A day care nursery in Inverness has been praised by inspectors following an unannounced visit.
The Care Inspectorate gave Duncan Forbes Primary‘s early learning centre “very good” and “good” ratings during their surprise visit in November.
Praising the site, the inspectors said: “Children benefited from warm and nurturing care from the staff team.
“Staff knew children well and had developed positive relationships with them.
“Children were happy, confident and actively involved in leading their play and learning.
“Children enjoyed a lovely calming mealtime experience.
“Effective quality assurance and self-evaluation processes supported the ongoing development of the service.
“The views of children and families were actively sought to inform the development of the service.
“[And] effective staff deployment supported positive outcomes for children.”
The inspectors award the centre scores of five out of six (five being rated “very good”) for its care, play and learning; its leadership; and its staff team.
It was awarded a four – meaning “good” – for its setting.
Describing the centre’s care, play and learning, the inspectors said: “We found significant strengths in aspects of the care provided and how these supported positive outcomes for children.”
They continued: “Children experienced warm, nurturing and caring approaches from staff which supported their overall wellbeing.
“Overall, children were engaged and observed to be busy and happy in their play.”
They also praised the site’s connections with te community, which took the form of visits and welcoming visitors to the centre for tea parties, including police and a paramedic.
On staff leadership, the inspectors added: “Staff told us they felt very well supported by their manager, and the senior early years practitioner who had recently been appointed. This strong leadership led to staff feeling empowered and confident to make changes within a continuous cycle of improvement. This meant that children received consistent, high quality care and support.”
Moving on to the setting, they stressed that the centre’s strengths in that area “clearly outweighed areas for improvement”, with their only suggestion being in the form of further development of the playroom layout: “We suggested that more cosy areas in each room would be an advantage to provide more space for children to rest and relax and it would be beneficial to have more effective resources to take into account children’s needs and preferences. Management have agreed to address this”.
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