Pear Tree Nurseries Ltd
Day Care of Children
32 Meadowpark
Haddington
EH41 4DS
Telephone: 01620 823 585
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Inspection completed on: 31 May 2017
Service provided by:
Pear Tree Nurseries Ltd
Care service number:
CS2006118860
Service provider number:
SP2006008293
Inspection report
About the service
The service has been registered since 9 January 2007 and transferred its registration to the Care Inspectorate on
1 April 2011.
The Nursery is registered to provide a care service to a maximum of 56 children between the ages birth - five
years, of whom a maximum of 12 children are aged birth to two years.
The nursery is located in a residential area of Haddington and is close to local amenities. The premises are
located within a detached Victorian house, there is an enclosed garden to the rear for children to participate in
more energetic activities. The accommodation on the ground floor provides the playrooms for children aged two
to five years.
The toilet facilities can be easily accessed by the children. The upper floor of the building is used by the children
who are under the age of two years. There is a separate sleep room, toilet facilities and a kitchen area provided
for the baby area.
Aims of the service include:
"To provide a balanced, coherent, progressive curriculum using assessment information to identify needs."
"To help children make progress in the key areas of their appropriate curriculum."
"To provide a safe stimulating and challenging environment designed to meet each child's individual needs."
"To provide children with opportunities within their day for rest and play and to ensure continuity of care from
home to nursery."
"To encourage children to form good relationships with their peers and adults, and foster good relationships with
parents and other agencies."
"To provide suitable and sufficient resources within an attractive environment."
"To encourage staff development and work as effective team."
"To support the children in becoming healthy individuals."
What people told us
The number of children varied throughout the inspection. We observed children in all playrooms and found
them to be happy and settled. They related well to the staff and positive relationships had developed.
Older children were enjoying science activities as they were carrying out a range of experiments. Babies and
toddlers explored their environment at their own pace, with good support from staff. All children enjoyed outdoor
play.
Feedback in the care standards questionnaires indicated that parents were very happy with the high level of care
their child received, from caring and enthusiastic staff.
Comments from parents included:
"Pear Tree is a wonderful nursery. The staff in the baby room are excellent. My child is happy and well cared for.
Pear Tree is a great nursery. Pleasant surroundings and I am confident my children feel safe. Both my children
thrive there. The staff are friendly, fun & caring. They always go that extra mile, for example, family ceilidh and
science week.
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We are delighted with the level/quality of care provided by Pear Tree. Extremely caring and enthusiastic staff,
wide variety of activities and encouragement to enjoy the outdoors. Means our child loves their time at nursery.
The Pear Tree is an incredible nursery and I know they would go above and beyond to protect and help my child.
The way they would with their own children. My child gets more opportunity at this nursery than I ever
managed for them.
Very happy with this nursery, my child loves it there and is very well looked after. I especially like the hot meals
provided at lunch and dinner time.
Fantastic nursery in all aspects. My child is very happy there.
We have been impressed with the staff. They have formed real bonds with our child and they are very happy at
the nursery. They are very knowledgeable and give our child due care and attention, particularly if they are
feeling under the weather.
Very happy with the service we receive. The staff are amazing and always have energy and enthusiasm to look
after my child, even at the end of a long day. There are always new initiatives to keep the children stimulated.
My child is very happy at this nursery. Thank you.
My children are very happy. They have grown more confident and capable whilst having fun. The staff always go
the extra mile to enhance the learning of the children whilst offering comfort and security.
We have been very happy with our child's care at Pear Tree. The staff always go the extra mile to ensure our
child is happy, stimulated and content. My child stays happily at nursery each morning, showing they are very
comfortable with the staff and are looking forward to their day ahead.
A wonderful nursery with a highly dedicated staff team. They cannot do enough for my child and family. Always
go that extra mile. Such a happy positive place, genuinely caring and loving. My child thrives there, we could
not be happier. This parent also told us their child says: "I love my nursery. The teachers are fun, kind and
friends. We can do experiments, play and go on bikes."
Self assessment
The service had not been asked to submit a self-assessment in advance if this inspection. We looked at their
improvement plan and quality assurance paperwork. These demonstrated their priorities for development and
how they were monitoring the quality of provision within the service.
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support
Quality of environment
Quality of staffing
Quality of management and leadership
4 - Good
5 - Very Good
not assessed
not assessed
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What the service does well
The service continued to promote and develop partnership working with parents. We saw the staff team worked
well and provided good support and respect for each other, to the children and their families. They had
developed strong links with local schools to support children's transitions. Parents agreed their children were
well cared for and staff went the 'extra mile' to protect and support their children.
The service provided a natural, calm atmosphere. Playrooms were welcoming, well organised and provided good
opportunities for children to self-select and gain ownership. This helped children learn to respect and care for
the environment and resources. Improvements in the nursery included, staff developing a natural environment
and providing a very good range of natural resources.
There were many opportunities for sensory and open ended play. This supported children's wellbeing and
imaginative play, while offering children opportunities to explore and develop their creativity. Staff demonstrated
an understanding of the children's stage of development, for example by recognising schematic play and
planning meaningful and linked experiences for the children.
There were many developments to the outdoor environment. For example, areas had been revamped and new
areas added, with a very good use of natural and recycle materials. We saw how staff and families provided
ideas for improvements, then worked together to put these into practice in developing the garden/balcony area
in the birth-two years playroom.
Forest schools were a success, with four staff currently trained and regular sessions taking place involving
children from two-five years. These opportunities were allowing children to think about risk taking and their
own safety, while supporting their communication, health, physical and emotional wellbeing.
There was a new approach to self-evaluation with the use of floor books, used to engage staff, children and
parents in children's learning. We saw these were leading to changes and improvements in the service. We
concluded that the staff and management team had the children at the heart of the service and want the very
best for them. They should continue with their future plans for improvement, including outdoor learning.
What the service could do better
It was unusually, very hot on the two days we visited the nursery. Although the children were encouraged to
drink plenty of water, we saw children aged two-three years were out in the sunshine for a long period prior to
lunch time. They were taken back out in the heat of the day after lunch, and many children already hot were not
wearing sun hats.
Some children had played in the water prior to lunch and sun cream had washed off. Staff did not re-apply sun
cream before or immediately after children were taken back outdoors. We intervened in this situation before
management took action and children were taken inside. We discussed this in depth with the provider and
manager and they took our comments on board to make immediate improvements. This impacted on the grade
for quality of care and support. (See recommendation 1).
We observed lunchtime experience on two occasions for the children aged three-five years. The first lunchtime
experience we observed was not positive for the children. Children waited for a long time before lunch was
served, they were not supervised and were not using cutlery. (See recommendation 2).
We saw the process for a young child transitioning from one room to another was not complete, thought out
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well and made the experience difficult for the child. Staff and management should evaluate children's
transitions to ensure these are handled sensitively and are a positive experience for all children. (See
recommendation 3).
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 3
1. For children to play outdoors safely in hot weather management and staff must review the procedures and
practices in place for children to be outdoors in hot weather. They must ensure all staff are aware and follow
these practices. National Care Standards early education and childcare up to the age of 16, Standard 3 Health
and wellbeing.
2. For lunchtime to be a positive experience for all children, lunchtime should be reviewed. To ensure children are
not waiting for long periods of time to wash their hands, be seated or served lunch. Children's independence at
lunch time should be encouraged through serving themselves.
Staff should sit with children to make lunches a sociable experience where they are encouraged by staff to eat
well and have good table manners. We also suggested the staff use the best practice guidance setting the table
whilst providing drinks and meals for the children.
3. To secure smooth transitions for children from one playroom to another the staff and management should
review the current nursery transition procedures. They should look at the systems in place for holding transition
meetings with parents and passing of information to parents and staff. Parents meetings should take place with
staff prior to their child's transition, transition records should be completed and clear to everyone involved in the
process.
This will help to make sure transitions are handled sensitively and are a positive and secure process for all
children. National Care Standards early education and childcare up to the age of 16, Standard 3 Health and
wellbeing & Standard 6 Support and development.
Complaints
There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are
published at www.careinspectorate.com.
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Inspection and grading history
Date
Type
Gradings
26 Jun 2015
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
19 Jul 2013
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
6 - Excellent
6 - Excellent
15 May 2012
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
4 - Good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 - Very good
5 Nov 2010
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
6 - Excellent
Not assessed
Not assessed
Not assessed
12 Mar 2010
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
6 - Excellent
Not assessed
6 - Excellent
Not assessed
19 Sep 2008
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
5 - Very good
4 - 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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