Children's Home run by Zarona Care Limited in Barking and Dagenham

Inspection report for children's home: 2760076 1 Registered provider: SERENITY HOME SERVICES 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 is a privately owned home that can provide care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024. This is the home’s first inspection since registration.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2760076 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living in this home experienced a positive and well-planned move into the home. The child said this is the best home they have lived in. They feel respected and trusted by staff and suggestions they make are acted on by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys a range of activities with staff. Staff have made sure there is sports equipment available for the child and they visit a nearby sports park. The child also enjoys art and staff support them with art projects. Staff proudly display the child’s artwork in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to engage in educational activity throughout the day. The child responds well to this and is motivated to complete their work. Senior leaders are advocating for the child to return to full-time education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to develop age-appropriate independence skills. Staff assist them with cooking and doing their laundry as part of the support for their developing independence. Staff carry out regular key-work sessions with the child. These discussions help staff to better support the child’s identified needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support regular family time. As the child is living far from their home county, virtual family time happens regularly. Staff work well with the child’s parent so that meaningful family time takes place, in the child’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child lives in a clean, well-furnished home that suits their needs. CCTV is used on the outside of the home. The child understands where this is located and why, but senior leaders have not yet gained written consent from the child’s placing local authority for its use.

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

Staff know and understand the primary risks to the child. Risk assessments include behaviour management strategies to mitigate and successfully reduce risks. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans are regularly updated but some areas could have more detail to support their use.

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

Incidents rarely happen in the home. When they do, staff de-escalate these well. Staff take the time to talk with the child after incidents, but records do not reflect these discussions well. In addition, on the rare occasions that physical intervention is used by staff, records lack detail and leaders do not consistently discuss interventions with staff. This reduces the opportunity for practice development. Senior leaders know that recording is an area for improvement and are updating their records system to support this. Inspection report for children's home: 2760076 3 Staff highlight positive behaviour in the home. There is a reward chart displayed in the living room, which the child is proud of. There has only been one use of a consequence since the child moved in. However, this was not recorded by staff or reviewed by the manager to consider its effectiveness. This is a missed opportunity for learning for staff

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

Safer recruitment processes are in place, but they are not used consistently. For example, full employment histories have not been obtained for a small number of staff.

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

Feedback from external professionals is positive. Staff communicate regularly and well with the child’s social worker. Other professionals can see the progress the child is making and are happy that previous risks are no longer a concern for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff thoroughly enjoy working in the home. They feel supported by senior leaders and enjoy seeing the progress the child is making. Staff describe having a child-centred focus to their work which is led by managers and leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive supervision from the manager. Staff find this supportive and helpful. However, records of supervision meetings lack detail and do not show how practice is challenged and developed. There is some confusion about how often staff should meet with managers for supervision, but this does not detract from the day-to-day support staff receive from managers and leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have not all completed the home’s required training or training specific to the needs of the child in the home in a timely way. Training records are not kept up to date, which hinders managers’ oversight of staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff and managers meet regularly together. These meetings include varied discussions. Senior leaders have not ensured that team meetings are well recorded. This means that staff who could not attend are not aware of what has been discussed and managers cannot be assured that staff are fully up to date with necessary information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff record when children are unhappy about things in the home, but when this happens, these are not considered as complaints by managers. While staff and the manager take positive action to resolve any issues, they do not always ensure that the child is satisfied with outcomes. As a result, managers have not always assured themselves that the child has had a positive outcome. Inspection report for children's home: 2760076 4

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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

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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff have the necessary and relevant training to safely work with children in the home. 3 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children’s records are accurate, kept up to date and have management oversight. 3 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— 3 June 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2760076 5 details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that their records of physical intervention contain necessary information to understand what happened before the intervention was used, the process of the intervention and the aftermath of the incident.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they obtain written consent from the placing authority regarding the use of CCTV outside the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences put in place are reviewed for effectiveness and proportionality. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that the workforce plan includes supervision timescales and up-to-date information about staff training. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment processes are comprehensive in all areas. In addition, the registered person should ensure that supervision challenges staff to develop their practice and is recorded accordingly. (‘Guide to the Children’s

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Recommendations

Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) Inspection report for children's home: 2760076 6  The registered person should ensure that key-work sessions help children to understand risks and how they can be helped to reduce these over time. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)

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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: 2760076 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SERENITY HOME SERVICES LIMITED

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 63-66 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8LE

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Inspector

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2760076 8 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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