Balmedie School Nursery Day Care of Children Forsyth Road Balmedie Aberdeen AB23 8YN Telephone: 01358 742474 Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 29 March 2017 Service provided by: Service provider number: Aberdeenshire Council SP2003000029 Care service number: CS2007164964 Inspection report About the service Balmedie School Nursery has been registered since 2008. It is registered as a Day Care of Children service to provide care to a maximum of 50 children aged 3 to those not attending primary school at Balmedie School Nursery and for a maximum of 24 children at the Potterton annexe. Balmedie nursery is located in a purpose built premises within the grounds of Balmedie Primary School. The Potterton annexe operates from a community hall situated in the village of Potterton, approximately 3 miles west of Balmedie. Balmedie nursery consists of a large playroom, cloakroom, kitchen area and toilets. The children have direct access to an attractive outdoor area from the playroom. At Potterton, the children have access to a large playroom and toilet facilities. There is a secure outdoor play area and the children regularly go for walks in the local community. Aims of the service include being committed to "provide a well-planned, broad and balanced range of relevant, challenging experiences and opportunities that are responsive to the children's individual needs and help them learn through play". We check 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 GIRFEC. They are: safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included. They are often referred to as the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators. What people told us For this inspection we received 12 completed Care Standards Questionnaires (CSQs) and we spoke to four parents/carers. Responses indicated that parents were happy with the service, commenting positively about the care and support their child was given and the friendly, welcoming staff. However, concerns were raised about sharing information with parents and having enough staff to support children, and we have reported on this. Comments included: - "My child loves attending nursery, they enjoy the freedom and facilities. They are more confident and is happy with their peers and staff". - "Staff have a great relationship with my child and are great at encouraging them in new activities and developing new skills". - "I am very happy with all aspects of the service. My child very much enjoys attending the nursery every day. They always come home with stories of all the activities they have been doing. They love it". There were approximately 44 children present at Balmedie nursery in the morning sessions, 33 in the afternoon class and 10 children at the Potterton annexe. The children told us they enjoyed going to play with their friends at nursery and told us about their favourite toys. Comments included: - "I like playing on the Ipads. They're the best. I have the Peter rabbit game and he goes in the water. It's not sunny at all". - "I am wearing a red dress; it is red nose day. My hair turned red. My mum did it". - "Look at my wiggly worm. It's feels funny". - "I like nursery; I like to see my friends". Inspection report for Balmedie School Nursery page 2 of 7 Inspection report Self assessment We did not receive a self-assessment from the provider. The service was without a manager and prior to inspection, we discussed the value of submitting a meaningful self-assessment to support improvement to the service after inspection. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support 3 - Adequate Quality of environment not assessed Quality of staffing not assessed Quality of management and leadership 3 - Adequate What the service does well Balmedie School Nursery provided an adequate level of care and support to the children. Staff were caring and nurturing and supported children to follow nursery routines. Lots of praise and kind words were used to develop children's confidence and self-esteem. Staff had completed annual child protection training and through discussion were able to tell us the correct procedures to follow if concerned about the welfare of a child. Chronologies detailing significant events which may have an impact on a child's life were well completed and reported to the head teacher. To support a healthy lifestyle, children were encouraged to be active. The outdoor environment was inviting at both settings with a selection of activities to support creativity, enquiry and physical development. We previously recommended systems were put in place to support children's safety. We found the children were involved in completing risk assessments before going out to play. As recommended at the last inspection, accidents were now fully recorded. Both settings made good use of the local amenities and we accompanied the Balmedie nursery children on a walk to a nearby wood. The children enjoyed digging, scraping and looking for bugs, helping to develop their understanding of the world around them. Children wore waterproof suits to keep them warm and safe. The document Setting the Table was used to ensure healthy food choices were available at snack time. Children enjoyed eating apples, and milk or water was offered to drink, supporting good dental health. Children were encouraged to be independent and serve themselves. Management and leadership of the service was operating at an adequate level. An improvement plan was in place which included plans to increase staffing levels, improve snack routines and make improvements to outdoor learning. These were beginning to be implemented. New staff were employed and the principal teacher had helped make improvements to the snack routine. Staff were making use of the whole school playground, helping children grow in confidence and become more familiar with their environment. What the service could do better Inspection report for Balmedie School Nursery page 3 of 7 Inspection report We looked at a sample of the children's records and found parents completed registration forms with information including emergency contact details and medical or allergy needs to help support health and wellbeing. However these were not reviewed regularly by parents as required by legislation (see Recommendation 1). We made a requirement at the last inspection to ensure robust procedures were in place to support the safe administration of medication. We found medication was stored safely at Balmedie and any medical needs or allergies were displayed in the kitchen. This requirement had been met, however, forms did not give enough details of symptoms and were not reviewed at least every six months by parents. At Potterton, a system was not in place to check if children's medication was brought in daily (see Recommendation 2). Staff worked with outside agencies to develop care plans for children with specific needs. taffS knew the needs of individual children really well and children were supported with quiet time and some sensory resources. However, care plans for children with specific needs were not fully completed with any evaluation of progress (see Recommendation 3). To help them achieve, children could choose independently from a selection of activities available in the spacious playrooms and outdoor areas. However, weekly plans did not show how children's interests had been used to develop meaningful learning experiences. The nursery was in the process of introducing new interactive leaning diaries to record children's progress, however, observations of children's learning were not used effectively to plan activities to challenge children (see Recommendation 4). Parents raised a concern about not receiving enough information about their child's progress. We found the electronic diaries were used effectively to share photographs of the children at play and information was displayed on the noticeboard. However, it was not easy for parents to speak with staff in the crowded cloakroom. We discussed ways to allow parents into the playroom to see children's work and speak confidentially with staff. The headteacher and staff were happy to explore alternative drop off and pick up procedures. Leadership of the service had undergone recent changes which were not yet showing a positive impact on the service. The service had been without a manager for more than 28 days but lead practitioners and new staff had been recently appointed. However they were not clear about their roles and responsibilities to improve outcomes for children (see Recommendation 5). To support improvement to the service, staff were aware of the documents Building the Ambition and How Good Is Our Early Learning and Child Care (HGIOELCC) . However, these were not used effectively to identify areas for development. Staff monitoring and playroom observations were not in place (see Recommendation 6). Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 6 1. To help keep children safe and support their overall health and wellbeing, personal plans should be developed for all children and reviewed with parents at least every six months or earlier if necessary. Information should include: Inspection report for Balmedie School