Children's Home run by Willcob Care Ltd in Bexley

Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2769384 1 Registered provider: Willcob 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 privately owned home provides care for up to 4 children with learning disabilities. There were 3 children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager have been registered with Ofsted since March 2024.

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This monitoring visit

On the 10 March 2026, an assurance visit was carried out to address specific concerns received by Ofsted in regard to the care of children and the home’s leadership and management arrangements. As a result, two compliance notices were issued. These were issued under Regulation 12, ‘The protection of children standard’, and Regulation 13, ‘The leadership and management standard’, of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit was carried out to review the progress made by the provider in meeting the conditions of the compliance notices.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers ensure that staff understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. Staff complete training that is focused on the safe care of children. Staff demonstrate an awareness of safeguarding procedures and the action to take if children are at risk of harm. Individual staff supervision routinely features discussions around the protection of children, as do staff team meetings and staff reflective practice sessions. Managers confirm that staff do not record children using their mobile phones.

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This monitoring visit

There are clear procedures for identifying, recording and reporting injuries to children. Staff obtain parental consent to complete body maps and take photographs Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2769384 2 of all marks and injuries on children’s bodies. These are taken when staff notice marks and routinely when children move into the home. Staff use first aid to treat children’s injuries and wounds appropriately.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers accept that at the assurance visit a fire extinguisher was found to be faulty. This extinguisher has since been appropriately repaired and all fire extinguishers checked to ensure that they are in good working condition.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers ensure that staff understand and use agreed support strategies with children. Risk assessments and management support plans are appropriately detailed and tailored to meet the individual needs of children. Plans are detailed and identify the children’s risks and vulnerabilities. There is guidance in place, and staff understood how to reduce risks for children.

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This monitoring visit

Care planning is effective. This ensures that the needs of children new to the home can be met. Consideration is given to the impact of new children moving into the home on children already living there. Leaders and managers ensure that there is sufficient staff on shift to provide safe care to children; additional staff are made available if, for example, children are going out into the community for an activity. Where there is a change in children’s circumstances, for example the removal of deprivation of liberty safeguards, leaders and managers consider carefully if risks can be safely managed and the suitability of the child’s continued placement at the home.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager has effective management oversight of staff practices. The registered manager monitors and ensures that staff complete training that supports them to provide good, safe care for children. Staff receive regular supervision that explores their practice and learning needs.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager observes staff practices during core shifts and he and the senior management team complete regular unannounced ‘spot checks’ to the home. These are often conducted outside of core working hours. This is to monitor and ensure that staff are offering good-quality care to children when managers’ presence at the home is least expected. The home’s senior management team meet weekly, a feature of which is to review the findings of their visits and, as appropriate, make policy and practice changes. These are then shared with the wider team. Managers also use staff team meetings and reflective practice sessions to promote good staff practices.

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This monitoring visit

Since the home’s assurance visit, there have been no recorded critical incidents. Staff document information on the home’s recording systems that alert managers that an incident has occurred. Staff records of incidents require managers’ review and sign off. Weekly management meetings provide further scrutiny of incidents, how these were managed and of any learning for the organisation. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2769384 3 There has been one complaint since the last visit. The complaint highlighted several issues pertaining to the care of a child living at the home. Concerns raised were wide ranging and included, for example, staff’s understanding of the child’s needs, the management of the child’s medication, communication between staff and parents and health and safety concerns. The registered manager managed the complaint in accordance with the home’s complaints policy, ensuring that the response was timely

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This monitoring visit

and addressed each point in turn, with a clear evidence base.

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This monitoring visit

The compliance notices under Regulation 12 and Regulation 13 are judged to be met.

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This monitoring visit

The requirements made at the assurance visit were out of the scope of this monitoring visit and will be reviewed at the next inspection. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2769384 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/08/2025 Full Good 10/09/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2769384 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 with the given timescales.

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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

develop positive relationships with them;

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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

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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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. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(b)(i)) 1 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)) 1 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2769384 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure there is a policy and individual risk assessments in place for staff who are related or in a relationship.

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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: 2769384 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cavendish House, Hoddesdon EN11 0LB

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Inspectors

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, Social Care Inspector Rachel McIntyre, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2769384 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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