23 April 2008
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 Centre1. The following standards and related quality indicators were used in the recent inspection.
National Care Standard |
Child at the Centre Quality Indicator |
Standard 5 — Quality of Experience |
The curriculum |
Standard 6 — Support and Development |
Care, welfare and development, Meeting learning needs, Expectations and promoting achievement, Equality and fairness, |
Standard 14 — Well-managed Service |
Developing people and partnerships, Leadership of improvement and change, Improvement through self-evaluation |
Evaluations made using HMIE quality indicators use the following scale, and these words are used in the report to describe the team’s judgements:
excellent |
excellent |
very good |
major strengths |
good |
important strengths, some areas for improvement |
adequate |
strengths just outweigh weaknesses |
weak |
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.
Introduction
Munro House Kindergarten was inspected in January 2008 as part of the integrated inspection programme by the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education. The nursery catered for pre-school children aged three to five years. It was registered for 40 children attending at any one session. At the time of the inspection the total roll was 32.
Key strengths
|
How good are learning, teaching and achievement?
Staff provided a broad and balanced curriculum which offered good opportunities for children to make independent choices in their learning. Children were enthusiastic and sustained concentration on their chosen learning activity. They responded well to opportunities to develop their own interests through contributing to ‘big books’ and their own learning diaries. Staff had developed close relationships with children and interacted warmly with them. They used good questioning to clarify ideas but required to be more aware of opportunities to extend children’s learning.
Children were making good progress across all aspects of the curriculum. They cooperated well with each other and were learning to take turns. Children were independent in accessing their own snack through the session and in dressing for outdoors. They experimented at water play in order to identify objects which float and sink, but required more opportunities to independently explore and investigate. Children created pictures on a large screen controlled by a computer. A few were very focused while designing a model from junk. Others made shapes with play dough. Children used their imagination well in the ‘airport’ role-play area. They packed suitcases with selected clothes and booked holidays. They sang favourite songs and were able to spontaneously explore musical instruments. Children played energetically outdoors and were able to control wheeled toys. Indoors, they used their initiative to create a small obstacle course. They had good control of the fine movements of their hands and fingers, particularly when using cutlery.
Children were making good progress in communication and language. They were able to describe and recall experiences within a larger group. They listened well to staff and were able to follow instructions throughout the playroom. A few children were particularly engrossed when looking at an atlas, and almost all were able to identify their name in print at snack time. The book corner was not sufficiently stimulating to encourage children to read independently. Children enthusiastically experimented in writing their name on pieces of wood.
Children were making good progress in mathematics. They were learning to sort and match familiar objects. Children used number confidently to count toy cars and dinosaurs. They were learning about direction through work with a programmable toy. They experimented with measure while making play dough. Staff had yet to fully embed early mathematics through activities children selected by themselves.
How well are children’s needs met?
Children were warmly cared for. They ate well-planned meals throughout the day and brushed their teeth. Older children helped support younger peers through a ‘buddy’ system. Staff had good systems in place to meet the learning needs of individual children. They took good account of their interests and regularly observed them at play. Staff did not focus clearly enough on identifying and taking forward next steps in learning for individual children. The nursery had good procedures in place to support children who required additional assistance in their learning. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding the protection of children and had taken part in appropriate training.
Staff had created a positive ethos within the playroom where they encouraged children to celebrate their own achievements and those of others. Children were learning Spanish and used a few words throughout their play. Families were warmly welcomed into the nursery and were given the opportunity to contribute to children’s learning experiences through ‘learning at home’ leaflets. Staff had identified their work with families as an area for further development. Those families who responded to the pre-inspection questionnaire were pleased with almost all aspects of the work of the nursery. A few would like more information about the work of the nursery and their child’s progress.
Leading and improving the centre
Leadership of the nursery was good. The acting manager, in consultation with the owner, had clear responsibility for all aspects of the work of the nursery. She was enthusiastic and had fostered very good working relationships with the staff team. She had a clear vision for the future development of the nursery. The acting manager had recently led the staff team in making significant improvements within aspects of teaching for effective learning. She was aware of the need to continue to enhance her own skills.
Staff were hardworking and very focused in their work with children. They supported each other very well in the playroom to ensure a continuity of approach. Staff welcomed the opportunity to take on additional responsibility to reflect their individual skills. They appreciated the input from the visiting teacher. Registration with the Scottish Social Services Council was under way.
Self-evaluation of the nursery was adequate. A current improvement plan was in place and the identified priorities were well known within the staff team. Families and children had recently begun to contribute to the evaluation process. The acting manager had yet to formally monitor the work of staff in order to further improve aspects of the quality of teaching and learning.
| Good practice In the course of the inspection, the following aspects of innovative and effective practice were evaluated as being worthy of wider dissemination What was the identified issue? / What did nursery staff set out to do? We wanted to introduce a ‘Big Book’ which would allow the children to be more involved in choosing their focus of interest and the learning experiences which would surround this. This has been a new initiative for us and something we are continuing to develop. What was done? The children vote in order to choose their focus of interest for each plan. The children then design the front cover of their book based on the chosen interest. The book is filled with mind maps and scribed comments from the children about what they already know about the interest and how we could find out more about it. The children can add art work and photographs to the book also. What were the benefits to children as learners? The book allows the children to be more involved in the planning for their learning. It allows for reflection and self and peer assessment. The children and staff have been using this very effectively. This has also made staff and children more focused and motivated to develop the chosen interest and has aided us in further developing areas of the Assessment is for Learning triangle. |
Issues from previous inspections
Response to recommendations or to requirements or enforcement action made at previous inspection.
At the last Care Commission singleton inspection there were two recommendations and two requirements. Both requirements have been met and progress on the recommendations is ongoing.
Recommendations for improvement
The centre and the education authority have been asked to prepare an action plan indicating how they will address the main findings of the report, and to share that plan with parents. Within two years of the publication of this report parents will be informed about the progress made by the centre.
Shona E S Taylor |
Lynda O’Connell |
HM Inspectorate of Education |
Care Commission |
HOW TO CONTACT US
If you would like an additional copy of this report
Copies of this report have been sent to the acting 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 .
Should you wish to comment on any aspect of 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.
If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to either:
Complaints Coordinator |
Complaints Manager |
You can also e-mail HMIEComplaints@hmie.gsi.gov.uk. A copy of our complaints procedure is available from this office, by telephoning 01506 600200 or from our website at www.hmie.gov.uk .
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 (SPSO). The SPSO is fully independent and has powers to investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You should write to the SPSO, Freepost EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR. You can also telephone 0800 377 7330 (fax 0800 377 7331) or e-mail: ask@spso.org.uk . More information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website: www.spso.org.uk .
Crown Copyright 2008
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.
1. The Child at the Centre version 2 published June 2008, HMIE