Moray Primary School Nursery Class Day Care of Children
Moray Place Grangemouth FK3 9DL
Telephone: 01324 501300
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Completed on: 18 June 2018
Service provided by: Service provider number: Falkirk Council SP2004006884
Service no: CS2003015578 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 was registered on 1 April 2002.
Moray Primary School Nursery is a Falkirk Council service registered to provide early learning and childcare to a maximum of 30 children aged from three years to those not yet attending primary school. The service currently operates a morning and afternoon session Monday to Friday during school terms. Children and their families benefit from their entitlement of 600 hours early learning and childcare. The service is located within Moray Primary School benefitting from a well planned environment that includes direct access to the outdoor space.
The aims and objectives include the following:
• Create a bright, welcoming and stimulating learning environment. • Develop the capacities of Curriculum for Excellence in all pupils. • Maintain an inclusive school/nursery philosophy where there is equality for all. • Encourage all here to make this as safe and secure a place as possible. • Reinforce our behaviour strategies. • Promote activities which enhance pupil resilience and wellbeing. • Sustain our Health Promoting School/Nursery status through activities. • Provide appropriate staff development and training to support delivery of the curriculum. • Create and maintain close partnerships with parents/carers stressing the importance of their role in school/nursery. • Encourage participation in school/nursery related activities. • Work alongside, and share information with other educational establishments and professionals including ILC personnel in Health and Social Services.
We wrote this report following an unannounced inspection. This was carried out by one inspector on Thursday 14 June and Friday 15 June 2018. Feedback was delivered to the head teacher and the depute head teacher at the end of the inspection process.
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.
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What people told us
Children confidently told us about their experiences in nursery. They said:
• "When I am primary 1 I will go for lunch to the dinner hall. We had our snack there today to practise." • "I did a painting with a feather. I dipped the feather into the paint." • "I found a rock. I am going to paint it.
Children enjoyed both indoor and outdoor experiences. They took part in an obstacle challenge called 'Moray Mudders' and prepared to take part in the community 'galaday' representing the school and nursery.
We talked with 8 parents who commented positively about the service. In particular they said that staff were friendly, that children had fun playing indoors and outdoors and that children were being supported to make the transition from nursery to school through various activities.
We sent out care standard questionnaires to be distributed by the service. Five completed questionnaires were returned highlighting parent satisfaction with the service. Comments included:
• "Really pleased with the service my child receives at nursery. Always challenging her to develop her learning. My child is happy and confident going into the nursery setting. eepingK children healthy and active doing outdoor activities. Taking children on trips to different outings through-out the year. Overall pleased with the care and support my child receives." • "My son thoroughly enjoys attending Moray nursery and has gained confidence during his time there. The teachers are always pleasant and supportive. Communication has always brilliant and well organised." • "Our child enjoys nursery and has progressed well in the last year. Staff are friendly and helpful."
Self assessment
The service had not been asked to complete a self-assessment in advance of this inspection. We looked at the improvement plan for the service which demonstrated clear priorities for improving outcomes as well as progress being made.
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 service provided responsive care and support to children ensuring that their health, welfare and safety needs were met to a very good level.
Staff were passionate in their approach to delivering early learning and childcare. They got to know families well through effective partnership working resulting in children's individual and changing needs being met. Parents
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told us that they were included in making decisions about their children through regular consultation. Personal plans were developed, reviewed and updated regularly showing children's progress, next steps and evaluations of learning. Challenge and support was delivered through play experiences with staff mapping children's progress and achievement as a result.
Children were supported well with their transitions. A programme of experiences supported them to feel included and secure in the school preparing them for starting primary one. The children were included in developing a storyline showing their transition and visited class rooms, enjoyed play sessions in the school playground, and had snack in the school dining room. Children told us that they were "practising for going to school." Staff discussions with returning children helped them to understand the nursery to primary one process.
Children benefitted from experiences that supported their curiosity, creativity and imagination. They enjoyed early science experiences, benefitted from open-ended play with loose parts and were included in developing knowledge of using technology. Children told us that they were experimenting by painting with feathers instead of brushes. Staff encouraged the children to evaluate this experience. Outside children were building their own obstacle course using loose parts and were collecting rocks so that they could paint them.
We found that general practice in the areas of managing medication and recording accidents and incidents were managed well. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to protect children in their care and had regular training to refresh their skills and knowledge in the protection of children.
The senior management team was committed to improving outcomes for children and families in the setting to a very good level.
There was evidence that self-evaluation was beginning to lead to improvement in the service. Some of the improvements identified included partnership working with parents and supporting children to develop skills in speech and language; science; technology; engineering and maths through their play experiences. The school improvement plan highlighted areas for improvement across the whole school. The aim was to involve children, parents and other stakeholders in this process.
Staff were committed to their continued professional development. They were supported to identify their training needs and where possible access suitable training. This resulted in staff developing their knowledge and understanding of how best to meet children's needs. Mandatory training in areas such as first aid, oodf hygiene and child protection contributed to keeping children safe and healthy.
What the service could do better
Children were engaged in open-ended play particularly outdoors. We would encourage the staff team to develop these opportunities for children further by evaluating the quality of the environment both indoors and outdoors using good practice guidance.
The pace and flow of the nursery session supported children to make choices about their play experiences. We discussed how child led experiences could be further supported taking into account any future plans as part of the early learning and childcare expansion.
We saw some examples of how staff engaged children in deeper questioning to provide challenge within the floor books. The senior management team planned to work with staff to further develop effective questioning and the use of restorative practice.
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Systems were in place to monitor the quality of staff practice through observation, professional dialogue and performance, development and review meetings. It was recognised that procedures could be further developed including the use of reflective practice, coaching and peer monitoring to evaluate and develop practice further.
The floor book showed that children were involved in evaluating their play experiences. Staff should further develop their consultation skills to empower children to have more of a voice in particular when planning children's experiences. This would make opportunities more meaningful and respect the ideas and thoughts of children.
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.
Inspection and grading history
Date Type Gradings 29 Oct 2015 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good
1 Nov 2012 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 4 - Good
28 Apr 2009 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment 5 - Very good Staffing 5 - Very good
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Date Type Gradings 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.
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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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