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 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is registered to 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.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living in the home at the time of the full inspection. Another child moved into the home after the full inspection but before the additional inspection day. Three children have left the home since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 16 June 2025. The inspector returned on 9 July 2025 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Information about this children’s home

Information applicable to the provider at the time of the original inspection was received after the inspection and before publication of the inspection report. The relevance of the information received necessitated a review and reapplication of the evidence gathered at the inspection against the inspection outcome.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 9 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/04/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 4

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the quality of care, help and protection and management oversight has declined. Children’s overall experiences and progress have been hindered due to lack of attention to their safety.

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improvement to be good

When children move into the home, leaders and managers do not have consistent oversight of the process. Leaders and managers did not consider historical information about two children to assess whether it would be suitable for them to live together. One child was harmed because of these failures.

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improvement to be good

One child’s care plan does not include information about their designated family time. What little guidance there is in place is not consistently followed by managers and staff.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers cannot evidence how they manage children’s complaints. Leaders and managers do not check that children are satisfied with the outcome of complaints, which means the process to address complaints is incomplete.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not seek consent from all children’s placing authorities when they use CCTV outside of the home.

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improvement to be good

When one child left the home, the registered manager gave the child their full records. This was not agreed with the child’s social worker or network and was not managed sensitively. This had a detrimental impact on the child. In contrast, some children leave the home in a considered and planned way. One child moved into semi-independent accommodation, and staff helped them settle into their new home with care and attention. The child’s social worker praised the staff’s approach to this and how much support the staff gave the child.

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improvement to be good

One child attends school regularly. The child’s headteacher spoke highly of the support that staff give to the child in supporting them with their education.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to learn about money management, personal hygiene and job applications. Staff are currently in the early stages of supporting one child with cooking, and the child is enjoying developing their independence skill. However, staff are not proactive in supporting this child to clean their room, which means their bedroom is not a consistently pleasant environment.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not have a robust understanding of their role in safeguarding children. They do not consistently escalate concerns about safeguarding to the child’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 5 local authority. In addition, on one occasion, the registered manager did not follow the clear guidance of the local authority designated officer. This does not give confidence in leaders’ ability to safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments are not always updated in a timely way, and they do not give staff useful guidance about how to keep one child safe. For example, one child told staff that they regularly use drugs; however, there are insufficient actions in place to mitigate this risk. Another example is where two children needed to be closely supervised to keep them safe, but this was not reflected in either of their risk assessments.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not provide the police with up-to-date information about one child’s known vulnerabilities. The police are concerned about the staff’s quality of reporting when children are missing from home. When one child went missing from the home, leaders and managers did not request a return home interview when they came back. This is a missed opportunity to find out what happened to the child when they were away from the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not put appropriate boundaries in place to stop incidents from happening. Staff also do not have comprehensive discussions with children to help them understand the risks to them. Some children’s social workers are concerned that leaders and managers do not update them about incidents in a timely way.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not review consequences put in place for children. As a result, some consequences are ineffective in supporting children to change some of their behaviour. One child was given a written warning. The possible impact of this approach was not considered, and the child left the home to stay with family, which was not part of their plan and increased the risk to their safety. The lack of appropriate action and boundaries, coupled with ineffective work with the child’s social worker, meant the child did not return for some time, which left them in a potentially unsafe situation.

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improvement to be good

Staff see restraint as the last resort, and physical interventions are rare. When they do happen, they are appropriate and proportionate.

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improvement to be good

Despite the concerns noted at this inspection, the child who has been living in the home for some time is happy, and they have developed trusting relationships with some of the staff members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight of the home is inadequate. Leaders and managers do not have effective monitoring systems or oversight of children’s care. Recording systems are poorly organised, and some records, such as a child’s care and education plan, could not be located. Where incidents involved more than one child, this is not reflected in both of the children’s records, meaning there are gaps in children’s records that hinder the managers understanding of any patterns and themes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 6 The effectiveness of leaders and managers has deteriorated. Leaders and managers do not work effectively with the independent visitor to support improvement in the home. Several shortfalls seen at the last inspection remain a concern, and several requirements are restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers make poor decisions regarding children moving into the home. During the first two days of this inspection, concerned were raised about the home’s approach to admissions, safeguarding practice and leadership and management. However, shortly after, leaders admitted another child into the home This does not give confidence about leaders and managers’ understanding of how to consider children’s needs and vulnerabilities, and their responsibilities to safeguard and support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not adequately consider staffing arrangements or risk assess the suitability of staff to work alone with children. For example, one child’s key worker is related to the child’s friend. Leaders and managers have not risk assessed the situation or reflected on this to ensure protection for everyone involved. Leaders and managers do not recruit staff safely. For example, gaps in employment are not followed up, and one staff member’s Disclosure and Barring Service check was not reviewed until after they started working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not notify the regulator of all serious incidents that happen in the home. This limits the regulators’ oversight of what is happening in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not ensured there is a secure recording system in place. Due to a technology breach, some children’s records have been misplaced. Leaders and managers have made efforts to retrieve these files, with mixed success. As a result, not all files are available to children, nor were they available during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not put in place clear support structures for staff. Staff say that teamwork is not consistent, and leaders and managers have not addressed this. Team meetings and supervision sessions are not child focused, and records of these discussions lack detail. New staff do not receive regular supervision to help them settle into their role. Records of appraisals do not show that staff practice over the year has been discussed. Not all staff have completed training in line with children’s needs. The workforce development plan fails to consider how staff can develop their practice and skills. These are all missed opportunities to further their professional development. Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 7

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff have the relevant training to keep the child safe. This training must be appropriately applied to their practice.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must also ensure that children’s risk assessments are up to date and help staff understand the risks to a child. Staff must help children to understand why there are concerns with their behaviour. 26 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 8 Leaders and managers must ensure that they request a return home interview from the placing authority when a child returns from being missing from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that the child’s room is a clean and safe environment.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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 and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 26 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(h)) 26 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 9 In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they use internal monitoring systems effectively to improve the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that they risk assess staffing arrangements in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must support the staff to work as a team. The workforce development plan must aid staff’s professional development.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must work with their independent person to address any recommendations.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 26 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; 26 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 10 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience;

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff on probation are receiving appropriate supervision at suitable intervals.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must also ensure staff appraisals, including for the manager, suitably assesses their practice over the last year.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(d)) 26 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d)) 26 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 11 In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they escalate safeguarding concerns to the local authority. They must keep placing authorities up to date with incidents that happen.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that they always provide the police with up-to-date information about a child’s risks.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records (see regulation 36). (Regulation 38 (i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that there is a contingency plan so that that children’s files are always accessible. 26 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(b) (2)(a)(ii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that any consequences are appropriate and reviewed for effectiveness. 26 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 26 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 12 that arrangements are in place to—

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that, subject to regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular leaders and managers must ensure that they assess the suitability of children living together in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must also ensure that they follow children’s family contact plans.

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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’, paragraph 3.16, page 16)  The registered person should ensure that when children complain, the staff involved are spoken to and a discussion takes place with children about the outcome of a complaint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 4.13, page 22)  The registered person should ensure that they are familiar with the information- sharing requirements relating to the children that they care for. They should ensure that children receive their files in an appropriate way that is approved by the child’s local authority. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 14.7, page 62)

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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 13

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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, fifth floor, suite 23, London EC1N 8LE

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Inspector

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2760076 14 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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