A Troon nursery has been given a clean bill of health after an unannounced spot check on its service delivery.
Granny Smith’s Day Nursery, in the town’s Ayr Street, was graded ‘very good’ across two quality indicators and ‘good’ across two others.
The gradings come from the Care Inspectorate who made an unannounced visit to the setting in September and have now published their findings.
Among the key messages the Care Inspectorate said staff were “warm and nurturing” in their approach.
And “positive relationships” between staff and children supported children to feel “secure and valued.”
Planning approaches were “responsive” and “took account” of the needs and interest of most children. This “supported” children to lead their own play and learning, the care scrutiny body noted.
And children experienced a setting that was “secure, homely, inviting and well maintained.”
The plus points continued; opportunities for parents to be involved were “encouraged.” And most parents told inspectors they were “regularly asked” to evaluate the service through surveys and informal feedback. This supported a “culture of collaboration” and “continuous improvement.”
In addition, staff were “respectful and courteous” in their interactions with each other. As a result staff were “happy” and “felt valued” in their work environment.
Granny Smith’s Day Nursery is registered as a day care of children service to care for 60 children not yet attending primary school.
The service is run in partnership with South Ayrshire Council.
An extract from the Care Inspectorate report said: “Children benefitted from staff who were warm and nurturing in their approach. Positive relationships and attachments supported children to feel secure and valued. Children enjoyed spending time with staff and invited staff into their play spaces.
“Most parents told us that they valued the relationships staff had built with their child and families.
“One parent commented that staff were; “Supportive, nurturing, experienced, friendly staff.”
And staff knew children “well” and could discuss individual children’s health and emotional wellbeing needs.
In the quality indicators relating to staff team and setting, these were graded ‘very good.’ In the quality indicators relating to care, play and learning, as well as leadership, these were graded ‘good.’
Personal plans were one area picked up on by inspectors, with the report stating: “We sampled a variety of children’s personal plans and found that many lacked details on strategies that staff would use to support children. A few personal plans had also not been reviewed within the appropriate time scale.
“We discussed this with the management team who advised this would be actioned and monitored moving forward. This will ensure children continue to receive care and support that is reflective of their current needs.”
Inspectors also asked the manager to “review” their current medication procedures to ensure they were “reflective” of best practice guidance.
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