Children's Home run by Unique Care Homes Support Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC481015 1 SC481015 Registered provider: Unique Care Homes Support Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This privately operated home provides care for up to 6 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home and were spoken with.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 10 December 2025

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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: SC481015 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/12/2025 Full Good 28/08/2024 Full Good 03/01/2024 Full Good 26/01/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC481015 3

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Summary of findings

Since the last inspection, children have made positive progress and developed trusting relationships with staff who know them well and provide highly personalised care. Staff are strong advocates for children, helping them feel valued, listened to and supported to achieve positive outcomes. Leaders are ambitious and have a clear vision for the service, demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement through the development of research-informed projects tailored to children's needs. Feedback from professionals and family members was positive and reflective of the good quality care and safeguards provided to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care from staff who know them well and understand their needs, strengths and lived experiences. Children are relaxed and comfortable in the company of staff and have developed positive, trusting relationships with them. These strong relationships have provided children with a stable and secure base from which they can develop confidence, engage positively with support and make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is bright, spacious and welcoming. The manager has plans to further improve the garden area to enhance the environment available to children. The home is personalised and reflective of the children who live there, with photos of children and staff displayed throughout. Children's achievements, experiences and progress are celebrated through adventure journals, photo albums, certificates and display boards. These features help to create a warm, nurturing environment where children feel valued, develop a sense of belonging and have safe spaces to relax and spend time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education. They encourage children to persevere with their education. When children face challenges or setbacks, staff and the manager proactively advocate for them. This means children access education with support tailored to their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending meaningful time with staff and benefit from a range of activities that reflect their individual interests and preferences. Staff and children have fun together, enjoying activities such as flying kites, going for walks and spending time with peers. Because staff know the children well, they are able to tailor activities to ensure that they are engaging and purposeful and support children's individual development, confidence and wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders are ambitious in their vision for children and are committed to increasing opportunities for them to engage with and contribute to their local community. Work to strengthen community involvement further is ongoing and remains under development. Inspection report for children's home: SC481015 4 While these plans are positive and demonstrate a commitment to broadening children's experiences, it is too early to evaluate their full impact on children's outcomes.

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

Children's vulnerabilities are well understood by staff, who demonstrate sensitivity and skill in how they support children. Staff use detailed, regularly reviewed plans to guide their practice and ensure that care is tailored to each child's individual needs, routines, behaviours and safeguarding risks. They consistently follow agreed strategies to reduce risk, respond appropriately to children's triggers and build on their strengths. As a result, children receive consistent, well-planned support that helps them feel safe, promotes their emotional wellbeing and enables them to make positive progress.

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of therapeutic practice and consistently use nurturing, relationship-based approaches when supporting children. They work proactively to understand children's needs, reduce anxiety and help children develop safe ways of expressing their thoughts and feelings. As a result, children feel listened to and supported, there have been no complaints from children and no occasions where staff have needed to use physical intervention to keep children safe, and no children have been reported missing from home during the inspection year.

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

Behaviour is managed fairly and consistently through natural and restorative approaches, with consequences clearly linked to actions and positive choices recognised. This balanced and nurturing practice helps children learn from their behaviour, make safer decisions and experience positive routines within a supportive home.

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

Leaders and managers respond swiftly to concerns about staff practice. Immediate safeguarding actions are taken when necessary. Managers ensure that children's safety remains as a priority throughout any investigation. Learning from incidents is used effectively to strengthen practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is reflective and ambitious and has high aspirations for staff and children. They make effective use of a range of monitoring and quality assurance tools to maintain strong oversight of practice, regularly reviewing incidents, identifying patterns and trends in children's behaviour and considering how practice can be adapted to meet children's changing needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have a clear understanding of strengths and areas for development and use this insight to drive improvement. For example, they have developed a number of research-informed projects designed to respond to the specific needs and experiences of the children living at the home. This demonstrates an ambitious approach to service development and a commitment to improving practice. However, many of these initiatives remain in the early stages of implementation and are Inspection report for children's home: SC481015 5 not yet fully embedded in day-to-day practice. As a result, their impact on children's experiences and outcomes cannot yet be consistently evidenced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff speak positively about the support they receive from leaders and managers, describing them as approachable and supportive. This is reflected in feedback from professionals and families, who also speak highly of the manager. One social worker described having an excellent working relationship with the manager, highlighting the positive partnership working that benefits children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers place a strong emphasis on staff development. In addition to completing mandatory training, staff are provided with opportunities to access learning that is tailored to the emerging and individual needs of children. This helps to ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge and confidence to provide responsive and effective care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Communication across the organisation is effective and promotes a culture of learning and reflection. Team meetings are informative and include contributions from partner agencies, giving staff opportunities to share experiences, discuss challenges and explore strategies to support children. As a result, staff feel valued, well supported and equipped to meet children's needs. This commitment to continual learning and collaborative practice has helped to create a skilled and motivated workforce that is focused on achieving positive outcomes for children .

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations were raised at this inspection. Inspection report for children's home: SC481015 6

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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: SC481015 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Unique Care Homes Support Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Children's home details

Registered manager: Barbara Velasco Valdes

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Inspector

Tam Musvaire, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC481015 8 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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