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

Inspection report for children's home: 2605336 1 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

The home is registered to provide care for up to four children. It is privately owned by an organisation which has two other registered children’s homes and a registered school in the local area.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2022.

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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: 2605336 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2605336 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress through their positive relationships with the caring staff team. Children are happy in the home and speak positively about the staff. Current concerns between the group of children living in the home are being well managed and are reviewed regularly to ensure the best outcomes for all children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to and know staff genuinely care about their views. Before the inspection, children had been involved in decorating the home for the festive period. Children choose how their rooms are decorated and furnished.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are recognised as individuals and staff encourage them to learn to be comfortable with who they are and their experiences, including their personal history and their cultural identity. Children are confidently exploring their gender and sexuality and staff are incredibly sensitive in helping them with this. The culture of the home is non-judgemental and children learn to be open and accepting as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have education placements, although they attend sporadically. The children living in the home have all been out of education for significant periods. Joint working with schools is a strength, and barriers to learning are overcome where possible. Staff recognise that the emotional impact of attending school can be a challenge for the children and are empathetic to this, while ensuring that children understand the importance of attending. When children are not at school, they engage in a range of activities in the home. This includes direct work with the therapist to help them explore why they have not attended that day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn about healthy eating and exercise and currently there is a particular focus on sleep health. The children respond well to discussions with the staff and the therapist. Children are supported to understand their well-being and physical and emotional health.

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

Children have good relationships with staff and identify those they can go to when worried or upset. Staff understand each child’s vulnerabilities and do all they can to support children to be safe in the home. Staff know the local child protection procedures and follow these if they are concerned for a child’s safety or welfare. Joint working with partner agencies is a key strength.

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

Staff have a sound understanding of exploitation in all its forms and are alert to the risks children may face when using the internet. Staff support children to understand e-safety and how to use the internet safely. Inspection report for children's home: 2605336 4 Episodes of going missing are a regular and ongoing concern in relation to one child. Staff are working proactively to try to keep the child safe. They follow the missing- from-home protocols that have been agreed with local police. Staff liaise well with the child’s school and social worker. The child’s social worker praised the commitment of staff in the home in their responses to the child being missing from home.

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

Children raise bullying in the home as a concern. Staff have responded quickly and effectively to prevent further incidents of bullying. However, children say they do not know what has happened in response to their concerns being raised. Aside from this, relationships are managed well in the home and staff are constantly assessing the suitability of the group living together to ensure that children feel safe.

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

Responses to incidents of self-injury are well-coordinated and children’s welfare is maintained. Close working with the organisation’s recently established therapy team is supporting children to express their feelings and staff are gaining more skills and knowledge to support children in times of crisis.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about the management team and feel well supported by them. Managers listen to staff and respond effectively to any concerns they have. Staff benefit from regular, supportive supervision and have suitable training to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The core staff team is now consistent, with many new staff having joined since the last inspection. Staff have come together well as a team, with management support. Managers are aware of where development is needed and are supporting staff suitably.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have an excellent knowledge of children’s needs and the progress they are making. They continually evaluate the safety of the children in the home and the impact children have on each other. A decision to end one child’s placement was taken to protect all children in the home. Pre-placement planning is effective and when a placement ends in an unplanned way, the managers and staff consider any lessons learned.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Joint working with social workers and other relevant agencies is a particular strength. The managers suitably challenge partner agencies when they feel they are not providing the right support to children. This has led to better support and outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team actively monitors the quality of care for children in the home. Development plans are clear and managers’ monitoring is suitable and evaluative. The monthly independent person’s report lacks evaluation and does not detail the quality of responses from staff when incidents happen. This means the manager cannot rely on these reports to fully support the quality of care provided to children. Inspection report for children's home: 2605336 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children who report bullying know that action has been taken to prevent it happening in the future. 10 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the independent person evaluates the quality of practice regarding incidents and responses. 10 February 2023

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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: 2605336 6

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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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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2605336 7 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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