Gartly School Nursery Day Care of Children Gartly Huntly AB54 4QF Telephone: 01466 720270 Type of inspection: Unannounced Completed on: 14 November 2019 Service provided by: Service provider number: Aberdeenshire Council SP2003000029 Service no: CS2003015740 Inspection report About the service This service has been registered since 2002. It is registered to provide a day care of children service for a maximum of 20 children aged 3 years to those not yet attending primary school. The service is provided by Aberdeenshire Council and is currently accommodated in Rhynie Primary School because Gartly School is closed for maintenance. In this temporary accommodation the service is operating afternoon sessions. The values, vision and aims for the nursery were: Step by Step we Grow; grow as a community, active, healthy respectful, honest, happy, safe, teamwork and caring. Learning, succeeding and confident orf life. Yell 'Go For It.' We carried out an unannounced inspection of Gartly School Nursery on 14 November 2019. During the inspection we observed and talked to the children as they played. We spoke with the head teacher and the staff. We observed staff practice and checked documentation relevant to the inspection. 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. What people told us There were nine children present at the time of the inspection aged from 3 to 5 years. We observed the children and saw that they were very happy, busy and engaged in their learning. We talked to children about their experiences and they told us: 'We put the snow in here and now its melting, I am going to clear it with the digger.' 'These animals don't like being in the snow but the polar bear does.' 'We are doing a puppet show for the teachers.' 'I like drawing, this is me and mummy and daddy.' Three parents returned completed questionnaires to us before the inspection; all were very happy with the quality of care their child received in the service. Comments included: 'My child enjoys nursery and staff have formed great relationships with our family. The range of outdoor experiences is great and children are well supported in taking their next steps in learning.' Inspection report for Gartly School Nursery page 2 of 11 Inspection report 'Given the upheaval with the situation at Gartly the nursery only seems to be affected by location, the quality of care seems to have improved.' 'The staff have done an amazing job under difficult circumstances. My child has gone from attending reluctantly to looking forward to nursery following the appointment of new staff. They have been brilliant at encouraging loose parts play, following the interests of the children and engaging with the space around them; for example, local shop, country walks and the play park. I've seen my child come home enthusing about copying a Van Gogh painting! I can't praise them enough for the learning provided.' Self assessment The service had not been asked to complete a self-assessment in advance of the inspection. We looked at their own improvement plan and quality assurance processes. These demonstrated their 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 5 - Very Good Quality of management and leadership 4 - Good Quality of care and support Findings from the inspection The quality of care and support provided for children at Gartly school nursery was very good. We observed children to be very happy in the nursery, laughing and giggling with each other and having fun with staff as they played. They were confident in talking and expressing their ideas to each other and the staff. Children had clear expectations of how to behave; supported by staff's use of calming language, kind interactions and the use of restorative approaches. Children were able to describe clearly how if they were kind or helped their friends, they were rewarded with a pom-pom to put in the happy face jar. Lots of pom-poms meant the children were all rewarded with a special game. We observed and parents confirmed that effective communication and respectful, trusting relationship were established with parents. As a result children benefitted from all working in partnership to ensure children's care and learning needs were fully supported and met through meaningful care plans. The manager and staff worked effectively in partnership with parents and other agencies to ensure children received the additional help they needed to reach their full potential. One parent commented; 'We feel very well supported by the nursery. My child is incredibly happy and settled at Gartly nursery. The staff are wonderful with my child.' Inspection report for Gartly School Nursery page 3 of 11 Inspection report Children's learning experiences were planned well using observations of children's learning and the identification of 'tiny targets' to support children to achieve their learning potential. As a result children were deeply engaged in the learning activities. Children were learning to make healthy choices as they chose their snacks for the week from picture cards. Children were encouraged to be independent in the free flow snack outiner and were good at self-help skills; for example, washing their hands. Children enjoyed a relaxed and sociable experience with good conversation from staff and interactions that supported children's imagination. They ate well; enjoying the warm tomato soup on a cold day with brown bread and a choice of fruits. Children were rewarded for trying something new; a Chinese Pear and encouraged the inspector to try it too. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Grade: 5 - very good Quality of environment Findings from the inspection The quality of environment provided for children at Gartly Nursery was good. The nursery classroom was accommodated within a traditionally built school. Children experienced a welcoming, clean and well looked after environment. Effective use of the space provided children with stimulating learning experiences. A workshop style layout and good periods of uninterrupted helped children to access resources and lead their own learning. A wide variety of play opportunities engaged the children's interest well and were relevant to support their development. These included a well-resourced creative and mark making area, a construction area with mathematically sized big block play and numeracy resources, a home role play area with real things that children could relate to and a cosy area with soft furnishings to relax in and read a variety of good quality books and magazines. Children explored the natural world and science concepts as they investigated the properties of snow and discussed animals that may or may not like the cold. They reimagined the melting snow as an ocean. Natural materials and open ended 'loose parts' stimulated children's problem-solving skills. Children concentrated well and were curious exploring how wet sand moulded itself inside a cardboard tube and didn't come out the other end. Children co-operated well as they developed imaginative role play in small groups in the home corner and created a puppet show in the book corner for staff. Children used opportunities for looking at print and exploring mark making indoors and out; contributing to their literacy development. Children's creativity had been stimulated by exploring classic artworks, for example Vincent Van Gogh paintings. Children had daily access to the outdoor area for energetic activity and learning experiences. The layout of the Inspection report for Gartly School Nursery page 4 of 11 Inspection report current accommodation and access meant free-flow indoor/outdoor play could not be acilitated.f The outdoor area provided children with plenty of space for energetic physical play. Staff described how they were in the process of developing the outdoor area to provide more rich contexts for learning. Risk assessments had been carried out and policies reviewed to inform safe staff practice. Children were learning about keeping themselves safe as they talked about risks and safety outside. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Grade: 4 - good Quality of staffing Findings from the inspection The quality of staffing supporting children at Gartly School Nursery was very good. A new staff team had been recently recruited following the move from Gartly to Rhynie school. All were appropriately qualified and experienced and egisterr ed with the Scottish Social Services Council. They described appropriate recruitment and checks that contributed to a safe environment for children. They had been supported in their induction to the service.