Children's Home run by The Serendipity Centre Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC478315 1 SC478315 Registered provider: The Serendipity Centre Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home cares for up to four children. The organisation has two other homes in the local area and a school, all of which are registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in June 2021.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC478315 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/07/2021 Full Good 08/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/08/2019 Full Inadequate 21/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC478315 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. One of the children was staying with a family member at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers ensure that relationships between staff and children are based on mutual respect and understanding. Children thrive because of having strong relationships with the staff and feel confident that staff listen to them and value their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers make good use of progress trackers that help to show areas where children have made progress and areas where children still need extra help.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged and supported to make decisions about their lives and to influence the way the home is run. Children have a variety of forums where they can share their views, including one-to-one sessions, and group and ad hoc discussions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend schools in the local community. Staff work closely with teachers to ensure that children achieve the best possible educational outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are able to pursue their interests and develop their confidence through participating in a wide range of socially and emotionally stimulating activities, such as going horse riding and paddleboarding and visiting local beaches.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children can stay in touch with their family, regardless of the distance involved. Children are supported to form positive relationships in the local community and to have age-appropriate friends to meet up with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote children’s health. Children who struggle to attend routine appointments are helped to overcome their anxieties and fears. Children learn skills for adulthood, such as budgeting and cooking, to ensure that they can prepare healthy meals when they move on.

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

The safety and welfare of children are promoted. Despite many staff being new to the home, they are knowledgeable about the children’s risks and vulnerabilities and know how to respond to safeguarding concerns.

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

Children sometimes go missing from the home. When this happens, plans that have been agreed with social workers and the police are implemented effectively. Records show that staff do all that they can to locate the child, including, if necessary, travelling long distances to ensure that a child is safely returned home.

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

Staff have recently received training from the clinical psychologist to help them to better understand how children’s presenting behaviours are a form of Inspection report for children's home: SC478315 4 communication. When incidents do occur, these are thoroughly recorded. Post- incident debriefs allow children and staff to have time and space to reflect on events.

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

The home environment is generally well maintained. Children’s bedrooms are decorated to reflect their personal preferences. However, there are some shortfalls. For instance, a practice has been allowed to develop where a fire door is propped open. There is a light that does not have the required covering and the garden has been allowed to become overgrown with nettles and other weeds.

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

Staff who are recruited to work in the home are subject to all the appropriate checks as part of safer recruitment.

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good

Leadership and management require improvement to be good. There are weaknesses in the oversight of children’s placement plans. Consequently, gaps and inaccuracies go unchallenged. There are some children’s plans where the language used is not sensitive to children’s needs, and the manager was not able to locate some reports that linked to incidents.

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good

Ofsted has not been notified of all significant events and incidents that have occurred in the home. This hinders the regulator in having the required oversight of the service between inspections.

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good

The independent visitor’s reports do not provide a suitable level of evaluation of the practice in the home, and also contain some inaccuracies.

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good

Children do not benefit from receiving the therapeutic care as described in the home’s statement of purpose.

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good

More positively, staff sufficiency is being well managed. Although there has been a high turnover of staff, the efforts of managers have ensured that new staff, together with the support of agency staff, have given children a good level of continuity. Children are keen to spend time with the new staff and ask that they support them on trips and in the home.

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good

Staff are confident in their roles and receive adequate training, guidance and support to meet the children’s needs. Supervision is regular and staff feel supported by the managers and senior staff in the home.

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good

Joint working is a strength. Social workers are positive about how well the staff care for the children. Managers are confident in challenging partner agencies should a child not be receiving the level of support they require. Inspection report for children's home: SC478315 5

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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, 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 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 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the statement of purpose reflects the service provided. 30 September

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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

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 30 September Inspection report for children's home: SC478315 6 In particular, ensure that records are clear, consistent, use appropriate language and are individualised for the child; that records are readily available and accessible to all who need to view them; and that monitoring of the home ensures there are no gaps in records and that systems are effective in promoting all children’s development.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is safe, while maintaining a homely appearance. This includes, but is not limited to, making sure fire safety is followed when doors are held open, ensuring there are suitable light coverings and that the garden is free from weeds that may cause harm. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure the independent person provides them with reports that evaluate the service being provided. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.9) Inspection report for children's home: SC478315 7

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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: SC478315 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Serendipity Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1st Floor, Goodlands House, St Lukes Close, Hedge End, Southampton SO30 2US

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Inspectors

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Tony Waite, Social Care Inspector (shadow) Inspection report for children's home: SC478315 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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