Children's Home run by Serenity Welfare in Enfield

Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 1 Registered provider: Serenity Welfare Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for one child who experiences social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 1 August 2023. There has been no registered manager in post since August 2024.

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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: 22 January 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/01/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences and progress are mixed. Over time, staff were not able to safely care for the child who was living in the home at the time of the last inspection or meet their needs, to support them to make progress. This child moved out in an unplanned way that was poorly considered and was not fully child focused. This unplanned ending meant that the child experienced further disruption in their life, and they did not have a positive, well-managed ending to their time at the home. Since then, another child has moved in.

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improvement to be good

Children are not regularly consulted by staff or managers. As a result, their wishes and feelings are poorly captured. Children’s files are disorganised, incomplete and inaccessible to staff. This limits staff being able to read and review necessary documents to aid them in caring for children.

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improvement to be good

Despite the poor ending for the previous child in the home, children do have opportunities to have fun and enjoy activities. Staff identify what children’s interests are and plan activities well. For example, the child living in the home enjoys going fishing. Staff spend time with children, however, this does not help them to make progress, which is limited.

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improvement to be good

Children’s needs are met in accessing universal health services. When additional interventions are needed, managers make referrals to services which will support children. However, it is not clear if this brings about positive change for children, due to the lack of recording and review of the impact these services have.

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improvement to be good

Staff make efforts to provide a pleasant environment for children to live in. However, despite staff’s efforts, some areas of the home need redecorating.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not manage known risks consistently. In addition, staff and managers do not respond to increases in risks in a child-centred way. For example, when managers decided that they could no longer meet one child’s needs, they informed the local authority of this and they ended the child’s placement with very little notice. This lacked consideration of the impact this would have on the child.

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improvement to be good

Recently, staff have not felt effectively supported during incidents. Due to a lack of a consistent management approaches to behaviour support, staff were left feeling vulnerable and unable to support the child effectively. In addition, staffing in the home is inconsistent, with staff working across different homes to meet the needs of the Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 4 provider, not children. This impacts on the child’s ability to build stable relationships with the people who care for them.

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improvement to be good

Leaders ensure that there are plans is place that support staff to understand children’s needs. Leaders and managers obtain information about children before they move into the home and provide staff with an overview of their needs and how to provide support. This is in stark contrast to the management support staff received at the end of another child’s time in the home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have put in place a detailed safeguarding policy, including the protocol for safeguarding incidents, which is shared with all staff. In general, children do not go missing from the home as the necessary staffing levels are in place. Staff have a pack of essential information to access, and to share with others, if a child does go missing. This supports staff to be able to respond quickly if needed.

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improvement to be good

Staff’s ability to access children’s records is inconsistent. This means that staff cannot update risk assessments and care plans to ensure that records include current relevant information. As a result, staff are less able to work consistently to reduce risks for children.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not ensured there is a clear system for recording the administration of medication and for retaining records. No records were made available to the inspector. This hinders staff in ensuring clarity about when children have had medication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Instability in leadership and management has had a detrimental effect on children’s experiences, progress, and staff support. The home’s manager had applied to Ofsted to be registered but was asked to leave with no notice by senior leaders following concerns about their practice. The responsible individual has also left the organisation and there was a delay in notifying this to Ofsted. Senior leaders who were present during the inspection would not take responsibility for or reflect on issues that have impacted on the stability of the home and children’s experiences. They were also unable to recognise that poor oversight at a senior level had contributed to the instability in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leader and managers have failed to monitor the home effectively. There is no regular oversight of the home, and the quality of care children receive has not been well evaluated. Senior leaders do not have oversight of the home through the manager’s regular monitoring report. This impacts on their ability to understand practice in the home and the effect this has on children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and the manager have not provided supportive and effective leadership. Staff supervision and team meetings do not take place regularly. This has led to a lack of development of staff practice and inconsistencies in support and care for children. This has contributed to instability for children living there. Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 5 Leaders and managers do not ensure that all staff attend necessary training. This means that not all staff have the knowledge they need to fully support children. Leaders and managers are hindered by staff training records being incomplete and inaccurate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive regular supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Leaders and managers were unable to evidence that appraisals had been completed with staff. Staff are not supported in their professional development, which impacts on their ability to apply learning to practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have at times challenged external agencies to secure support for children, including from mental health and education services. However, senior leaders have not taken a proactive, positive approach to working with partners at key times, such as when a child’s time in the home was ending. On occasion, staff and managers appear to have developed a blame culture about other agencies, which has negatively impacted on good multi-agency working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A new responsible individual and head of service have recently been appointed. They have positively engaged with staff and the child and held team meetings to address recent concerns. They have also begun to implement new monitoring systems that have helped them to identify weaknesses and areas for development. These changes are in their infancy and as such it cannot be determined if these actions and positive intentions are having an impact on the child’s experiences and progress. Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 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 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(a)(b)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the leadership and management team should ensure that they monitor and evaluate the care provided in the 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 7 home, so they have good understanding and oversight when concerns arise and are able to understand the impact the care children receive has on their progress.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, leaders and managers should ensure that there is consistent staffing so that children are able to build consistent positive relationships and have clear boundaries.

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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

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

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) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 8 The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c)) 10 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv)(b)(i)(e)) 10 October 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;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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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) 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 9 In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff complete training as needed to support children's needs, have regular supervision and annual appraisals that support their professional development.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff have access to children’s care plans and risk assessments so that they can update these with relevant information with aim of supporting staff to reduce risk and to safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, leaders and managers must ensure that staff complete safeguarding and other related training so they have the skills to support the children who live in the home. Leaders and managers must ensure that an accurate record of staff training is kept. 10 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 10 October 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce- related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 10 should detail the necessary management and staffing structure and the experience and qualifications of staff, in line with the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a homely, nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2724602 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Serenity Welfare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wormley Hill House, Church Lane, Broxbourne EN10 7QQ

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Inspector

Helen Daniel, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2724602 12 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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