Buchanhaven School Nursery Day Care of Children
Hope Street Peterhead AB42 1HD
Telephone: 01779 403665
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Completed on: 12 March 2020
Service provided by: Service provider number: Aberdeenshire Council SP2003000029
Service no: CS2003015718 Inspection report
About the service
Buchanhaven School Nursery is provided by Aberdeenshire Council. It is registered with the Care Inspectorate to provide a day care of children service to a maximum of 40 children aged 3 years to those not yet attending primary school. The nursery currently provides morning and afternoon sessions, Monday to Friday, term time only.
The service is accommodated within Buchanhaven Primary School, located in the coastal town of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. The accommodation consists of two adjacent classrooms and the corridor space between the two which gives access to toilet facilities and an outdoor play space.
The aims of the service were to:
- provide a nurturing environment where high quality interactions and stimulating activities lead to all pupils reaching their full potential in an exciting variety of ways.
- work with outside agencies, parents carers in an open and professional manner to support our children and families with any child development worries they may encounter whist at our setting.
The Vision and Values underpinning these aims were:
- A positive, nurturing and inclusive learning community - A place where individuals and their families are valued and respected. - A place where experiences are child initiated, active challenging and engaging. - A place where we build confidence, ambition, inclusion and espectr - A place where GIRFEC and the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators (Safe, Happy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included) are at the heart of our practice.
We carried out an unannounced inspection of Buchanhaven School Nursery on the 12 March 2020. During the inspection we observed and talked to the children as they played. We spoke with the depute head teacher, staff and parents, observed staff practice and assessed documentation relevant to the inspection.
The Care Inspectorate 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 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
There were between 31 and 34 children present at the time of the inspection aged 3 to 5 years. We observed the children and saw that overall, they were very happy in the setting, confident and motivated in their play. We talked with children about their experiences and they told us:
'I made a slide.' 'We are making a police station.' 'Look at what I made; I did this puzzle all by myself.' 'We have got peppers, lettuce, grapes and tomatoes for snack; they are all healthy.' 'I pressed this (pipette bulb) and it squirted right over to the other side of the room!'
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'We are making potions; pouring and mixing the colours.' 'I like stories, my favourite is The Gruffalo.'
Fourteen out of a sample of twenty two parents returned completed questionnaires to us before the inspection; all were very happy with the quality of care their children receive. Written comments included:
'My children have both attended this nursery and loved it, and the staff. I find the staff very friendly and approachable. My child loves going in every day and always leaves very happy.' 'All the staff are amazing, my child loves going in every day. I have never had any complaints about the setting.'
'I am delighted with the care my child receives and find staff to be friendly and approachable at all times, to parents and children alike. They are professional and highly organised, keeping me well informed of the learning activities for the term, my child's progress and any other issues. Communication to parents is excellent, with information on the board at the entrance to the nursery, regular newsletters inform of school and nursery events and termly profiles on how my child is doing. My child thoroughly enjoys the time they spend at nursery.'
'The staff are highly qualified, they care very much for the children, they are nice. I am happy that my child goes to Buchanhaven Nursery.'
'On pick up there isn't much time to get feedback. It would be nice to have maybe a little debrief on the white board, for example focusing on Autumn this week, read whatever book.'
'My child requires some additional support. The teachers are very patient and help to support him.'
'My child has speech and language delay and communication issues. The nursery have went above and beyond to help get the extra support and to help my child as much as they can by going to other resources for advice on children with additional support needs.'
One parent commented on the outdoor area being updated during November, which restricted outdoor play. The parent would have liked to have seen the school grounds being used more or walks to the beach and local parks.
We also spoke with four parents as they dropped off or collected their children who commented very positively on the nursery:
'My child has settled in quickly and has come on a lot in speech and language. Staff know my child's personality really well and that they like to be outdoors.'
'My child has settled in quickly since January and loves the messy play. My child has learned numbers and letters and can now recognise their name. Staff are very helpful and tell you everything that is happening.'
'My child is coming on here with numbers and counting. I like the way they involve them in snack preparation, it has given my child more confidence and they now like to help me making sandwiches at home. The ocusf week on my child was good I sometimes think the staff know my child better than I do.'
'My child has been coming since last August and is doing fine. They are now confident with other children and adults, counting well which they couldn't do before and more interested in drawing and writing. We have had occasional questionnaires to ask our views about the nursery.'
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Self assessment
The service had not been asked to complete a self assessment in advance of the inspection. We looked at their own improvement plan and quality assurance processes. These demonstrated their priorities for development and how they were monitoring the quality of the provision within the service.
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
The manager and staff had developed trusting relationships with parents and worked together well in partnership to plan for and meet children's care needs. All practitioners knew the children well as individuals and supported their care needs appropriately. Medication was well managed by knowledgeable staff. Children with additional support needs were included and supported positively within the nursery. Partnership with other agencies meant staff were well informed about how to best support children. Staff were very good at using body language, Makaton signing and assessment for learning techniques to support communication.
Children were learning about being healthy, encouraged to be active and learning to be responsible, kind and caring and to share their feelings. Staff had a sound understanding of child protection, describing how regular discussion of scenarios at team meetings had developed their knowledge; contributing to children being protected and kept safe from harm.
Learning through play was centred on sound open-ended core provision and topics taking account of children's interests and voices. This meant children were motivated and could take forward their own learning at their own level of ability. They explored water, colour and pipettes as tools as they made potions in the water play. Free flow access to outdoor play esulr ted in children readily experiencing fresh air and energetic activity. Imaginative play outdoors incorporated learning about building technology and measurements. Visits out of the nursery extended children's learning about their community, for example learning about boat-building and saltwater fish at the local men's shed. Visitors enabled children's participation in Kodaly singing and football training.
Children were highly engaged in loose parts play, planned as a science project to involve them in science week in school. Materials had been sourced from home, involving families and exciting the children. Children confidently used the materials, concentrating well as they developed their projects individually and co-operatively in small groups. They were proud of their achievements which were recognised by staff. Staff were respectful, always asking children's permission before taking photographs.
Staff interaction with children in their play was very well judged. Staff were room aware, engaging children's interest in activities. They were observant and helped children to access resources when they needed something. Good questioning helped children to think for themselves and explore their ideas. Parents we spoke with reflected very positively on the progress they had seen their children make in literacy and numeracy through attending the nursery and children's increasing confidence.
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The service was well managed and ably led by the depute head teacher who had a deep insight into the working of the nursery, the staff, children and families. All staff had meaningful leadership responsibilities for developing and monitoring aspects of the work of the nursery.
Parents were welcomed into the nursery and had been fully involved in giving their views about nursery improvement in a variety of informal and formal ways including adding comments and suggestions to a 'Talking Tree' Display. Through social media all parents were being involved in reviewing the nursery's vision and values.
A strong improvement plan and monitoring calendar were supporting continued development. Priorities were focussed on improving children's health and wellbeing and attainment. As a result, the SHANARRI health and wellbeing indicators were being promoted well with children and families. Staff had an increased awareness of evaluating children's progress in literacy and numeracy using recognised benchmarks and toolkits.
What the service could do better
Children were involved in snack preparation, developing positive skills in using tools. They enjoyed a healthy snack and were capable and very independent at self-serving. However, one member of staff having up to 16 children at snack time meant they were unable to safely and effectively supervise and support the children. Children had minimum engagement from the staff member to make snack time sociable and to teach good manners. As a result, a few children left the table while they were still eating putting them at risk of choking. The staff member was aware of all the relevant allergies children had and explained how these were planned for so that children were included. However, children were consistently misinformed about the type of meat they were eating. This meant children could be at risk of eating foods they were allergic to or culturally not meant to eat. (See recommendation 1)
In progressing with the future extension of nursery hours the provider, manager and staff need to give more thought to the provision of facilities for children who need to rest or sleep, particularly the provision and storage of hygienic covers to minimise cross infection and to provide washable bedding for comfort and hygiene.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 1
1. The manager and staff to ensure that children are effectively supervised and supported at snack time to improve children's experiences and outcomes in health, safety and wellbeing.
This ensures that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards, which state, 'I can enjoy unhurried snack and mealtimes in as relaxed an atmosphere as possible.' (HSCS 1.35) 'My needs are met by the right number of people.' (HSCS 3.15) 'People have time to support and care for me and to speak with me.' (HSCS 3.16)
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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.
What the service has done to meet any requirements we made at or since the last inspection
Previous requirements
There are no outstanding requirements.
What the service has done to meet any recommendations we made at or since the last inspection
Previous recommendations
There are no outstanding recommendations.
Inspection and grading history
Date Type Gradings 16 Mar 2017 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership Not assessed
21 Jan 2014 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
18 Jun 2008 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good
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Date Type Gradings 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.
Care services in Scotland cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and help services to improve. We also investigate complaints about care services and can take action when things aren't good enough.
Please get in touch with us if you would like more information or have any concerns about a care service.
You can also read more about our work online at www.careinspectorate.com
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This report is available in other languages and formats on request.
Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas.
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