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

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 1 SC471672 Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home provides care for up to 4 children with complex needs. At the time of this inspection, no children were living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The home has not had a registered manager since February 2026. There has been a new manager in post since May 2026, and they have applied to register.

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This monitoring visit

The home was inspected by Ofsted on 28 and 29 April 2026. Significant shortfalls were identified in the oversight of leaders and managers, which had impacted on the quality and consistency of care provided to children living at the home.

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This monitoring visit

On 2 June 2026, Ofsted were made aware of additional concerns that indicated the poor oversight of leaders and managers had continued since the inspection. As a result, the care and safety of children had been impacted significantly, and one child had come to avoidable harm. Ofsted was of the view that if further children were admitted to the home it would exacerbate the concerns identified and would likely place children at increased risk of harm. For this reason, Ofsted issued a notice to restrict accommodation. Ofsted also issued a requirement for the provider to meet regulation 10.

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This monitoring visit

On 5 June 2026, the proposed responsible individual advised Ofsted about further concerns regarding staff conduct, which were first raised by a child on 2 June 2026. Relevant agencies, including Ofsted, were not notified in line with regulations or within the required timescales. The notification also did not contain all the relevant information.

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This monitoring visit

On 8 June 2026, Ofsted obtained further information from the placing local authorities of children living in the home. This included serious concerns about the Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 2 neglect of one child's immediate health needs and concerns about a staff member's conduct towards a child indicative of poor and potentially harmful care. In addition, there was evidence of poor risk management practice and unsafe decision-making from leaders and managers and there remained gaps in information-sharing with Ofsted and relevant professionals.

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This monitoring visit

On 8 June, Ofsted made the decision to suspend the home's registration given the ongoing significant risks to the safety and wellbeing of the children living in the home at that point.

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this monitoring visit was to review the provider's adherence to the suspension notice. The inspector found that there was no evidence that children had been living in the home.

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This monitoring visit

At the last full inspection, 5 requirements and one recommendation were made. These were not considered fully at this inspection and will be reviewed as part of the next inspection.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, a new manager and responsible individual have been appointed to the home. They were in post when the restriction and suspension notices were imposed. They have implemented new monitoring tools and systems to improve oversight of the home and the quality of care provided. It has not yet been possible to assess how effective these tools will be in practice as no children currently live in the home.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have investigated some previous areas of concern and taken some action to address them. However, some concerns, which led to enforcement action being taken, have not been fully investigated. This means that shortfalls in practice have not been appropriately addressed.

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This monitoring visit

The home has 6 staff vacancies, including the role of deputy manager. Therefore, the home does not currently have enough permanent staff in post to care for the number of children the home is registered for.

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This monitoring visit

Staff who remain working for the provider have completed little additional training since the previous inspection. The majority of staff have attended one training session only, in recording and report writing. The manager does not have close oversight of staff development. There is plan a for further training to take place, but timescales are unclear. This is because the provider wishes to deliver the training shortly before the home reopens. This means that the impact of training on staff practice cannot yet be measured effectively.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have failed to meet the actions set out in the restriction notice to meet regulation 10. This regulation has not been considered in the home's action plan. The manager has developed new tools for oversight of medication, but this is not yet tested. Leaders and managers have failed to investigate why staff did Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 3 not previously meet children's medication and health needs. Therefore, they have not implemented any learning from these shortfalls. Staff have not had specific training or supervision to help them to develop their practice in this area. This does not provide any assurances that staff can meet children's health needs in the future.

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This monitoring visit

The home environment has been redecorated and is newly furnished in some areas. The home no longer presents a hazard to children's safety and is a more welcoming place for children to live. There are some outstanding areas of maintenance to be addressed.

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This monitoring visit

Following this inspection, a compliance notice was issued under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/04/2026 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/06/2025 Full Good 24/09/2024 Full Good 16/05/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 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 with 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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 5 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)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that managers and staff have the skills and experience to identify and manage children’s individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide continuity of care to children.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure children are informed of the outcome of allegations and complaints that they make.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that allegations and incidents of poor-quality care are fully investigated.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must have ensure they have sufficient oversight of the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that prompt and effective action is taken to address shortfalls in staff practice. 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 6 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff use identified measures in children's plans to reduce and mitigate risk to children.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and manager must ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities and have the skills to protect children.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child's behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child's behaviour, in accordance with the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child's age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child's respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children's previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge and guidance to help children develop positive relationships with each other. They must intervene to keep children safe when required.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must also ensure that staff have regular supervision.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 8 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

understand and apply the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child's welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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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

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child's relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 9 (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and manager should ensure that the home is clean and well maintained.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to using child-friendly language across all communication with children and in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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 achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child's education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child's education and training and to maximise the child's achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child's education or training provider and the child's placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 10 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child's relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child's learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers should advocate for children when they do not have a suitable personal education plan. Managers and staff should support children to overcome any barriers that prevent them making progress in education.

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Requirement Due date

The health and wellbeing standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and wellbeing needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and wellbeing; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child's health and wellbeing needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child's health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child's wellbeing. 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 11 that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that health plans are regularly updated to reflect children's evolving health needs.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that all staff understand their role and responsibilities in promoting children's health and wellbeing.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that children are supported to access relevant medical support and medication for their health needs, in particular their physical health needs.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that the child's placing authority is kept up to date with children's health needs.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should not use consequences that prevent children from seeing important people in their life without a clear rationale. Children should also be spoken with about any consequences to gain their views. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children's home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 12

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Ltd

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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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Inspector

Jenny Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC471672 13 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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