Top marks for first class nursery team

A Paisley nursery has been given the thumbs-up by the Care Inspectorate.

Quality of care and support and the environment at Rainbow Nursery were both rated as“very good”by the watchdog.

The report published by the Care Inspectorate states that inspectors spoke to children throughout, and they were seen to be confident and settled in the nursery environment.

Kelly Hegarty, nursery manager with Childcare First, which runs Rainbow Nursery, said she was delighted with the report.

She said:“It just reflects so much on the commitment we have to getting our children outdoors and getting active naturally in the environment. We’re delighted.

“We have what’s called a free-flow approach where the children have a seamless transition – they can be indoors, they can be outdoors.

“We’ve a got a big sheltered area and we’ve got a garden on the perimeter of the building, so it’s very much child-led learning that we promote.”

Inspectors said that the children were happy, secure and enjoying their nursery experiences.

“They told us about things they especially enjoyed, which included playing in the garden and making mud pies,”the report says.

“They also chatted to us about things they had been involved in such as measuring the size of whales and a jumbo jet.”

The watchdog received completed questionnaires from eight parents and carers who spoke very highly of the Shortroods-based nursery, which cares for around 50 children aged from zero to five.

“All of the parents who returned questionnaires ‘strongly agreed’or‘agreed’that they were overall Children from Rainbow Nursery, in Paisley, love the great outdoors

happy with the quality of care that their child receives in the service,”the report says

“In addition to this we spoke with six parents who were using the service for their child’s care and education.

“Again they spoke positively about the service, specifically commenting on strong relationships their child/children had with staff, and about the flexible welcoming approach staff and management had.

“We saw that children were respected and

nurtured, they were active, independent and achieving through the broad experiences on offer,” the report says.

The report adds:“A particular strength of the nursery was the pace of the day and the free flow indoors to outdoors for all age groups, and the coming together of age groups.

“Children could access any room or outdoor area and mix with older peers and siblings.”

To see the full report visit www.careinspectorate. com.