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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC485423 1 SC485423 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 five children. It is privately owned by an organisation that has another registered children’s home and an educational setting in the locality. Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. The home uses the term ‘adults’ when referring to staff. This has been reflected in this report.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 15 November 2020.

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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: SC485423 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2024 Full Good 28/06/2022 Full Good 07/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC485423 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are four children living in the home. The last child joined the home in August 2024, and they are developing relationships with the adults and other children. Adults have been creative in how to build positive relationships, and enjoyable days out have helped to provide shared experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children have recognised the benefits of the psychological support that the home offers and are engaging well with therapists. Staff also have protected time to reflect with children’s respective therapists, which enables them to tailor care to children’s individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults know each of the areas that children can struggle with, and recognition is given to the smallest achievement. Children grow in confidence as their progress, such as getting up early or making a meal for others, is celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults have worked well to welcome the new child into the home. They travelled to meet the child as part of their introductions. This gave the child the opportunity to talk about any concerns and queries that they had before they moved in. A school place was swiftly identified for them, meaning that there has been minimal disruption to their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend important health appointments and manage their health needs. However, it is not clear what support staff give to one child to understand the importance of having their medical device with them when going out independently. Although this shortfall has not had a negative impact on the child, it has the potential to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to and their views are valued. Weekly consultations are offered to children, and their views are captured. However, children are not always fully involved in deciding how to make the house more homely. There are also some maintenance issues in the home that have not been promptly addressed. All children’s bedrooms need some attention. Some action was taken during the inspection to address these issues. However, there had been considerable delay.

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

Children say that they feel supported and are happy living in the home. Children know how to make a complaint, and they believe that the adults treat them fairly. Positive behaviour is celebrated. This affirms children’s efforts and helps them to have belief in themselves.

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

Adults proactively help children to understand internet safety and how to keep safe online. Appropriate measures are taken to ensure that children are not accessing inappropriate material. E-safety courses are completed by children. Consequently, Inspection report for children’s home: SC485423 4 children develop an understanding about the associated risks of the online world and how to keep themselves safe from harm.

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

Children are supported to understand risks. However, on one occasion a child’s risk plan was not updated following a recent health episode. This information was captured, but this was in the adult handover file. This means that the information had not been recorded consistently and could have been missed by some adults.

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

Adults use therapeutic models to guide their practice, and they place more emphasis on restoring relationships rather than on consequences and sanctions. This approach has been effective, and as a result, there has been no need to use physical restraint.

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

Adults respond well when children go missing from home or do not return at the agreed time. When they are concerned about children’s safety or their emotional well-being, they liaise with other agencies appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is dedicated and provides a good level of support to their team. They have an action plan in place that is informed by children’s views and opinions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults receive good training opportunities and have protected time to reflect on their practice with the home’s linked therapist and the manager. This means that adults are equipped with strategies and training to support each of the children that they care for and to have a deeper understanding of children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults encourage children to make links with their local community and to use the local resources. For example, two children are registered at the local gym, and another child is registered at the local library. One child has made good progress in establishing friendships in the area and now attends a youth club and has made a new friend from this group. Subsequently, children are developing a sense of belonging in the area that they are living in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are positive about the home in relation to experiences when moving into the home and the progress that children are making. One social worker said, ‘The adults have been instrumental in supporting me in nurturing a positive relationship with [name of child]. This would not have been possible if it had not been for the indirect and direct work the adults did with them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are effective monitoring systems in place. However, the manger has not provided a quality of care report for this period. Although they have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses and have monitoring processes in place, there has been a failure to capture this in a written report. Consequently, other stakeholders and the regulator have a reduced understanding about the quality of care that the home provides and the impact that it has on children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485423 5 Senior leaders have not demonstrated consistently strong recruitment practices. Specifically, applicant’s reasons for leaving their previous employment are not always explored. This demonstrates a lack of professional curiosity in the recruitment of new staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485423 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, 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

met the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (2)(ii)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children have their prescribed medical devices on them at all times when leaving the home, and that relevant records are updated following any medical episodes.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that maintenance issues and necessary decoration of children’s bedrooms are addressed without delay. 27 November 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 27 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC485423 7 supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the recruitment process of adults include capturing and reviewing the reasons for leaving previous employments. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC485423 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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Inspector

Karen Flanagan de Martinez, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC485423 9 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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Inspector

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