Children's Home run by Serenity Specialist Care Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2847697 1 Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home that provides care for up to 3 children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in December 2025. The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living in the home. One child was present during the inspection and spoke with the inspectors.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2847697 2

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Summary of findings

Children are making consistent progress in all areas of their lives. Children enjoy living in the home, and they have positive relationships with the adults who care for them. Children are being effectively safeguarded. During the inspection, shortfalls were identified in managerial oversight of the home, which has resulted in a ‘requires improvement to be good’ judgement in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a high standard of furnishing, with decorative items used to give a warm and bright feel. Thought has gone into creating a non-institutional environment, with one child saying, ‘This feels and looks like a home.’ Children personalise their bedrooms, increasing their sense of belonging in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager considers moves into the home carefully. They assess staff skills against children’s needs, alongside ensuring compatibility with children already in the home. Where there are areas of potential conflict, plans have clear direction for staff. This means children experience positive transitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make progress in their education. The staff are in regular communication with educational settings and are responsive to concerns. Where children are unable to attend school, staff provide alternatives in the home. The manager promotes reintegration processes. One child is currently undertaking their GCSE exams after their attendance improved following their move into the home. They now have high aspirations to attend college to study health and social care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see the people who are important to them. The manager has sought to improve family relationships where safe to do so. One parent said, ‘They have helped so much with mine and my child’s relationship; this was non-existent before she moved in. I have been really supported with this.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children report that they have positive relationships with the people who care for them. One child said, ‘They really care about me here. The best thing about the home is the manager.’ Children make progress from their starting points and are supported to recognise their achievements.

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

The manager ensures that there is an immediate response to any safeguarding concerns. When plans from other agencies do not satisfy the manager that children are effectively kept safe, concerns are raised and actions are taken to reduce the risk of Inspection report for children’s home: 2847697 3 harm. Children feel valued and well supported, with one saying, ‘The manager is always there and goes above and beyond to help.’

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

Recruitment processes are robust and in line with regulations. The manager has high expectations for staff conduct. When concerns were received about a member of staff and their behaviour outside of work, the manager responded without delay. This mitigated any impact on the children in the home.

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

Staff are proactive when children are missing from home. They search known areas and contact people in the child’s network and continue until they are found. On return, staff greet children warmly, focusing on their immediate welfare. As a result, missing-from- home incidents have significantly reduced from children’s starting points.

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

Staff support children effectively with de-escalation techniques when they are struggling. Physical intervention has not been used in the home, and behaviour management plans offer alternative strategies personalised to the children. This means children benefit from consistent boundaries from the people caring for them. One child said, ‘I feel calmer here. I know staff are there for me and help me think about how I respond.’

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

Staff spoken to have a good knowledge of children’s main risks and the required responses to keep them safe. However, risk assessments are not updated to include the most current information, and some lack depth around the actions staff need to take. This may impact the consistency of response, particularly when considering newer members of staff.

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

Children’s safety is compromised because staff share confidential information on group chat messages on their personal mobile phones. There is an increased risk of inappropriate access to children’s information. This does not protect children’s privacy.

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

The quality of key-working sessions is variable and lacks focus on specific topics. One child who is often using her devices has not received appropriate education about online safety. This means that there is a reliance on monitoring software to ensure safety in online spaces.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is passionate about the service and advocating for children’s views. She role models a nurturing and therapeutic approach to children’s care. She keeps children at the heart of all she does and is fully involved in children’s lives. She is clear about the progress children are making and has high aspirations for what they can achieve. She is enthusiastic in her efforts to be a trusted person for children. This makes her an excellent role model for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff want the best for the children who live there. Relationships between staff and children are warm and affectionate. Their positive relationships are clear to see. Staff morale is good. Staff speak positively about the manager and working at the home. One Inspection report for children’s home: 2847697 4 member of staff said, ‘The manager is so supportive both inside and outside of work. The kids are drawn to her and adore her. There is no better role model for our team.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are provided with a wide range of training that informs their practice and meets the children’s individual and diverse needs. Team meetings and supervision sessions take place monthly and are used as a place for reflection and learning. Important issues are tracked and discussed, and children are at the centre of all practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has developed effective working relationships with placing social workers and other external professionals. Professionals are overwhelmingly positive about the home and the quality of care given to the children. One professional said, ‘The communication is excellent. It is very clear that they care about the children. This is shown in the progress that they are making in all areas of their lives.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been some gaps in the manager’s oversight of the home. Although systems are in place to oversee the home, these are not always consistently implemented in practice to identify any learning to improve the quality of care for children. For example, no manager’s audits have been completed since the home was registered, and repeated actions have been raised on the independent visitor’s reports. This fundamentally limits the opportunity for leaders and managers to learn and take action to improve the quality of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Records in the home are not of consistent quality and do not contain detailed enough information as required by regulation. For example, there have been missed opportunities to evidence the support provided to children following incidents of self- injury. The manager has not recognised this shortfall or taken any action to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2847697 5

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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— that staff—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s plans are relevant and kept under regular review. In addition, they must ensure that children are supported to understand how to keep safe online. 16 August 2026

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b )(2)(h)) 16 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2847697 6 The registered person must ensure that they have effective systems in place to oversee and monitor the quality of care provided to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21 (a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s confidential information is appropriately protected and in line with the General Data Protection Regulations. 16 August 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2847697 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 13 The Courtyard, Timothys Bridge Road, Stratford- Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 9NP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Katherine Hodges-Smith

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Inspectors

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Fran Dallow, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2847697 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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