors and the amending of documents has reduced the integrity of the information relied upon to make decisions in court proceedings. Ofsted is not assured that there is strong and effective leadership or management oversight, which has had detrimental consequences for the safety and welfare of children and families. Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

The environment is not safe or suitable for babies, toddlers and parents. There are plans in place to improve the environment. At the time of the inspection, these improvements had not yet made the environment safe or suitable. There are multiple areas of significant mould in one self-contained chalet. Multiple cots contain dirty mattresses and are in poor condition; one cot contained mould in the wooden base. There are numerous areas of missing, damaged and sharp skirting boards.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

The edging to the flooring is damaged and there are broken furniture, broken blinds and pull cords that present a ligature risk to children. Multiple hazards were identified during the inspection that present a significant risk of harm to babies and toddlers. In the garden and external areas, there are multiple hazards due to poor maintenance of decking, patio areas and fencing. Cigarette ends and an empty can had been left in a bucket outside on the floor.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

Parents receive weekly parenting sessions and support. These weekly sessions take into consideration the families' learning needs and are delivered using short sentences, visual aids, repetition and regular breaks. Weekly reports are written, but many of these are not signed by parents, making it difficult to establish if parents are receiving their reports in a timely way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

Parents receive assessments that are completed using assessment frameworks that meet their specific needs. One parenting assessment included photographs that supported some of the concerns that the assessors had. There is clear evidence of how the assessor had reached the recommendation to the court. As with other documents, the quality of recording in some areas is poor, with typing errors and missing words. This leads to concerns in relation to the effectiveness of quality assurance processes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

The manager has been working to support families to access the community. Staff have completed courses in baby massage and support parents through group baby massage sessions.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

One body map indicated bruising on the abdomen of a 3-month-old, immobile baby. There has been no follow up work to explore the cause of this bruising in line with national safeguarding guidelines. This family was assessed to be high risk due to concerns of previous non-accidental injuries. This inaction led to this child being subject to actual harm.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

There are multiple concerns related to the care and protection of this child. This includes the suitability of the family to live in a self-contained chalet, the identification and risk management of known CCTV blind spots, the level of staffing Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 4 and supervision of the family and the lack of recording and guidance for staff to follow in relation to blind spots. The impact of poor planning, recording and practice in relation to this child's care meant that this child sustained actual harm.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Records in the centre are not complete or accurate. Records of body maps have been copied and pasted, doctored and edited. This makes it difficult to know which is the correct recording.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Information-sharing with safeguarding agencies has not been fully transparent and has been misleading. This includes information in relation to body maps being completed, marks seen on a baby and the extent of the coverage of CCTV.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Allegations against staff have not always been investigated appropriately. Managers have completed and concluded internal investigations before making referrals or seeking advice from the local authority designated officer. This reduces the effectiveness of safeguarding processes and may allow unsafe adults to have access to children.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Significant concerns were raised in a family court in relation to the completion of body maps. A new policy was implemented by the organisation. Staff have not completed body maps in line with the policy. These are not always completed before and after staff care for babies, and some contain no record of managerial oversight. One child's body map was filed in another family's file.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Ofsted is not assured that there is strong and effective leadership or management oversight, which has had detrimental consequences for the safety and welfare of children and families. A new manager has been appointed, but Ofsted has not yet been able to assess the manager's suitability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are multiple typing and grammatical errors across documents and court reports. Multiple documents have been copied and pasted and not fully amended for individual families. One father's risk assessment referred to them as the mother. Another family's risk assessment contained the name of a different family. The recording and errors across multiple documents reduce the integrity of the information relied upon to make decisions in court proceedings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are clear shortfalls in relation to management oversight. The centre has recently begun recording on an online system. Prior to this system, multiple records of incidents did not contain the date that the report was written or the date that the manager reviewed the incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

One incident that was recorded on the online system shows that the manager reviewed this incident 2 months after the event. The manager states that they did review this incident earlier than the recorded date and felt that it did not warrant any follow up. There is no record of this review. The incident report was not sent to the local authority until 2 months after the event. The local authority said that this Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 5 information would have been relevant to several legal and safeguarding planning meetings that occurred during this time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose has not been kept up to date and contains incorrect information. The statement of purpose lists the manager as the registered manager. While the manager has applied for Ofsted registration, they have not yet had their suitability assessed. Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider and the registered manager shall, having regard to the size of the residential family centre, the statement of purpose, and the number and needs of the residents, carry on or manage the centre (as the case may be) with sufficient care, competence and skill. (Regulation 8 (1)) 7 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall prepare and implement a written child protection policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the residential family centre from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of any allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure under paragraph (1)(b) must in particular provide for—

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Requirement Due date

liaison and cooperation with any local authority which is making child protection enquiries in relation to any child accommodated in the residential family centre;

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Requirement Due date

the prompt referral to the local authority in whose area the residential family centre is situated, of any allegations of abuse or neglect affecting any child accommodated in the residential family centre;

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Requirement Due date

notification (in accordance with regulation 26) of the instigation and outcome of any child protection enquiries involving any child accommodated in the residential family centre, to the Chief Inspector and the child's placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

written records to be kept of any allegation of abuse or neglect, and of the action taken in response; 7 October 2026 Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 7 consideration to be given in each case to the measures which may be necessary to protect children in the residential family centre following an allegation of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

a requirement for persons working at the residential family centre to report any concerns about the welfare or safety of any child accommodated in the residential family centre to one of the following—

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Requirement Due date

an officer of the local authority in whose area the residential family centre is situated. (Regulation 12 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(e)(f)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

all parts of the residential family centre to which residents have access are so far as reasonably practicable free from hazards to their safety;

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Requirement Due date

any activities in which residents participate are so far as reasonably practicable free from avoidable risks; and

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Requirement Due date

unnecessary risks to the health or safety of residents are identified and so far as possible eliminated. (Regulation 11 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 7 October 2026

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 8

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Savannah Lodge Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: Primrose Cottage, High Wych Road, Sawbridgeworth CM21 0HH

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Inspectors

Andrea Bounden, Social Care Inspector Vevene Muhammad, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Savannah Lodge - Primrose Cottage 9 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 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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