Changes needed at Ardersier Primary School Nursery after Care Inspectorate publishes critical report following inspection
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A nursery has been given until the end of the month to make improvements in a number of areas following a critical report by the Care Inspectorate.
Ardersier Primary School Nursery was the subject of an unannounced visit by inspectors on May 31.
A report has now been published which has outlined one requirement and one recommendation.
The nursery is operated by Highland Council and the inspectorate has given the authority until September 30 to improve outcomes for children.
To achieve this the manager must develop and implement an effective system of quality assurance to monitor and improve all areas of practice.
The report states that clear and effective plans must be “put in place for maintaining and improving the service including the use of effective self-evaluation processes”.
In addition they must develop an effective quality assurance and monitoring programme.
The nursery was inspected in four areas: care and support; staffing and management; and leadership – which were all rated as being weak – and environment which was assessed as being adequate.
According to the report inspectors found that in the first three areas any strengths identified were still compromised by significant weaknesses.
Inspectors found lunchtime to be a stressful experience for most children as the lunch hall was busy and noisy.
The report stated: “At times, children were not adequately supervised due to insufficient staffing. We observed some children eating in positions which placed them at risk from choking which caused us concern.
“Staff were task orientated and distracted, which meant that children did not receive the care and support they required.”
Staff were, however, found to be skilled, caring and nurturing and understanding of the importance of developing close attachments with children.
However, inspectors found that the deployment and number of staff working in the service was insufficient to meet the needs of all children.
The report said: “Staffing levels did not take into account the complexity of children’s needs or busy times of the day such as meal times.
“Although the issues with staffing levels had been highlighted by the staff and management team to the provider, the provider had failed to address these and no improvements had been made.
“This was putting additional pressure on staff who were committed to ensuring positive outcomes for children.”
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The Highland Council is committed to providing quality ELC learning environments, experiences and interactions for our pupils in ELC.
“The school and nursery are aware of the needs of all their children and take their health, safety and welfare extremely seriously.
“Improvements to the ELC have been made and action plans are in place to ensure that these are embedded and sustained.”
