Inspection report

1. Stronsay Junior High Nursery
Day Care of Children
Stronsay Junior High School
Stronsay
Orkney
KW17 2AE
Telephone: 01857 616246
Type of inspection:
Unannounced
Completed on:
6 September 2018
Service provided by: Service provider number:
Orkney Islands Council SP2003001951
Service no:
CS2003016052

2. About the service
Stronsay Junior High Nursery has been operating since April 2002 and registered with the Care
Inspectorate when it was formed in 2011.
The service is provided by Orkney Island Council. It provides a day care of children service for a maximum of eight
children. The age range of the children will be from two years to those not yet attending primary school. The
service will comply with the following minimum staffing ratio: one adult to five children when there are children
below the age of three attending. When all children are three years and over one adult: eight children.
The service operates from a designated class room within Stronsay Junior High School. The nursery class is
spacious and bright creating a relaxed, welcoming environment for children. Direct access to an outdoor play
area allows children to freely explore both the indoors and out with ease.
The aims of the nursery included encouraging all children to maximise their natural learning abilities and develop
a wide range of skills. They aimed to provide a welcoming and stimulating environment where each child was
recognised as an individual and partnerships between home and nursery were fostered and valued, to ensure the
development of the whole child.
The Care Inspectorate checks services are meeting the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (also known
as GIRFEC); 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 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.
What people told us
We observed the children and saw that they were very happy in their time at nursery. Children led the activities
that they participated in during the morning and were busy making scented play dough and playing outdoors.
Children had formed firm friendships in a short period of time and clearly enjoyed each other's company, and
that of the staff.
We talked to five children about their experiences during play and they expressed to us that they had lots of fun
and like it very much at nursery.
Two parents returned completed Care Standards Questionnaires to us before the inspection. We also spoke with
one parent as they collected their children. All told us that they were happy or very happy with the service. One
parent commented, "we are very pleased with the nursery care and service".
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3. 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 not assessed
Quality of staffing not assessed
Quality of management and leadership 5 - Very Good
What the service does well
Children and families were made to feel very welcome at nursery. The practitioner had built strong relationships
through open communication with parents. This allowed her to support children and families by adapting
routines to meet their individual needs. This helped children feel safe and secure during their time at nursery.
Children were happy and comfortable in their surroundings. The routine and flow of the morning was led by the
children. Children decided together when to have group time and helped each other share their stories. This
gave children confidence and helped to make them feel respected.
Activities provided challenge for children, were carried out over a period of time and were meaningful to meet
children's needs and interests. For example the children made play dough using herbs they had planted and
cared for in their nursery garden. This gave children opportunities to revisit learning and investigate.
Staff interactions with children were of high quality, using spontaneous opportunities to extend on children
thinking, problem solving and learning. Children were supported well to risk assess playing on a wet slide
outdoors. Together the children solved the problem and worked together as a team. This allowed children to feel
a sense of achievement and be responsible.
Numeracy and literary learning were intertwined with play. An audit of maths and language opportunities for
children had been carried out by staff. As a result clear areas of strength and development had been identified.
Areas identified for improvement built on what was already good practice.
Children were encouraged be healthy and active throughout their time at nursery. Snack provided gave healthy
choices and children helped to prepare and serve. This promoted children to learn about life skills and build
confidence. Children's allergies were well managed through a system of coloured plates and cups. Outdoors
was available to children throughout the session where a wide variety of equipment and space was available.
Children participated in tooth brushing and were knowledgeable about the benefits of healthy teeth.
A sense of school community was encouraged for the children. The nursery class joined the primary one children
throughout the week for activities such as snack, French, music and climbing and balancing sessions. Children
also had opportunities to join the primary children in the playground for play time if they wished. This gave
siblings time to see each other during the day and allowed for friendships between the ages to be formed. This
gave all children the opportunity to be responsible and feel included.
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4. Meaningful feedback about each child's day was discussed between the practitioner and the parent at collection
time allowing parents to be well informed and opportunities to discuss their child's needs. Parents meetings
were also available along with regular newsletters and emails. An annual questionnaire for parents asked for
feedback about aspects of the nursery service. The results formed part of the nursery improvement plan.
The staff management team worked closely together to support the nursery practitioner well. Regular meetings
were held to discuss the daily progress of the nursery. Monitoring and self evaluation were embedded into their
daily practice.
The head teacher and management team had a self evaluation calendar in place which supported the ongoing
development of the nursery. The school took a whole school approach to improvement planning. The nursery
had a clear role identified in this and was well supported by the head teacher and management team to achieve
on going developments.
A new self evaluation floorbook was being implemented and evaluated. This used guidance documents such as
'How good in Our Early Learning and Childcare' well and showed clear areas of strengths and those for
development. Progress was recorded throughout the year to show continued development.
What the service could do better
Staff were very knowledgeable about the needs of the children however we discussed the benefits of further
developing personal plans for all children attending the nursery. This is to ensure children's wellbeing needs,
wishes and choices can be met and reviewed.
Medication procedures were in place, which helped ensure children's individual care needs were met. However
the correct guidance for day care services was not followed. We directed the nursery to the appropriate
guidance. Policies and procedures should be reviewed and adapted where necessary to ensure these are met.
Guidance can be found at http://hub.careinspectorate.com/media/189567/childrens-service-medication-
guidance.pdf
The nursery used a variety of methods to invite feedback and involvement from parents and children however
this could be further improved to ensure a well-rounded evaluation process. We discussed with staff other
methods that could be introduced to build on the positive practice that already exists.
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 0
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5. 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
19 Sep 2016 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good
Environment 5 - Very good
Staffing 5 - Very good
Management and leadership 5 - Very good
25 Aug 2015 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good
Environment 3 - Adequate
Staffing 5 - Very good
Management and leadership 4 - Good
24 Jan 2011 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good
Environment 4 - Good
Staffing Not assessed
Management and leadership Not assessed
25 Nov 2008 Announced (short
notice)
Care and support 4 - Good
Environment 4 - Good
Staffing 4 - Good
Management and leadership 4 - Good
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6. 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.
You can also read more about our work online at www.careinspectorate.com
Contact us
Care Inspectorate
Compass House
11 Riverside Drive
Dundee
DD1 4NY
enquiries@careinspectorate.com
0345 600 9527
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Twitter: @careinspect
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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