Cranston Country Nursery Day Care of Children
Edgehead Road Pathhead EH37 5RG
Telephone: 01875321370
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Completed on: 25 July 2018
Service provided by: Service provider number: Cranston Nurseries Limited SP2009010374
Service no: CS2009216752 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
The service has been registered with the Care Inspectorate since it was formed 2011.
Cranston Country Nursery is located at Edgehead Road, Pathhead, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The nursery works with children from birth to five years and is in partnership with Midlothian Council. They work with the national Curriculum for Excellence, and national guidance, Pre-Birth to Three. The nursery is in a rural setting, with four garden areas and good car parking facilities. There are three playrooms in the main building and the baby room in the annex.
The service is registered to provide a care service to a maximum of ninety-seven children aged between birth and entry into primary school.
The nursery's statement of Vision and Values are as follows:
"Cranston Country Nursery's primary function is to be the lead provider of high quality childcare with the strong emphasis on education, giving all children who attend the nursery the advantage of a better start when they enter primary education.
Working in partnership with parents, we offer a professional and caring environment where:
* children feel safe and respected. * parents are supported and included in their child's care. * parents are welcomed
Based on equal opportunities, the curriculum at Cranston Country Nursery aspires to produce successful learners, confident individuals, esponsibler citizens and effective contributors."
What people told us
The number of children attending the service varied throughout the inspection. We could see they were happy, relaxed and confident in their environment. We spoke to many of the children and joined them in their play. They were confident in chatting to us, and shared their learning about space, planets, and growing fruit and vegetables.
Their comments included:
"I like lots of things." "I like my friends and I play with them." I like the beam and space station."
We received 14 returned care standard questionnaires from the 44 we gave to the service to distribute to parents before the inspection. Feedback in these questionnaires indicated that ten parents were very happy and four were happy with the level of care their child received from approachable and friendly staff.
Written comments from parents included:
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"My child has had a very positive and nourishing experience over their pre-school years at Cranston."
"Fantastic nursery primarily due to excellent staff. They are caring, nurturing, genuinely interested in my child and their life out with nursery (siblings, interests etc). We have used the nursery for five years and it is continually trying to evolve and improve, the environment with several projects in the rooms and the gardens. The children get to spend a lot of time outdoors and many activities are designed by staff to fit with the children's current interest. A great mix of education and learning through play and care. Our children are very happy."
"My child has a range of allergies and the nursery have been professional and accommodating with us, including making me feel very confident about leaving my child in their care. The nursery have been so reassuring and accommodating."
"Extremely happy with the level of care and service provided by the management and staff of Cranston nursery."
"I am thrilled with my children's progress at Cranston. It is an excellent environment which allows them to thrive and become confident individuals."
"My children both love their time at nursery and are so happy when I drop them and pick them up. I could not be happier with Cranston."
Self assessment
The service had not been asked to submit a self-assessment in advance of this inspection. We looked at their improvement plan and quality assurance paperwork. These demonstrated their priorities for development and how they were monitoring the quality of provision within the service.
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support 4 - Good Quality of environment not assessed Quality of staffing 4 - Good Quality of management and leadership not assessed
What the service does well
We saw children were nurtured in a warm caring environment where there was an ethos of respect for all. The staff were caring and responsive to the needs of the children and their parents. We saw trusting relationships had developed and children were relaxed, happy and confident in their environment.
Babies and young children had developed trusting attachments with key staff, who were gentle in their manner and provided a calm, relaxed environment. They used singing to support and encourage children with their daily routines. Children enjoyed looking at books and participating in story time. This promoted their communication and language development, and provided a sense of belonging for the children.
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Staff had an awareness of children's needs and interests. E-leaning journals and wellbeing folders were used to monitor and record children's observations and progress. These were shared with parents. Children were supported to feel safe, secure and valued.
There were some confident children aged three to five years who were engaged well in their learning, showing a particular interest in space and nature. The children benefited from considerable outdoor space in the nursery which provided varying surfaces and opportunities to develop their physical skills. Children's experiences were further enhanced by exploring the rural community, visiting parks and farms. They grew their own fruit, herbs and vegetables which they used for their snack.
Children were learning about healthy lifestyles, social skills and good manners. We could see the they interacted well with each other, friendships were encouraged and developing.
There were some on-going changes to the staff teams, these included staff moving on, new staff employed and the development of a senior team. The senior team were in the process of establishing new roles and lead responsibilities to support new employees and the nursery team's professional development. The staff who returned our questionnaires described the service as being a good place to work and having good support from management. They also confirmed staff had opportunities to further developing their knowledge.
The staff had collective responsibility for moving the nursery forward and making improvements. They worked closely with the senior management team, reflecting on and developing their practice. This commitment supported good outcomes for the children.
What the service could do better
To support the development of babies and young children, more opportunities for sensory and messy play should be made available. Health and Social Care Standard, (HSCS 2.27)
To support children's choice, independence and responsibility, the nursery should review meal times to allow children to self-select and serve themselves. This would promote their self-help skills and develop children's confidence. (HSCS 1.22)
Staff should further develop responsive planning and the use of floor books. They should ensure children are involved in the process, as this would support staff to meet the individual needs of the children and involve them in leading their own planning and learning. (HSCS 1.12)
Practitioners had responsibility in championing some key areas in the nursery, however it was agreed that this could be developed further, for example, in leading schematic play, echo schools and loose parts play. This would support the development of the service and good outcomes for the children. (HSCS 4.19)
To encourage children to challenge themselves, problem solve and take risks, the staff should understand the importance of risky play. The nursery should develop a balanced and holistic approach to risk-benefit assessment and involve children in the process. The following resources should be used to support staff in promoting risky play. 'My World Outdoors' which can be found at, www.careinspectorate.com and 'Loose parts play' found at, www.inspiringscotland.org.uk (HSCS 2.24 & 2.27)
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Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0
Complaints
There ha ve 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 21 Sep 2016 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership Not assessed
9 Jul 2014 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 6 - Excellent Management and leadership 5 - Very good
20 Aug 2010 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
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Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas.
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