An Ayrshire children’s nursery has been praised by the Care Inspectorate following an unannounced inspection.
Burns Bairns Under 5’s Group, based at The Cross, Mauchline, was rated ‘very good’ and ‘good’ across a number of quality indicators.
Housed within the Centre Stane building, Burns Bairns Under 5’s Group provides a daycare for children aged three years to those not yet attending primary school.
Among the features in the nursery are a main playroom, a quiet room, a lunch room, an enclosed outdoor play space, toilet and nappy changing facilities.
Parents were “very happy” with the service, according to the report’s findings.
The Care Inspectorate report also goes on to say: “We spoke to children informally about the nursery during our visit.
“We observed happy and relaxed children who were having fun and were engaged in learning through their play.
“And we issued an online survey to the service to distribute to parents and carers during the inspection. We received 13 responses. Overall, parents were very happy with the level of care and support their children received.
“They were kept well informed of changes through various means and really liked the social media platform and photographs and felt involved in the service. They believed that staff knew their child very well and had built strong relationships with them.”
Quality of care and support, and quality of management and leadership, were rated ‘very good,’ while the quality of the environment and staffing were rated as ‘good’ by the Care Inspectorate.
The report goes on: “Children were settled, happy and engaged during our visit. This was due to staff’s warm and sensitive interactions as they chatted with individual children or small groups.
“We saw that the children were cared for by a nurturing and caring staff team. We saw children approach staff for help and reassurance. Staff responded by getting down to their level and offering support.
“Staff knew children well and had built good relationships with the families who attend the service, this was confirmed by viewing children’s personal plans, staffs insightful comments and parents we consulted with.
“One parent told us, ‘even though my child hasn’t long started they have taken the time to build meaningful relationships and have got to know her well’."
In terms of appropriate infection, prevention and control procedures, the nursery was given a clean bill of health.
The report said: “We were satisfied that the service had appropriate infection, prevention and control procedures in place to support a safe environment for children and families.
“For example, good handwashing routines were in place and had been adapted in line with current guidance. The playrooms were visibly clean and tidy with enhanced cleaning regimes in place to prevent the spread of infection.”
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