Carron Primary School Nursery Class
Day Care of Children
Alloa Road
Carron
Falkirk
FK2 8EJ
Telephone: 01324 503450
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Inspection completed on: 31 May 2017
Service provided by:
Falkirk Council
Care service number:
CS2006141329
Service provider number:
SP2004006884
Inspection report
About the service
This Service registered with the Care Inspectorate on 01 April 2011.
Carron Nursery Class is a service run by Falkirk Council Education Services, providing pre-school education for
children aged three to those not yet attending primary school. The service is situated within Carron Primary
School and comprises of a large playroom, kitchen, office and entrance area. Children have access to enclosed
garden areas and playground.
The nursery is currently registered to provide care for a total of 30 children per session. The nursery is managed
by the head teacher and has a staff team of a senior early years officer, two early years officers and part-time
teaching input.
The aim of the service includes:
To ensure that every child has the opportunity to explore, discover and understand his/her world in a safe and
stimulating environment.
At this inspection we focused on two aspects within Care and Support. These were:
- How the service supported children's safety, health and wellbeing (including child protection).
- How the service supported transition.
We also focused on one aspect of the Environment. This was:
- How the environment and resources supported children's health, wellbeing, development and learning.
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
The children were all very busy having fun enjoying learning. Most were very confident in their environment and
happy to tell us about what they were doing. Comments included:
'We are catching fish - see I'm making a fish tank!'
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'Come and see our garden, we planted carrots and potatoes and that's flowers over there. We water them so
they will grow. We're going to have the strawberries for snack when they are ready!'
'See our picture - that's the solar system. Can you see earth?'
'Come and listen to our song about the solar system, we're practising to sing it to our mummies!'
Both the parents we spoke with and those who completed care standards questionnaires told us they were very
happy with the quality of service and felt their children had benefitted from attending. Comments included:
'Carron nursery class is fantastic and a big well done to the staff.'
'Fantastic staff, experienced and supportive, my child loves nursery.'
'My child's grandparents loved helping with the garden.'
'I am happy with the care and stimulation my child receives when attending nursery. The staff are great at
keeping parents up to date with daily life for my child when at nursery.'
'The level of pre-school education my child receives at Carron Nursery is varied and very informative for both
myself and my child. He thoroughly enjoys going in every day and the staff/keyworkers are excellent at what
they do.'
'Staff are very welcoming and approachable.'
'My child has a keen interest in the solar system ever since learning about it at nursery...........we were amazed at
his knowledge!'
Self assessment
The service had not been asked to complete a self-assessment in advance of the inspection
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
not assessed
not assessed
What the service does well
We found that the nursery was performing at a very good level in relation to the aspects considered at this
inspection.
Through the induction process relevant information was gathered on children's individual needs. During this
time the foundations for good communication were established. As a result routine information sharing helped
build positive relationships and promote consistency of care for children. The experienced staff
team responded to children's changing needs on a daily basis. One parent told us, 'staff are great at providing
reassurance and advice and always make time to talk.'
Children were encouraged to be kind and considerate towards one another and were supported to find solutions
to problems. Their progress was celebrated in nursery and through their on line journals. Parents told us they
'love the journals' as they can contribute to them anytime.
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We saw children learning about being safe and healthy through a range of activities and experiences. They told
us about healthy snacks and activities as they proudly showed us around their fruit and vegetable garden. We
saw children busy making 'cakes' in the mud area, building castles in the sand hut and exploring the dinosaur
garden. Being active outdoors on a daily basis helped support their overall health and wellbeing. This will be
further enhanced by the reintroduction of the forest experience which had been withdrawn due to vandalism.
We discussed the protection of children with staff and were satisfied that safeguarding procedures were
effectively managed.
The children had come to know their primary six buddies well through joint playtimes, stay and play sessions
and story times. This plus routine visits to the classrooms, assembly hall and dining room helped support a
smooth transition into school. Some parents told us the transition arrangements had improved this year. We
noted that as a result of changes in the allocation system the programme of induction for children beginning
nursery had been delayed.
The bright and attractive play environment was welcoming for both children and parents. Displays were
attractively presented and informative for parents while demonstrating to children that their work was valued.
Staff followed NHS guidance, promoted good practice in hygiene and ensured resources were clean and well
maintained. This helped support the safety, health and wellbeing of children attending.
What the service could do better
It had been agreed that some additional support was required for the afternoon session however the provider
had been unable to recruit a suitably experienced member of staff to fill this role. This inevitably increased the
pressure on the staff team as they strived to meet the individual needs of all the children attending. This was
particularly relevant as the number of children requiring personal care increased. We would therefore encourage
the provider to look at the barriers to recruitment and consider how these could be reduced.
Due to the design of the playroom the noise level was often raised, particularly on days where the children were
all indoors. Both management and staff were conscious of this however were limited in what they could do.
They recognised that some children may find this overwhelming and had therefore erected a gazebo to try to
create a quiet space. We noted however that this area was bright and colourful and would encourage the team
to use more calming colours and natural materials. This may help create a quiet more relaxing area which would
be beneficial for some of the children attending. The management team informed us they were aware of this
issue and were considering how best to manage it.
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 0
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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
24 Jun 2014
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
6 Sep 2011
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
Not assessed
Not assessed
5 - Very good
4 Mar 2010
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
4 - Good
4 - Good
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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.
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