Integrated Inspection by the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education of
ABC Day Nursery
Perth

29 March 2006

ABC Day Nursery
12 Rose Terrace
Perth
PH1 5HA

The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act, 2001, requires that the Care Commission inspect all care services covered by the Act every year to monitor the quality of care provided. In accordance with the Act, the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education carry out integrated inspections of the quality of care and education. In doing this, inspection teams take account of National Care Standards, Early Education and Childcare up to the age of 16, and The Child at the Centre. The following standards and related quality indicators were used in the recent inspection.

Evaluations made using HMIE quality indicators use the following scale, and these words are used in the report to describe the team’s judgements:

Very good : major strengths
Good : strengths outweigh weaknesses
Fair : some important weaknesses
Unsatisfactory : major weaknesses

Reports contain Recommendations which are intended to support improvements in the quality of service.

Any Requirements refer to actions which must be taken by service providers to ensure that regulations are met and there is compliance with relevant legislation. In these cases the regulation(s) to which requirements refer will be noted clearly and timescales given.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you would like an additional copy of this report

Copies of this report have been sent to the head of service, staff and the education authority. Copies are also available on the Care Commission website: www.carecommission.com and HMIE website: www.hmie.gov.uk.

If you wish to comment about integrated pre-school inspections

Should you wish to comment on any aspect of integrated pre-school inspections, you should write in the first instance to Kenneth Muir, HMCI, at HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to either:

If you are not satisfied with the action we have taken at the end of our complaints procedure, you can raise your complaint with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is fully independent and has powers to investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You can write to The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, 4-6 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7NS. You can also telephone 0870 011 5378 or e-mail enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk. More information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website: www.scottishombudsman.org.uk.

A copy of the HMIE complaints procedure is available from the HMIE website at www.hmie.gov.uk or by telephoning 01506 600 258.

Crown Copyright 2006

Care Commission

HM Inspectorate of Education

This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except for commercial purposes or in connection with a prospectus or advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof are stated.

Introduction

ABC Day Nursery was inspected in December 2005 as part of the integrated inspection programme by the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education. The nursery catered for pre-school children from birth to five years of age. It was registered for 62 children attending at any one session. At the time of the inspection the total roll was 88.

The environment

Standard 2

The accommodation, situated on two floors, provided a safe, secure, pleasant and stimulating environment for children. There were some attractive displays of children’s art work and photographs of the children involved in nursery activities. The outdoor play area had been recently developed and was fully enclosed. It offered a good range of play opportunities. Effective use was made of the outdoor area for physical play and younger children and babies were taken on walks to the local park. Good systems were in place to ensure the safety and security of children both indoors and outdoors. Comprehensive risk assessments were in place.

Each of the six playrooms provided good opportunities for children to play independently or in groups. Resources were well matched to the needs and interests of the children and provided appropriate support and challenge. The sleeping arrangements for the youngest children in the playrooms hindered access to the full range of activities for those not sleeping.

The service complied with relevant legislation including recording of fire drills and accidents and incidents. Most staff held an appropriate first aid qualification. Effective care practices were in place to control the spread of infection. Play equipment was clean and well maintained.

Quality of children’s experience

Standard 4 & 5

Staff working with children under the age of three years were pleasant, welcoming and responsive to children’s individual needs. They had developed effective systems to ensure continuity between the children’s home and nursery routines. The manager needed to ensure that staff/child ratios within the baby room were maintained over the lunchtime period. Staff planned a good range of activities and experiences for children. Planning was flexible to take account of children’s interests. Children were happy, confident and comfortable with nursery routines. Staff made informal observations of children and recorded children’s progress and learning formally every three months. They needed to use this information more effectively when identifying next stages in children’s learning.

Staff working with children aged three to five had established a purposeful learning environment in which children played happily together. Children were very cheerful, confident and active in their learning. They had access to a broad, well-balanced curriculum and had good opportunities to choose activities. Staff intervened effectively to support and extend children’s learning through the good use of questions and dialogue. Staff had good systems in place for planning children’s learning. Plans stated clearly what children were expected to learn and took account of individual needs. Staff regularly observed children and used this information to inform future plans.

Features of the programmes for children aged three to five included the following.

• The programme for emotional, personal and social development was very good. Staff used praise effectively to motivate children and to encourage them to persevere in their activities. Children were confident and cooperated well with each other and adults. They took turns playing board games and shared resources at the sand tray. Children helped serve snack and tidied up when they finished. Staff supported children well to develop awareness of basic rules of hygiene.
• The programme for communication and language was good. Staff provided a good range of activities to develop children’s listening and talking skills. Children listened well at ‘together time’ and shared news with each other. Children listened well at story time and most used books independently at the comfortable story corner. Staff provided good opportunities for children to become aware of letter names and sounds through play activities. They now needed to provide more opportunities for children to develop early writing skills and use books throughout the playroom.
• Staff provided a very good programme for knowledge and understanding of the world. Children were developing good skills in mathematics. They could name days of the week and were developing awareness of numerals through play activities. They investigated capacity through filling containers at the sand tray. Staff supported children well to become aware of seasonal change, for example through walks to collect leaves and observe the weather. Children had sorted food into healthy and unhealthy options, and were developing an awareness of growth through measuring their height. They enthusiastically used magnets and magnifying glasses at the ‘discovery tray’. A few children used the computer independently.
• In expressive and aesthetic development, the programme was very good. Staff provided a good range of activities for children to express their own ideas in painting, drawing, gluing and craft. Children had printed with spaghetti and selected materials to use in collages. A few children used a simple paint package program on the computer. Children moved rhythmically to music and played percussion instruments during imaginative play. Staff sensitively extended imaginative play when children pretended to be police officers by providing them with notebooks and costumes.
• The programme for physical development and movement was very good. Children were developing good hand and finger control through the use of jigsaws, construction materials, scissors and cutlery at snack. Staff provided good opportunities for children to regularly experience energetic outdoor activity, and have fresh air. Children bounced, ran, threw and caught balls, played games and rode bikes. Children also balanced and jumped on low beams in the playroom.

Support for children and families

Standard 6

Staff knew children very well and provided effective support for them and their families. Parents were kept informed of the work of the nursery through a well-organised notice board and regular newsletters. Staff had created an informative parents’ handbook. However, this did not contain details of the nursery’s child protection procedures. Plans were displayed for parents, and each month they received details of planned experiences for children. Staff working with the youngest children completed daily activity sheets for parents. Children had opportunities to take books home to share with parents. The manager operated an ‘open door’ policy for parents and they had formal and informal opportunities to discuss their children’s progress with staff. Parents who responded to the pre-inspection questionnaire were happy with the work of the nursery.

The manager and staff had developed positive links with other agencies. They had worked with health visitors, speech and language therapists and home visiting teachers to support the needs of individual children. The manager had effective procedures in place for the referral of children with additional support needs. She was aware of legislation relating to children with such needs.

Management

Standard 14

The manager provided good leadership. She was very approachable and had a participative management style. She was well supported by two depute managers with clear lines of accountability.

Very positive relationships had been established with children, staff and parents. Staff members worked well as a team. A good range of policies and procedures was in place to help ensure children’s welfare, and formed the basis of the staff’s day-to-day practice.

The manager monitored the quality of the provision both formally and informally and shared this information with staff to establish priorities for improvement. There was a process of staff review and development in place with effective use of external training to further develop staff. Staff members had completed in-house, child protection training and were aware of their roles and responsibilities. The manager was aware of the Scottish Social Services Council and the implications of its codes of practice for all staff.

The manager had introduced good procedures to evaluate the quality of children’s learning and experiences, involving all staff, children and parents. There was an effective development plan in place with identified priorities for improvement.

Key strengths

• The overall high quality of the curriculum.
• The enthusiasm and involvement of children in their learning.
• Effective procedures for monitoring the quality of children’s experiences and learning.
• Very effective programme of staff development and training.
• The effectiveness of the manager and her commitment to the nursery’s development.

Other Issues

Response to recommendations or to requirements made at previous inspection

Nine recommendations were made at the last Care Commission inspection. These have been met.

Recommendations for improvement

• Staff working with children aged three to five should provide more opportunities for children to develop early writing skills and use books throughout the playroom.
• Staff working with children under three should further develop systems for assessing and recording children’s progress, and make more use of assessment information to identify next stages in children’s learning.
• The manager and staff should review the organisation and management of the youngest children’s playroom to fully meet the needs of both sleeping and non-sleeping children.
• The manager should update the parent handbook to include details of the nursery’s child protection procedures.

Requirements

• The service must ensure that the appropriate staff/child ratios in the baby room are maintained over lunch times.

This is to comply with: Scottish Statutory Instrument 2002 Number 114 Regulation 4 (1) (a) - a requirement to make proper provision for health and welfare of service users.

Care Commission Officers and HM Inspectors have asked the pre-school centre and education authority to prepare an action plan indicating how they will address the main findings of the report. Where requirements are made, the action plan should include timescales to deal with these. The plan will be available to parents and carers. In liaison with the pre-school centre and education authority, Care Commission Officers and HM Inspectors will monitor progress to ensure improvements are in line with the main findings of the report.