Hurlford and Crookedholm Early Learning and Childcare Services Day Care of Children
51 Academy Street Hurlford Kilmarnock KA1 5BU
Telephone: 07967 115689
Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 23 February 2018
Service provided by: Service provider number: Hurlford and Crookedholm Early SP2003000698 Learning and Childcare Services Committee
Care service number: CS2003003423 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
Hurlford and Crookedholm Early Learning and Childcare Services was previously registered with the Care Commission and transferred its registration on 1 April 2011.
This is a daycare service for children provided by the management committee of Hurlford and Crookedholm Early Learning and Childcare Services. The service has its own premises and is located in the village of Hurlford in East Ayrshire. It is registered to provide a care service to a maximum of 30 children aged two years to those not attending primary school, with a maximum of 10 children aged two years to under three years. The service has applied for a variation to remove the condition on the registration certificate elatingr to providing a service to children attending primary school.
A full statement of the aims of the service is available for people using the service.
The Care Inspectorate is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all children receiving a care service. We check that services are meeting the principles of Getting it Right For Every Child also known as (GIRFEC). This is 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, often referred to as the SHANARRI indicators.
What people told us
There were 23 children in attendance during the morning of the inspection visit, six children stayed for lunch and eight children attended in the afternoon. We observed children engaging in a range of play activities both indoors and out. They played happily in groups, with a friend or on their own and several were happy to tell us about what they were doing. Children confidently approached staff for help when needed and invited them to join with them in their play.
Children were happily engaged in the nursery activities and daily routine. They talked about the things they were learning and what was important to them. Children's comments included:
"You can turn the wee bricks round and look it's got numbers - it's like a dice. You play a game with a dice and throw it". "We have to take turns and it's my turn". "I like the Weetabix...look I smashed it up". "We were wrapping [child] up in paper...it was funny". "We are pirates burying treasure". "I like to dress up". "I like to play with my friends".
We sent out 10 care standards questionnaires to the service to distribute to parents/carers. Six questionnaires were completed and returned to us. We also spoke with seven parents/carers during the inspection visit. Responses received were positive and included:
Inspection report for Hurlford and Crookedholm Early Learning and Childcare Services page 2 of 10 Inspection report
"An excellent service. I love how they have a lot of outdoor fun and the staff are very friendly" "I feel I am included in her learning and progression and enjoy joining in when I can...a great asset to our community". "The staff are all brilliant. I am able to talk to all the staff about my child. Love how they have adventures outside and have little memories of their own". "[Child] has come out of their shell and speech is coming on". "Great environment. There's a good information board at the front, a 'whatsap' group and a blog to keep us informed". "I like that the menus are displayed. It would be good for that to go on the blog".
Generally, parents we talked to and those who returned our questionnaires were very happy with the care and support provided by the service. Two parents we talked to mentioned that they felt group times with the children's keyworker were of particular importance and we discussed this with the manager. Overall, parents/ carers commented that their children were making good progress in various areas of their development with the support of staff; including language and communication, confidence and behaviour.
Self assessment
The service had not been asked to complete a self-assessment in advance of the inspection. We looked at the service improvement plan and self-evaluation records. These demonstrated the 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 4 - Good Quality of staffing 4 - Good Quality of management and leadership 4 - Good
Quality of care and support
Findings from the inspection We found that children's care and support was very good. Staff were welcoming, caring and friendly and responded sensitively to the children. They worked well with parents/carers to identify how they could support children and involved other agencies when necessary.
During the inspection, we found that staff were making good progress in developing how they provided a range of experiences to encourage children to share their thinking, talk about their interests and develop their imagination. For example, following their interest in the story 'The Three Little Pigs' the children had used straw and wood in various areas of the playroom as well as outdoors and had made pictures and models and a 'brick' fireplace for the home area. As a result, children's learning was enhanced including experiencing the properties of natural materials, problem solving and progressing in literacy and numeracy.
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Children had opportunities to play and learn together and develop a sense of fairness. We saw that staff skilfully supported them in resolving disputes and sharing resources. During the free flow snack, children had ample time to choose from a good range of healthy options including cereals and fruit. With appropriate support from staff, they were developing independence skills. Snack was an unhurried activity and we were impressed with the children's perseverence and their sense of achievement in preparing and serving their own snack.
Children were encouraged to practice good hand hygiene and tooth brushing and staff carried out good hygiene procedures during snack and lunchtime routines. Children staying for lunch enjoyed their healthy packed lunches from home and chatting at the table. Staff told us that parents had access to the 'Setting the Table' best practice guidance for healthy lunches.
The younger children had a welcome time with their keyworkers at the start of the session in the library room. This enabled them to settle in a cosy area, look at books, play with a familiar toy and explore the selection of toys and natural materials in the baskets. This was working well and children chose when they were ready to go in to the main playroom.
Children had daily opportunities to go outside to the outdoor play area. Twice a week they visited the nearby wooded area or the local park. This was helping to support their wellbeing and extend their physical skills. During the morning of the inspection, initially all children were asked to get ready to go out but when several children wanted to continue playing indoors, staff were deployed appropriately.
The children had gone outside later than usual and did not have as long to play before being collected by parents. Following discussion with the manager and considering the service improvement plan, we are satisfied that the service will address staff deployment and the pace and balance of the daily activities to enable children to have a more free flow outdoor experience.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 5 - very good
Quality of environment
Findings from the inspection Overall, we found that the centre provided a good environment for children to play safely, develop independence and enjoy learning. To keep children safe, there was a secure door entry system and visitors signed in and out of the building. The display area at the entrance provided clear information about the work of the centre for parents and visitors.
In the playroom, there was good use of space for children playing independently or in small groups. We saw that children accessed craft materials independently and there was a good range of natural materials throughout the playroom which the children could use imaginatively.
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The children enjoyed using the climbing frame and chute and were talking about being safe and finding different ways to use the equipment. Staff were involved appropriately but did not disrupt the children's play. Children freely used the sensory room for being pirates and "burying treasure". They used the library for stories and quiet activities. Both were easily accessible from the main playroom.
The toilets accessed from the playroom, were in a good state of repair and décor and the nappy changing area was suitable in accordance with best practice guidance. We asked the manager to provide a larger pedal operated bin for the toilets to minimise spread of infection.
The rear garden area was directly accessible from the playroom. Staff had risk assessed this and put safety measures in place including visual stop signs for the steps and appropriate staff deployment. The service planned to use this area for planting with small groups of children. The storage area under the steps needed to be tidied and cleared and the manager told us there were plans to address this when the weather improved.
The outdoor play area at the front had been improved and synthetic grass, a ramp and fencing had been installed. Children used a variety of natural materials and man-made equipment and the service planned to further develop outdoor learning opportunities using this area.
To help keep children safe, staff had completed appropriate training including first aid, oodf handling and child protection. Accident and Incident forms had been completed appropriately and were audited. We saw that children had been involved in risk assessing the sand area and risk assessments to be updated had been identified by the manager.
Although we have identified some areas for improvement, overall, the service was operating to a good standard for this quality theme, leading to positive experiences and outcomes for children.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 4 - good
Quality of staffing
Findings from the inspection Staff had created a welcoming, caring, pleasant environment. They demonstrated respect for each other, for children, parents/carers, and other professionals.
Staff listened to children in an unhurried manner and comments from support teaching staff indicated they were making good progress in extending the child's use of language and, encouraging inquiry. To continue to improve children's play and learning experiences we have asked that staff should monitor the noise level in the playroom and the pace and balance of the day.
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Parents we talked to spoke highly of the staff team. They commented that staff were very supportive and had made favourite toys available for children to help them settle. They told us that their children enjoyed attending the service. This indicated there were positive home link relationships. Staff regularly discussed formally and informally how they could best meet the needs of the children and a visiting professional told us that staff were very proactive in supporting children and working with other agencies.
Staff had been safely recruited and vetted and we found them to be skilled and professional. They demonstrated that they were motivated to improve the service and happy at their work. Staff had good awareness of best practice guidance including 'Setting the Table' nutritional guidance and 'Building the Ambition' and were using these to improve their practice. The staff engaged fully with the inspection process.
Staff held appropriate childcare qualifications and all staff were registered with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC - responsible for registering people who work in social services and regulating their education and training). Following an appraisal meeting staff were taking on leadership roles including nurture, outdoor learning, communication and maths and natural resources. We saw they were making progress in these areas.
We discussed ongoing staff development with the manager and told us she planned to ensure staff were offered suitable training opportunities, appraisals and involvement in developing the improvement plan.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 4 - good
Quality of management and leadership
Findings from the inspection Following a challenging year for the service including a change of premises we found that the key strengths in relation to management and leadership included the leadership given by the manager and depute manager and staff's openness to new initiatives. The management committee had provided good support to the service including, recruitment of staff, fundraising and purchasing resources.
Management clearly valued the individual skills and commitment of staff and the day-to-day monitoring of practice and daily discussions allowed for reflection and any immediate action. Management and staff worked closely with the local authority quality improvement team to develop the service. They also worked closely with other agencies to support children and families. We could see this was leading to positive outcomes for the children.
Monitoring and evaluation systems were being developed to include parents, staff and children. An improvement plan was in place that identified areas of the service to be improved, who would be responsible,
Inspection report for Hurlford and Crookedholm Early Learning and Childcare Services page 6 of 10 Inspection report timescales and the intended outcomes for the children. Priorities included; working with national guidance 'Building the Ambition' within the staff team, and with parents/carers to promote children's development and wellbeing, and sharing information with parents in relation to Setting the Table and other health promotion initiatives. We saw how this was being implemented during the inspection.
We asked to see the completion certificate orf the work carried out on the outdoor play area at the front of the building in relation to condition 4 on the service's certificate of egistrr ation. We found that although this area had been risk assessed and safety had been discussed and agreed with a local authority officer, the completion certificate had not been provided to the service.
As the children had been using this area, the manager took immediate action and contacted the local authority. We made a second visit to the service on Friday 23 February when we were able to view the building completion certificate and confirm that the outdoor eaar was structurally safe.
We discussed our findings from the inspection with the manager and although we identified some areas for improvement, we were satisfied that the service will continue to improve and areas for further development will be taken forward.
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 4 - good
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.
Complaints
There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at www.careinspectorate.com.
Enforcement
No enforcement action has been taken against this care service since the last inspection.
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Inspection and grading history
Date Type Gradings 1 Jun 2016 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
28 May 2014 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
17 Jun 2013 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 3 - Adequate
31 May 2012 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 4 - Good
28 Sep 2011 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership 3 - Adequate
30 Sep 2009 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - 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.
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Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas.
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