Children's home run by Serenity Housing Service Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2734050 1 Registered provider: Serenity Housing Service Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since February 2024.

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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: 2734050 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/04/2024 Full Good 10/01/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2734050 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a comfortable, clean home. Their bedrooms are personalised and decorated according to their tastes. Children have an interest in hair and beauty. In response, staff have created a dedicated space for children where they can learn how to do nails and hair and enjoy some pamper treatments. This supports children with their creativity and has enhanced their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s identity and cultural needs are supported and celebrated. Children enjoy shopping with staff and buying their favourite foods. Children value cooking with the staff and ask them to help them cook favourite and new recipes. Staff help children understand certain aspects of their personal care needs. For example, they ensure that children have the specific products they require to care for their hair. This enables children to have a positive sense of their individual identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to visit places they enjoy going to. They appreciate trips to restaurants and theme parks. Children are provided with gym memberships at their request and are supported to attend regularly. To support a child's musical talents, staff are actively seeking a cello tutor. Children have opportunities to voice their wishes and feelings. These are explored and discussed regularly through conversations and weekly home meetings. As a result, various requests made by children have been fulfilled. For instance, they have tried various cultural foods, acquired home gym equipment, and bought specific hair products.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children access and engage well with their education. When children have experienced difficulties in engaging with their education, leaders and managers have provided a home tutor to support their education. This proactive response supports children in accessing education and making progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop their independence skills and carry out tasks such as cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry and learning how to budget. Subsequently, these necessary skills help children prepare to live independently when they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a welcome basket when they move into the home, filled with treats that they like and that are individual to them. Staff support and encourage children’s family members to visit the home. This helps children to remain connected to their loved ones and those who matter to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move on from the home, staff remain in contact with their family members. This ensures that children are held in mind even when they no longer live in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2734050 4

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

Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff and communicate openly with them. From the moment they move into the home, staff support children in understanding their expectations. Children receive a copy of the children’s guide for the home, and staff help them understand this. As a result, children know how to raise concerns should they wish to.

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

Staff respond well to incidents, and they have strategies in place to support children’s behaviour. Consequently, physical restraint has not been used to manage behaviour, as there are effective approaches in place.

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

Staff understand children’s risks and needs well. Leaders and managers are proactive and ensure that they have all the required information about children before they move in. In circumstances where information is lacking or incomplete, they seek further clarity to ensure that appropriate safety plans are in place and that all relevant professionals are involved when required.

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

When allegations and complaints are made, these are reported to relevant safeguarding professionals, and any required investigations are prompt and thorough. Staff ensure that children are continually reassured and supported throughout this process and beyond. Furthermore, leaders and managers ensure that there is an appropriate response to concerns and that plans are in place to keep children safe. As a result, children feel safe and know that they are listened to and valued.

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

There have been many incidents where children have gone missing from the home. Staff are proactive when such incidents occur and follow the clear missing-from-home protocols that are in place for each child. Staff responses include local area searches and consistent attempts to contact the child. Relevant professionals are informed and updated as required. As a result, there has been a reduction in the frequency of children going missing from home.

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

Overall, leaders and managers have good oversight of safeguarding arrangements in the home. However, recruitment practices are inconsistent. This is because the reason why a staff member left a previous employment is not always explored. This demonstrates a lack of professional curiosity in the recruitment of new staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has been without a registered manager since February 2024. However, a new manager has been appointed, and they have applied to register with Ofsted. The manager is dedicated, child centred and ensures that children have what they need. The manager is supported by a deputy manager, and they work well together to ensure that staff place children at the core of the care they receive. This helps to ensure that staff embed a child-centred approach in their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2734050 5 Leaders and managers continue to develop the service and have a clear vision for the home. They are focused on promoting positive behaviour from the onset of a child’s induction into the home. Consequently, staff have clear objectives in place to champion children’s positive behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have effective processes in place to monitor the home and staff performance. This means that there is good oversight of the service and, additionally, the support and developmental needs of staff. However, on occasion, leaders and managers have not ensured that notifications of serious incidents sent to Ofsted are timely and sufficiently detailed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is diverse, and staff say that they feel well supported in their role. They have opportunities to reflect on practice through team meetings and regular supervision sessions. Staff have found the input from the home’s linked therapist beneficial for better understanding behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide training opportunities to upskill staff and to strengthen their practice. Subsequently, this supports staff to remain updated on current practice and improves their knowledge of the care that they provide to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established positive connections with external services that offer support to children affected by family breakdown. Consequently, appropriate and timely support was put in place to help children to better understand healthy relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals are positive about the home and how they have established effective working relationships with leaders, managers and staff. One social worker said, ‘I have had excellent communication with the home. They have worked in partnership with me to ensure that [name of child] is safe; we have devised a safety plan together with the assistance of the home.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2734050 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the recruitment process for employees includes capturing and reviewing the reasons for leaving previous positions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that all serious incidents are notified to Ofsted within 24 hours. The notification should be accurate and include details of the action taken in response to the incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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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: 2734050 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Serenity Housing Service Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Liquid Opulence, 320 City Road, London EC1V 2NZ

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Inspector

Karen Flanagan de Martinez, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2734050 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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