Children's home run by Serenity Care Children's Homes

Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 1 Registered provider: Serenity Care Children’s Homes Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private organisation and provides therapeutic care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered in August 2023.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2024

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children describe staff as ‘awesome’ and say that they care for them. They say that they get to spend time with the ponies, watch football games and go on holiday. One child has joined the local police cadets, and another child has joined the Army cadets.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm and welcoming environment. Staff help children personalise their bedrooms, including with pictures and photos. The home has stables for two ponies. Children can care for the ponies, which is part of the overall therapeutic programme. One child said that the ponies have helped them to overcome and work through some significant emotional difficulties.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strive to build positive relationships with children to help them develop a sense of security and belonging. They listen to children’s views and follow up on their requests, for example, in relation to seeing members of their families. Pre-admission planning includes visits to the home for children before they move in. One child came to view the home and enjoyed a game of football with the staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement in education and learning is good. All children have significantly increased their educational attendance, which helps to ensure that they have the best chance of success later in life.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their families and the people who are close to them. The staff maintain regular communication with parents and carers and keep them updated about children’s progress. This helps children to maintain their identity and continue to see people who are important to them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children say that they have good relationships with staff. They say that the registered manager is helpful and supportive, and they would approach the manager if they were unhappy or wished to make a complaint. This demonstrates that children feel valued and listened to. Children also have access to an advocate who works for the service and meets with them regularly to discuss any issues. This is also an opportunity for children to have one-to-one time with someone outside of the home. One child has used their advocate time to go horse riding.

p.3

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

Risk assessments and de-escalation guidance are regularly reviewed, which provides staff with a comprehensive level of information and support. As a result, children work through their experiences in a positive, safe and consistent way.

p.3

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

Staff use positive behaviour approaches, supported by therapeutic training. This avoids the use of negative or punitive measures to manage children’s unwanted behaviour. Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 4 Children clearly benefit from receiving consistent praise and rewards for positive behaviour through incentives.

p.3

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

Children receive good care that meets their individual needs and enhances their day-to- day lives. They recognise the positive progress they are making and speak highly of staff.

p.4

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are vetted before starting to work at the home. This ensures that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home.

p.4

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

Children have comprehensive missing-from-home plans. Therefore, staff know how to respond when children go missing from the home. Missing-from-home incidents are managed consistently and effectively, leading to a reduction in the number of incidents. Not all children receive return home interviews from an independent person. This limits the opportunity to identify if there are any concerns about the home or staff that have led to the child going missing from home.

p.4

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

Children understand their emotions and responses to incidents well. This is largely due to the caring and nurturing nature of the staff. As a result, the use of physical intervention is very rare. When physical intervention is used, the records often lack sufficient detail about the incidents. This compromises leaders and managers’ oversight of staff’s practice and their ability to identify if the measure was necessary and effective. Physical intervention is not always reviewed to ensure that it is only used when necessary or proportionate.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An ambitious and knowledgeable management team leads and manages the home. The team demonstrates a clear understanding of therapeutic approaches when supporting children with complex needs and ensures that staff implement these in their practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality supervision from managers and have their practice appraised annually. Staff say that they benefit from this time to talk through any issues or concerns that they may have. They also use this time to discuss any safeguarding or whistle- blowing issues or incidents.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team works well with families and external professionals. This means that children benefit from a joined-up approach. One social worker said, ‘To be fair, this is the best place my child could be.’

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager carries out a quality of care review every six months. However, this lacks analysis and the voice of the children. This is a missed opportunity to showcase the positive work and feedback gathered.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular training that helps them to better understand the children’s needs. This helps staff to develop their skills to ensure that they implement good practice and Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 5 meet children’s needs. Training is regularly reviewed by leaders and managers to ensure that it meets the changing needs of the staff and children. However, not all staff have received training to support a specific need of one child. The registered manager is in the process of reviewing all training. Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 6

p.4

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.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

p.6

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”)—

p.6

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that 8 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 7 they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children have an opportunity to express how physical interventions affect them and their relationships with staff.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that the records of physical interventions used are clear, concise and include a description of the method used.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that an independent return home interview takes place within 72 hours of a child returning home when they have been missing. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that the use of restraint is reviewed to provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review is evaluative and includes feedback from wider stakeholders. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery in the home and how those actions will be

p.7

Recommendations

addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff receive training in line with children’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.15)

p.7

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: 2743344 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Serenity Care Children’s Homes

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tick Hill Farm, Caverswall Common, Caverswall, Stoke- on-Trent ST11 9EX

p.8

Inspector

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2743344 9 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9