Drongan Early Childhood Centre Day Care of Children
Millmannoch Avenue Drongan Ayr KA6 7BY
Telephone: 01292 591521
Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 28 February 2017
Service provided by: Service provider number: East Ayrshire Council SP2003000142
Care service number: CS2003016948 Inspection report
About the service
The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland. Information about all care services is available on our website at www.careinspectorate.com.
This service was previously registered with the Care Commission and transferred its registration to the Care Inspectorate on 1 April 2011.
Drongan Early Childcare Centre is a daycare service for children provided by East Ayrshire Council. A head teacher manages the service and supervises the staff. A mix of teachers, early learning and childcare practitioners and support assistants deliver early learning and childcare.
The provider offers the service within Drongan Primary School in the town of Ayr. The service operates part day sessions and caters for a maximum of 60 children aged from two years to school age. Provision for 2-3 year olds is new to the service.
We check services are meeting the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (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 GIRFEC: safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, and included, also known as the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators
What people told us
Children were observed to be happy, relaxed and comfortable in the surroundings. They were able to chat confidently about what goes on in nursery and espondedr positively to staff.
We had nine Care Standards Questionnaires completed and returned to us during our inspection. We also spoke with three parents during the inspection. Overall, all parents indicated they were happy with the quality of care their child received. Additional comments from parents included: "I am extremely happy...... they always make time to update me on his day and to listen and implement any suggestions I have to encourage my son...... they make him feel included and very comfortable", "I feel it's a great place with lovely staff, always a friendly welcoming place" and parents we spoke with told us about the support they received from the service and how this had a positive impact on their children. They advised that they had built good relationships with staff and felt included in the service. Some feedback from parents indicated that the service could improve on being involved and "out and about" in the local community.
Self assessment
The Care Inspectorate received a fully completed self-assessment from the service. This was completed by the manager and staff. The self-assessment gave examples of improvements they had implemented as well as areas for development. The manager and staff spoke with us about their plans for these improvements
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support 5 - Very Good Quality of environment 5 - Very Good
Inspection report for Drongan Early Childhood Centre page 2 of 5 Inspection report
Quality of staffing not assessed Quality of management and leadership not assessed
What the service does well
The service had recently moved into a newly refurbished and extended space within the primary school. Everyone we spoke with advised of the positive impact this had on children's experiences. The nursery had recently extended its service to include 2-3 year olds.
Older children we spoke with were able to chat confidently with us and involved us in their play. Staff were knowledgeable about children and were keen to support the whole child through initiatives such as 'Mindful Yoga' Which promotes mental and physical health for children. Younger children were settled and confident within their room. Staff had created a caring and nurturing environment. They had recently joined the nursery and were committed to developing the under three provision and share their knowledge and skills which would support transitions into the 3-5 room. They were promoting knowledge of schemas for parents and staff which was good as it would help support continuity of care for children.
The children's personal plans were used by the service to provide the appropriate support. Parents were involved and kept up to date in their child's learning and development. They had developed good relationships with families. Feedback from parents indicated that they were happy with the service and felt included.
Staff we spoke with were committed to promoting positive outcomes for children and were aware of the importance of the environment and how this impacts on children's experiences. They were able to tell us how they had adapted the environment to suit the children who attended. The service was bright and welcoming and new furniture had been purchased by the provider. Children were able to access the outdoor space via ramps from their playrooms.
The new manager had made a positive impact on the service. Staff advised that they had a good relationship with her and that she supported them with their practice and any other issues that arise. A development plan with timescales was in place.
What the service could do better
A recommendation from the last inspection had not been met (see recommendation 1). We discussed personal plans and how they could be improved and have more meaningful information recorded to help support children. Whilst children were able to access outdoor play, this was not always free choice. The manager and teacher advised that this was an area that they were developing and that children's choice would be supported. We will look at the impact of this during the next inspection. The mats secured on the ramps needed attention as areas could potentially be a trip hazard. The sponge surface used in the outdoor areas was found to be slippery (see recommendation 2).
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Inspection report for Drongan Early Childhood Centre page 3 of 5 Inspection report
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 2
1. The provider should ensure that staff access GIRFEC training.
National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16 - Standard 12: Confidence in staff.
2. The provider should investigate and take action to improve these areas of concern for children using the service:
- Outdoor mats secured to ramps - Outdoor sponge surface.
National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16 - Standard 2: A safe environment.
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 18 Sep 2013 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
27 Oct 2010 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership Not assessed
21 Nov 2008 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
Inspection report for Drongan Early Childhood Centre page 4 of 5 Inspection report
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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Other languages and formats
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.
Inspection report for Drongan Early Childhood Centre page 5 of 5