Nursery ordered to improve facilities
A Renfrewshire nursery has received a middle of the road report from the Care Inspectorate.
Two inspectors carried out an unannounced visit to Abbey Nursery in Paisley – before branding the service as adequate.
They gained feedback from 12 parents and carers and nine staff via a questionnaire, spoke with six staff and management, observed practice and daily life and reviewed documents over two days in March.
Publishing its findings, the watchdog rated the Thomas Street service as ‘adequate’ across all four areas it was assessed on.
Key messages from the report showed staff were kind and caring in their interactions and engagement with the children.
However improvements were required to the indoor and outdoor environment to ensure children were safe and to minimise the spread of infection, while changes were also recommended to the lunchtime routine. In evaluating quality, the Care Inspectorate uses a six-point scale where one is unsatisfactory and six is excellent. Abbey Nursery was given a score of three in leadership, for their staff team, setting and how good their care, play and learning is.
Feedback from some parents included: “The staff are kind, friendly, and caring; the staff have built really strong, nurturing relationships with our children.”
The watchdog has ordered management and staff to review the lunchtime routine to ensure a positive experience for children.
Within the report inspectors stated: “Staff were task-focussed and did not sit with children while they were eating. This meant they were not well positioned to respond to an emergency situation, such as choking.
“Staff changes took place during the lunchtime routine which meant they were not responsive to children’s needs. As a result, children did not enjoy a lunchtime routine that was sociable, relaxed and unhurried.”
Infection control was also a concerning factor for the inspectors when assessing the facilities setting.
The inspectors noted broken fence slats outdoors, worn and porous furniture and surfaces indoors, cluttered surfaces, pencil marks on the walls where children had drawn, and a nappy changing area that was shared with the laundry area. It had been acknowledged by inspectors there had been changes in the staff and management team.
However, it was positively noted that staff deployment had been “managed to ensure a mixture of knowledge, skills and abilities within each playroom.”
Feedback from parents had led to some positive changes, for example the introduction of online journals. Inspectors stated: “The progress and evaluation of these were at an early stage, and the service should continue to develop them.”