Lecropt Ltd Day Care of Children
The Old Schoolhouse Henderson Street Bridge of Allan Stirling FK9 4NB
Telephone: 01786 834 596
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Completed on: 25 February 2019
Service provided by: Service provider number: Lecropt Ltd SP2004004615
Service no: CS2003036407 Inspection report
About the service
The Care Inspectorate is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all children receiving a care service. We want to ensure they have the best start in life, are ready to succeed and live longer, healthier lives.
We check services are meeting the principles of Getting it right for every child (also known as GIRFEC). Set up by Scottish Government, GIRFEC is a national approach to working in a consistent way with all children and young people. It is underpinned by the principles of prevention and early intervention. The approach helps services focus on what makes a positive difference for children and young people - and what they can do to improve. Getting it right for every child is being woven into all policy, practice, strategy and legislation that affect children, young people and their families.
There are eight wellbeing indicators at the heart of Getting it right for every child. They are: safe; healthy; achieving; nurtured; active; respected; responsible; and included. They are often referred to as the SHANARRI indicators. We use these indicators at inspection, to assess how services are making a positive difference for children.
Lecropt nursery is a privately owned nursery which works in partnership with Stirling Council to provide ante and pre school commissioned places to three-five year olds. The nursery is situated in the Bridge of Allan area of Stirling.
The service has been registered since 2003. The nursery is registered to care for 47 children aged from three months to those not yet attending primary school.
The nursery aims to:
- support children and families through the development of early learning and childcare. - develop an active community where children and families are supported to realise their potential.
We compiled this report following an announced inspection, which took place on Monday 25 February 2019. The inspection was carried out by one early learning and childcare, Care Inspectorate inspector. During this inspection we spoke to the children, senior practitioners, provider, depute manager and manager. We chatted to two parents when they arrived to pick up their child. We looked at a number of documents including children's personal plans, safety records, planning tools, training plans and quality assurance folders.
We sent 20 questionnaires to the manager to distribute to the parents/carers of children who used the service. Twenty of these were returned before the inspection.
We sent ten staff questionnaires to the service. Four were completed and returned before the inspection.
What people told us
We spoke to three parents at the visit. They spoke positively about the environment and the staff team. Some of their comments included:
'This a great nursery and they have good links with the local community; they visit the local shops.'
'I think it is a friendly place, my wee one is happy and that makes me happy. It gets a good reputation in the local area.'
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Twenty parental questionnaires were returned prior to the inspection visit. Some comments included:
'I am extremely happy with the care received by all the staff. They know my son and his health condition extremely well and have put into place all the help he requires.'
'My son loves his time at Lecropt and gets into his room without a second look or goodbye when I drop him off. He is currently in the three-five oomr which is full of great areas to explore and develop his interests. He occasionally does need some quiet time. However, there is a small area, within the room, it's just not as quiet as may be needed. I believe Lecropt have done everything possible though with the space they have. I would just like to magic a room.'
'Lecropt cares deeply about the care, growth and development of my daughter and all other children in their care. I witness it regularly, my daughter has a lot of love for her care givers and the regularly communicate with us and involve us in decisions.'
'My son recently visited a care home for the elderly with educators from the nursery. I thought this was a wonderful idea. My son really enjoyed his trip. Hopefully this will broaden his social skill and help prepare him to become a well-rounded young man.'
'Thank you to all the staff at Lecropt, I couldn't do it without you.'
All children were confident and chatted to us freely. Some comments included:
'I like to play with my friends.' 'I like to play and climb the climbing crate.' 'I like to play with all my friends, we play games.' 'We love the ladies.' 'I am the lunch helper today, I help set the tables up.' 'I help too, we help tidy up.' 'I like to make up the rules, I am the boss.' 'We are going on a walk picking up litter, we met a hairdresser, the postman and saw diggers digging the mud.'
Self assessment
We did not request a self assessment this time. We did view the nursery improvement plan.
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
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What the service does well
Major strengths of this nursery is the nurturing, inclusive and relaxed care and education provided by the nursery. Both children and staff had a mutual respect for each other. Children were content and spoke freely about their nursery. We saw staff encouraging children to be kind and thoughtful to each other. Babies were nurtured and supported to participate in curiosity and investigative play. We saw that personal routines mirrored home routines. The staff team were very responsive to children's individual needs.
Children in the two-three years playroom were invited to participate in singing and outdoor play. They directed their own play. They were using their natural curiosity to enhance their own scheme learning development. All staff used skilful questioning to maximise children's learning potential. They were using Higher Thinking Skills to scaffold further learning.
Children aged three-five years had free flow access to the garden area. The two-three years rooms had free flow access to two rooms, enabling the space to enable a variety of different types of play opportunities. They enjoyed taking risks jumping from a small height, playing imaginatively in the pretend office and eedingf their doll in the house corner role play area. Babies enjoyed fresh air and some of the older children were cuddling and chatting with them in the garden area.
The service provided a rich outdoor learning environment. All ages of children played together in the outdoor space enabling turn taking and forming friendships. We saw children negotiating space and balance, risk taking, problem solving in the safe outdoor garden. We saw that the garden was a very good resource; it was a large natural green space, providing lots of opportunities for children to explore and take risks. We saw children decision making and organising a game of 'hide and seek'.
Children's personal care plans linked excellently to the principles of the Curriculum for Excellence and the GIRFEC framework. The service had collated information and contained this in the personal care plans. These were child- centred. They included the assessment and review of developmental needs as well as the identification of how needs would be supported and e-learning journals had meaningful observations. The service ensured these plans are reviewed with parents/carers every six months or sooner, depending on the needs of the child.
The medication protocols and storage procedures followed best practice guidance.
The service had an effective child protection policy in place, staff were confident about their olesr and responsibilities relating to protecting children from harm, abuse, bullying and neglect.
We saw the nursery had embraced the 'loose parts' play, especially in the garden area. We saw they had 'real life' resources introduced in the under three's playrooms. This provided an excellent nurturing effect on small children.
The management team demonstrated a commitment to continually improve the all round quality of the service. The nursery had very good robust quality assurance quality assurance systems. We viewed records of staff support and supervision sessions.
The overall quality is monitored and evaluated using various bench marks including best practice guidance; 'How Good is Our Early Learning and Childcare' (HGIOELC), 'Curriculum for Excellence' and 'Building the Ambition'. They provide a Standards and Quality report to the local authority annually. This detailed evidence of targets, goals and achievements.
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The manager was forward thinking and told us that she felt the staff team were gelling well. Staff told us they met regularly to discuss planning and nursery developments. They said they felt well informed and supported by the management team.
The service had very good robust safer recruitment practices in place.
What the service could do better
The management team agreed to review the lunchtime experiences in the three-five years playroom. This should enable children to be empowered, sociable and independent.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0
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.
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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 1 Feb 2017 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership Not assessed
22 Jan 2015 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
25 Jan 2013 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
6 May 2010 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership Not assessed
3 Apr 2009 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good 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
Contact us
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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.
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