Children's home run by Bull Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 1 Registered provider: Bull Care Services 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 privately owned home provides care for four children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered in July 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there were 2 children living in the home.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build positive relationships with staff. Staff understand their needs and show children care and kindness. This helps children feel comfortable and settled in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff encourage children to engage in education. Their consistent encouragement helped one child return to education after being out for a long time. This child completed their exams and is now studying a full-time college course. When children find education difficult or do not want to take part, staff think creatively to spark their interest. For example, one child has been supported to do voluntary work in a nursery within a college to develop their confidence and feel more comfortable in an educational setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s health needs and encourage them to attend health appointments. This means that children get the support they need to stay physically and emotionally well. Staff also give advice about healthy and safe relationships and make sure that children can access services when they need it. This helps children to make safer choices and understand how to look after their wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress and develop their independence skills. Staff support them in practical tasks, such as cleaning, shopping and cooking. This helps children to develop important life skills and prepares them for the future.

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

Managers and staff have a strong understanding of children’s risks and needs. Children’s risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated when risks increase, or new concerns arise, to support staff to manage risk safely. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to share information and plan effective support, which helps to reduce risks and promotes children’s safety and wellbeing.

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

Some children’s missing-from-home episodes have reduced significantly since moving into the home. When the children go missing, the registered manager and staff act quickly. They contact children to locate them and encourage them to return home. Staff also inform family members and safeguarding agencies and work together to safely return children home. However, staff do not always consistently show professional curiosity, and independent return home interviews are not always completed. This is a missed opportunity to understand children’s experiences and identify any underlying reasons for going missing from home.

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

The registered manager and deputy manager take an active role in professional and strategy meetings, sharing information and agreeing actions to reduce risks. Their involvement helps to ensure that plans are coordinated and focused on keeping children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 3 Children talk to staff about the things they are worried about. Staff have informal, relaxed, conversations to explore children’s risks and needs. These discussions help children to think about their behaviour and understand how to keep themselves safe. Children say they can identify adults who they trust and can talk to about any concerns. They report that staff listen to them and respond appropriately to support them.

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

Before children move into the home, transition planning is thoughtful. For example, the registered manager visited one child at their previous home to build rapport and share photographs of the home in order to build familiarity. Despite this, pre-admission risk assessments do not fully consider the risks children may pose to each other or whether staff have the skills and training to support new and existing children safely. This has contributed to some challenging incidents and behaviours and two placement endings, although this was not the sole reason for those disruptions.

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

Although staff make efforts to support children during incidents, they are not always de- escalated effectively. Staff show limited confidence and skills in managing challenging behaviour, particularly in group situations. Behaviour management plans are lengthy, overly historical and contain broad, general triggers rather than specific early warning signs. As a result, they do not provide clear, practical guidance on promoting positive behaviour, or de-escalating incidents, which staff need to respond consistently in the moment. On some occasions, staff have called police to manage behaviours that could have been handled within the home. The registered manager and deputy manager take steps to improve staff practice. Following incidents, staff reflect together as a group to discuss incidents and how to better support children and each other. Leaders and managers also maintain or increase staffing ratios when children are unsettled and work

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

with children’s placing authorities to ensure that staff can be more responsive to better meet children’s needs.

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

Staff carry out bedroom searches when there is a cause for concern and remove any items that may pose a risk to children. However, not all searches are appropriately recorded, including the reasons for the search and whether the child was informed. This limits accountability and oversight, and opportunities to identify patterns of risk or improve practice may be missed.

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

Safe recruitment procedures are not robust. One staff member’s employment gap has not been verified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A skilled and qualified registered manager runs the home and is supported by an effective deputy manager. They have high aspirations for children in their care and are passionate about helping them make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager are mindful of the emotional impact of the work on staff. Staff receive regular supervisions from the registered manager and deputy manager. It is a space to discuss staff development, children’s needs and any Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 4 safeguarding concerns. Team meetings take place regularly and provide space for staff to reflect on their practice, including children’s needs and risks. The managers offer reassurance and support to staff, which helps sustain staff motivation and strengthens their commitment to providing good-quality care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager treats allegations of harm seriously and shares information appropriately with safeguarding agencies, ensuring that concerns are addressed without delay. However, on one occasion, Ofsted was not notified of an allegation, which means the regulator was not fully informed of a significant event as required. This gap reduces Ofsted’s regulatory oversight and ability to monitor children’s safety effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff complete safeguarding training during their induction. However, they have not completed all mandatory training needed to meet the specific needs of the children in their care. Important training on topics such as ADHD and substance misuse has not yet been provided. These gaps limit staff’s knowledge and have affected their ability to respond consistently and effectively to behaviour management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals and parents say that managers and staff work hard to follow care plans and provide the support that children need. Their feedback highlighted a team that is caring and committed to helping children make progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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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 and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff are supported and equipped with the necessary training and skills to handle challenging behaviours without resorting to police involvement. 20 February 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 6 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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that when considering new children moving into the home, they fully consider the needs of children already living there and those moving into the home, as well as the skills and experience of staff to meet the needs of all children in their care. 20 February 2026

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children s safety.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they obtain information from staff about their employment history. 20 February 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 7

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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: 2830720 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bull Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Twisleton Court, Dartford, Kent DA1 2EN

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Billie-Jean Lockhart

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Inspector

Amena Begum, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2830720 9 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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