Children's Home run by Serene Surroundings Limited in Greenwich

Inspection report for children's home: 2832526 1 Registered provider: Serene Surroundings Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This private home provides care for up to two children with emotional and social difficulties. 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 was registered in June 2025. The registered manager's post is currently vacant. This is the home's first full inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2832526 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child currently living at the home experiences stability and is making good progress. For example, they are attending and engaging in an alternative education provision for the first time in a number of years. This is a great achievement for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that all the child's health needs are well met. This has included supporting the child to continue to access the specialist child and adolescent mental health service provision that supports their mental health needs, ensuing that the child remains emotionally well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has a lot of fun living at the home. They have lots of opportunities to participate in a wide range of activities, including riding bikes, bowling, meals out, cinema trips and minibreaks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has good relationships with staff and feels safe at the home. The child stated that they have members of staff who they can talk to and who they enjoy spending time with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are valued and listened to by staff; this is evident through their voice being heard in children's meetings and key-work sessions. Children are also consulted on their care plans, which helps staff to understand how to support them. Children's care plans are detailed and are used as an opportunity to set realistic goals with children that will help them to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at that home has been completing independence tasks to help to support them to move on with the skills they will need to live more independently. Staff still need to ensure that they encourage the child to have some mealtimes with others to help the child's social development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a safe environment for the child. However, the inspector noted that the child's bedroom needed cleaning. Leaders need to ensure that staff support the child to maintain a clean, suitable personal space.

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

Staff at the home have a good understanding of any risks to which children may be exposed, and how to support children to reduce such risks. This is achieved through the positive relationships that staff form with children and the comprehensive care plans and risk assessments in place.

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

Staff work together to ensure that the child has a familiar approach to care and that the home's expectations and boundaries are consistently reinforced to help the child to feel safe. Inspection report for children's home: 2832526 3 There are clear plans to support staff to help children when they are missing from home. Clear planning and engagement with safeguarding partners help to reduce risk. Plans clearly identify the child-focused actions to be taken when children are missing.

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

Children's voices are evident in their behaviour support plans. This means that when they have crisis situations, staff are better able to understand any potential triggers and the interventions that reduce stress and risk. When this has been unsuccessful, restraint has sometimes been used. These interventions are appropriate and proportionate. Records clearly indicate the actions taken and the necessary conversations afterwards with both children and staff.

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

Safer recruitment procedures are followed. Staff files evidence due diligence in recruitment processes to reduce any potential risk of harm to children.

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

When safeguarding events happen that Ofsted need to be aware of, managers do not always report these incidents in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a recent change in management in the home. This has been managed well by the senior leadership team. There has been an extended period of transition for managers, which helped to create stability for the child living at the home and the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious for children who live at the home. Senior leaders ensure that clear policies, procedures and guidance are in place that help staff to deliver a good standard of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive good-quality, reflective supervision. This is supported by a wide range of training that staff attend and engage constructively in. This helps to facilitate staff's understanding of the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When any children are being considered for a placement in the home, suitability assessments are completed. However, these assessments often lack depth and are insufficiently analytical. They do not determine with sufficient clarity whether such placements are consistent with the needs of the children already placed, or whether staff have the capacity to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a clear emphasis on evaluating the progress of children and the effectiveness of the home's policies and procedures. They are developing an improved system, focusing on a more critically reflective approach to understanding children's progress and the functioning of the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2832526 4

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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 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

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 31 January 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2832526 5 In particular, the responsible individual and manager must ensure that they complete regulation 40 notifications when there are any serious safeguarding incidents involving children.

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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

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that any care that is arranged or provided for a child that—

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Requirement Due date

that the care is delivered by a person who—

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Requirement Due date

has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(iv) (3)(b)(c)(d)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that they complete thorough suitability assessments to ensure that children's placements are suitable, considering the needs of the children living at the home and the staff team's ability to meet their needs. 31 January 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2832526 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals that are suitable for each child's needs. Where appropriate, children should be involved in choosing and preparing meals, and opportunities to sit with others to eat should be promoted. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.8)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children's home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. It will, in most cases, be a homely, domestic environment. ('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: 2832526 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Serene Surroundings Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 3 High Tor View, London SE28 0LN

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Inspector

Helen Daniel, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2832526 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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