Westquarter Primary School Nursery Day Care of Children
Westquarter Avenue Westquarter Falkirk FK2 9RN
Telephone: 01324 503950
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Completed on: 12 October 2018
Service provided by: Service provider number: Falkirk Council SP2004006884
Service no: CS2003015570 Inspection report
About the service
This service has been registered since 1 April 2002.
Westquarter Primary School Nursery is part of Falkirk Council's provision of early learning and childcare. The service is registered to provide a care service to a maximum of 50 children. The children will be aged between 3 years and those not yet attending school.
The service is located in the village of Westquarter near Falkirk town centre. The accommodation comprises of an open planned area with a separate kitchen, laundry, changing area and office. The entrance to the nursery leads to a good sized cloakroom with storage facilities for children's belongings. A fully enclosed outdoor space and use of the local community provides children with outdoor learning opportunities.
The aims and objectives of the service reflect the ourf capacities of the curriculum for excellence and describe how the service intends to enable children to become successful learners, confident individuals, esponsibler citizens and effective contributors.
We check services are meeting the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (also known as GIRFEC), Scotland's national approach to improving outcomes and wellbeing for children by offering the right help at the right time from the right people. It supports them and their parent(s) to work with the services that can help them. There are eight wellbeing indicators at the heart of Getting it right for every child: safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included.
What people told us
During the inspection we spent time with the children present. We observed them to be happy and confident in the setting. They told us about the play dough they were making. "It's sticky so it needs some flour." "You mix flour, salt, water and oil to make the play dough." "I can take my play dough home." Children engaged in the role play area told us they were eating pasta for lunch and others told us about their best friends in nursery.
We spoke with five parents who commented positively about the quality of the nursery. They said that staff were 'lovely' providing lots of 'exciting activities' for the children. They told us that children were well supported when making the transition into nursery so that they felt safe and secure and about the friendships their children had made. Parents whose children had attended nursery last year commented positively about the 'less structured approach' that resulted in children having more exciting activities including more messy play.
We sent out questionnaires for distribution by the service. Eleven completed questionnaires were returned. They highlighted that families overall 'strongly agreed' that they were happy with the quality of the care children received. They commented on the positive relationships they and their children had with staff and how well staff supported children's individual needs. They said children enjoyed their time in nursery and that they benefitted from a variety of fun and exciting experiences.
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Self assessment
The service had not been asked to complete a self-assessment in advance of this inspection. We looked at the improvement plan for the service which demonstrated clear priorities for improving outcomes as well as progress being made.
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support 5 - Very Good Quality of environment not assessed Quality of staffing not assessed Quality of management and leadership 5 - Very Good
What the service does well
Children were treated with dignity and respect by staff who showed warmth, kindness and compassion. This supported them to build trusting relationships and develop self-confidence. arP ents commented positively about the effective arrangements to settle children into nursery so that they felt safe and secure.
Families were included in the service through staff using effective communication methods. For example, children were supported to have a voice through the use of visual prompts and makaton. The success of this initiative was recognised through the service being awarded a Bronze award. Next steps for improvement included developing effective questioning and the use of restorative language in interactions and professional note taking to promote and support inclusion. Parents were encouraged to be involved in nursery life through for example accompanying children on outings. Staff were building caring, respectful and supportive relationships with families securing a partnership approach to caring for children.
Tracking and monitoring children's achievements continued to develop. Work around reviewing the vision, values and aims for the service resulted in agreement that staff wanted to follow children's interests using a flexible planning approach. Responsive planning continued to be developed as a result. The use of tracking and monitoring systems meant that quality observations and professional dialogue helped staff to ensure children were receiving appropriate support and challenge in their learning.
Children engaged in a range of rich play opportunities that supported them to achieve, develop new skills and develop confidence in their abilities. For example, they were supported with risky activities including chopping fruit with a sharp knife. Open ended play opportunities supported children to have fun developing skills in understanding, thinking, investigation and problem solving. E-journals and group floor books provided evidence of the experiences children have been involved in over time and offered opportunities for children to discuss and reflect on their learning.
We found that general practice in the areas of managing medication and recording accidents and incidents were managed well. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to safeguard children in their care and had regular training to refresh their skills and knowledge in the protection of children.
The senior management team were committed to delivering high quality early learning and childcare. A well paced approach to change was implemented responding well to local and national guidance. Professional review and development provided staff with an opportunity to demonstrate and discuss their strengths. Areas for
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further development were identified and professional learning opportunities provided. There is a positive ethos in the nursery with staff feeling their skills and talents were acknowledged and were taking forward opportunities for leadership. Responsibility for developing outdoor learning opportunities supported children to have fun developing skills in understanding, thinking, investigation and problem solving through the development of loose parts play. Reflective practice and shared learning opportunities supported the service to explore how they could best provide the highest quality outcomes for children and families.
Self-evaluation systems and processes supported targeted improvement across the service. Recognised self- evaluation tools and good practice guidance were used to look at what the service did well, how they could improve and how to take forward changes.
What the service could do better
Children enjoyed a social experience during snack and lunchtime. We discussed the need for the service to support the development of positive food habits for children from a very early age. For example, by working to highlight the levels of sugar and salt in some of the foods provided in children's packed lunches.
Wall displays within the nursery documented a variety of play and learning with links to local and national best practice guidance. Good connections were made to progress and individual achievements. However we suggested that displays could be further developed so that children's input is valued and respected and their learning is supported through for example, the displays being interactive.
The service aimed to continue to improve nurture spaces and approaches to provide cosy, warm spaces where children could be peaceful, quiet and have space to reflect. eW discussed the current best practice document, "Space to Grow" to support the development of this area.
Children were engaged in activities including junk modelling that stimulated their natural curiosity, learning and creativity. We asked the service to ensure that the resources available were of good quality and quantity to enhance participation and learning. Respectful resourcing and attention to detail when managing play areas and activities would ensure that children achieve and reach their potential.
We were confident that the management and staff team were committed to continued improvement by further developing their knowledge and skills and reflecting on their practice. We discussed how to further engage staff and other partners in the process of self-evaluation by creating visual systems. This will support their learning journey with a view to providing the highest quality outcomes for children and families.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0
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Complaints
There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at www.careinspectorate.com.
Inspection and grading history
Date Type Gradings 30 Oct 2015 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
6 Nov 2012 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
2 Dec 2008 Unannounced Care and support 6 - Excellent Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
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To find out more
This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website.
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