Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
Day Care of Children
Wellpark Terrace
Bonnybridge
FK4 1LR
Telephone: 01324 503160
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Inspection completed on: 25 May 2017
Service provided by:
Falkirk Council
Care service number:
CS2003043621
Service provider number:
SP2004006884
Inspection report
About the service
The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland. Information about all care services is available on our
website at www.careinspectorate.com
This service was previously registered with the Care Commission and transferred its registration to the Care
Inspectorate on 1 April 2011.
Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery is a Falkirk Council early learning and childcare provision. The service is
registered to provide early learning and childcare for a maximum of 98 children aged birth to those not yet
attending primary school of whom no more than 12 are aged under two years. The service has expanded
considerably since our last inspection and now operates within a new Early Learning and Childcare Campus that
opened in August 2016. The service operates Monday to Friday for 50 weeks of the year between 8:00 and
18:00 hours and offers a variety of flexible placements including the 600 hours entitlement to early learning and
childcare for eligible children. There is a significantly increased staff team and a new principal early years officer
in post who works with the headteacher to lead and manage the service.
The main aims of the service include:
• To provide a flexible, family friendly early learning and childcare service for children from birth to those
not yet attending school
A full statement of aims and objectives is available from the service on request.
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
We sent 32 care standards questionnaires to the service and asked them to distribute these to parents. We
received 17 completed questionnaires before writing this report. We also spoke with eight parents during our
inspection as well as several children.
We observed children to be happy and confident in the service. They engaged well in the wide range of learning
experiences available to them. They participated enthusiastically in outdoor play where they were developing a
wide range of skills, including problem solving. They played well in small or larger groups and were learning to
share, take turns and resolve conflict depending on their stages of development. Children told us about some of
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 2 of 10
Inspection report
the things they liked at the nursery and chatted to us as they were playing. Comments included:
"I'm making a cake; it's chocolate pancakes." (in the mud kitchen)
"I'm looking for worms; they live in here." (exploring the soil)
"I'm going to jump with no hands."
"I've found a worm. It's starting to escape." (woodland area)
"This is my peek a boo tree."
Parents gave very positive feedback about the quality of the service. They thought that there was a wide range
of activities to support children's learning. They found staff approachable and caring. They thought that the
environment was welcoming and supported children's learning. They were very positive about the commitment
to outdoor learning experiences. Parents also thought that individual children were well-supported and plans
were put in place to meet particular needs where appropriate. Some comments from parents included:
"I am delighted with the care my son receives. There is a wide range of learning experiences on offer to him
which he loves. He is welcomed into the nursery each day and the staff take time to talk to him and make him
feel comfortable."
"Good quality, highly skilled staff. Positive, enthusiastic Principal Early years Officer. Great support from the
nursery teacher in supporting my son to develop his reading skills."
"We have been very impressed with the quality of care, the high standard of the nursery environment and
friendly, professional staff. Good range of sensory tools and a real sense of involvement throughout the entire
early years campus - inclusion of all ages and abilities."
"The nursery have improved on communications although it is still difficult to find out what the kids have been
doing each day. I'm not sure the best way round this as the staff are very busy and a daily update to all parents
is not feasible. Maybe a short daily blog would suffice, possibly through Facebook/Twitter."
We spoke to the PEYO about the last comment and she confirmed that twitter was used regularly to share
information with parents. She agreed that the service would continue to look at different communication
methods to support information sharing with parents.
Self assessment
The service had not been asked to complete a self - assessment in advance of this inspection. We looked at the
improvement plan for the service which demonstrated clear priorities for improving outcomes as well as progress
being made.
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 3 of 10
Inspection report
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support
Quality of environment
Quality of staffing
Quality of management and leadership
5 - Very Good
5 - Very Good
4 - Good
5 - Very Good
Quality of care and support
Findings from the inspection
Staff had created a welcoming and nurturing ethos that supported children to feel safe, secure and confident in
the setting. Staff knew the children in their care well and had developed positive relationships with families. They
gathered relevant information to help them meet individual needs and put plans in place to support positive
outcomes. They worked in partnership with other agencies to effectively meet children's needs and to provide
responsive care. For example, they co-ordinated team around the child meetings to agree individual child plans
for health and wellbeing needs, including transitions. We discussed how personal plans (care plans) could be
further developed to show some of the strategies being put in place to support children's learning or care needs.
The service already had plans in place to take this forward.
We found that general practice in the areas of managing medication, supporting healthy eating and
managing transitions had improved since our last inspection. These improvements contributed positively to
children being safe, healthy, nurtured and respected. We agreed that the service should continue to monitor the
size and duration of group times to ensure that these were used as effectively as possible.
We found that planning throughout the service was now more focused on and responsive to children's needs
and interests. Staff were using their observations of children's developmental stages and interests very well to
plan learning experiences. As a result, children were progressing well and achieving new skills. For example, they
were developing gross motor skills and confidence through being given opportunities to practice climbing on a
range of equipment inside and outdoors. Staff also involved children in improving or changing the environment
to respond to their interests or needs. For example, role play areas and the outdoor environment. As a result, we
saw children engaged in their play, developing their creativity and improving their skills in assessing and
managing risk. This contributed to positive outcomes in building children's resilience, wellbeing and sense of
achievement.
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 4 of 10
Inspection report
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 5 - very good
Quality of environment
Findings from the inspection
The environment was bright, warm and inviting to children and families. Attractive displays of children's learning
and photographs helped to create a sense of belonging and celebrated achievement. Children were able to
explore, play in small groups and take part in activities of their choice within well-planned playrooms. There was
a strong focus on the use of natural resources and sensory play, in line with current good practice guidance. This
supported children to develop their creativity, curiosity and inquiry skills. Staff evaluated the environment and
made changes to improve children's experiences where possible. For instance, creating 'nurture spaces' where
children could relax or have quiet time.
Staff followed appropriate procedures to promote a safe environment. For example, risk assessment of activities
and equipment and infection control. Children were learning skills to keep safe and healthy, for instance, hand
washing at appropriate times. They were learning to respect and care for their environment through positive role
models and nursery rules.
Staff had worked with children and parents to develop a stimulating outdoor learning environment influenced by
current research and good practice guidance, for example, loose parts play. Children participated enthusiastically
in a range of outdoor play and learning experiences. For example, they investigated concepts such as full and
empty, large and small and wet and dry when playing with sand, water and in the mud kitchen. They were
learning to balance, problem solve and assess and manage risk when climbing and making balancing beams.
Younger children explored sounds, music and speed when using funnels in different ways. They explored
different textures and materials using all of their senses. A few children visited the woodland area which
provided rich opportunities for language development and investigation, for instance, of mini beasts. We agreed
that the service should continue to develop use of the woodland area for children at all stages. Overall we found
high quality experiences where children were developing a wide range of skills, confidence and resilience through
outdoor learning.
We discussed current safe sleeping good practice guidance and agreed that staff should use this to develop a
clear policy and procedure for the service.
We agreed that the service should continue to develop a communication rich environment to support children's
speech, language and communication skills. This was part of the cluster schools improvement plan for next year.
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 5 of 10
Inspection report
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 5 - very good
Quality of staffing
Findings from the inspection
There had been a significant increase in staffing over the last year due to the expansion of the service. The
service was still managing a few supply/temporary posts however overall there was limited staff turnover.
Management and staff had worked hard over the last year to develop team work and roles and responsibilities,
including distributed leadership. Staff had been well deployed to use their skills or to develop new areas of
expertise, for example, under 3's provision.
Staff had developed positive relationships with children and families. They were responsive to children and had
been supported to develop their training and skills to meet individual needs where required. For example, health
and additional support for learning needs. This contributed to positive outcomes for children, for example,
achieving new skills and being included. Parents were also confident that staff were well - trained and able to
meet children's needs. We saw good examples of staff supporting children's learning through positive
interactions, commenting and questioning.
There were good systems in place to support staff continuous professional development. Staff meetings were
now being used more effectively to explore good practice and to share and discuss ideas. Staff had taken
advantage of some opportunities to visit other services to look outwards at practice within the sector. They had
undertaken relevant training and had become more familiar with current good practice guidance. They were
making more use of this in their day to day work and in evaluating the service. This was making a difference to
the quality of children's learning through, for example, responsive planning, outdoor learning and snack/
mealtime experiences.
Management had introduced supervision procedures to support staff development and practice. This encouraged
staff to reflect on what was working well and what they could improve. This provided both support and challenge
for staff to continue to develop their skills and learning or to identify training needs. The service was at an early
stage of implementing employee review and development procedures. We agreed that they should take this
forward as planned to further support workforce development. We also agreed that as the staff team develops
and confidence grows, the service could consider peer review systems to support staff development and
practice.
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 4 - good
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 6 of 10
Inspection report
Quality of management and leadership
Findings from the inspection
The new leadership team had worked very effectively lead the development of the new early years' campus over
the last year. They had a clear focus on building a strong team, addressing areas for improvement identified at
our last inspection and taking the service forward based on a foundation of current thinking, research and good
practice. They had developed a clear programme for quality assurance and monitoring that covered all aspects of
the service, including staff practice and the quality of children's experiences. This had led to improvements in
practice and had impacted positively on outcomes for children. For example, improvements to responsive
planning had resulted in children being more involved and engaged in their learning.
Management were working with the staff team to effectively lead self-evaluation and improvement planning
procedures. As a team, they were making effective use of recognised self-evaluation tools and good practice
guidance to look at what they did well, how they could improve and to take forward changes. Again this was
having a positive impact on the quality of children's experiences. For example, to improve children's
opportunities to develop creativity and life skills, they had developed outdoor learning, introduced more natural
resources and planned experiences to support progression of skills, for example, conflict resolution and problem
solving. There was a more collaborative approach to self-evaluation and staff were all involved in improvement
task groups. This was building confidence and giving increased opportunities for distributed leadership and skills
development across the team. We discussed how the service could continue to develop the involvement of staff,
parents and other stakeholders in evaluation of the service and of the management team, for example 360
degree feedback.
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 0
Grade: 5 - very good
What the service has done to meet any requirements we made at
or since the last inspection
Previous requirements
There are no outstanding requirements.
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 7 of 10
Inspection report
What the service has done to meet any recommendations we
made at or since the last inspection
Previous recommendations
Recommendation 1
Staff should use current guidance, training and learning opportunities to further develop their practice and to
impact positively on children's experiences.
This recommendation was made on 20 June 2017.
Action taken on previous recommendation
This recommendation was met. We report on this in Quality of Staffing.
Complaints
There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are
published at www.careinspectorate.com.
Enforcement
No enforcement action has been taken against this care service since the last inspection.
Inspection and grading history
Date
Type
Gradings
7 Jun 2016
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
4 - Good
4 - Good
3 - Adequate
4 - Good
24 Apr 2013
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 8 of 10
Inspection report
Date
Type
Gradings
5 Oct 2010
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 9 of 10
Inspection report
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
[email protected]
0345 600 9527
Find us on Facebook
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.
Inspection report for Bonnybridge Primary School Nursery
page 10 of 10