Staffing levels at Highland nursery 'inadequate' Care Inspectorate finds
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The level of staffing at Croy Primary School Nursery was inadequate to meet the needs of all children a Care Inspectorate report has revealed.
Now Highland Council, the care provider for up to 34 children at the nursery, must fulfil an inspection requirement by October 6 that children are effectively supported by sufficient numbers of staff.
The inspector said: "Staff were focused on providing children with a safe and secure environment. They told us they felt they were unable to consistently meet the needs of all children due to the layout of the setting, overall level of staffing and being focused on tasks.
"However, they worked well as a team to identify and reduce the impact of any gaps, such as closing one of the playrooms to increase availability of staff in other areas.
"We found that the provider's approach to staffing was not outcome focused.
"Consideration had not been given to the layout and size of the setting, or the complex needs of some children.
"Staff were unable to fully support children with their play and learning as they were focused on ensuring that children were safe.
"They were often distracted from interacting with children to support children in another area of the setting. This meant children were not consistently receiving high quality care and support, and play and learning experiences."
Related articles: Safety fears raised as nursery goes into administration
Loch Ness-side school lands high praise from inspectors
Concerns over children's safety raised in new report
The council must at a minimum review and make appropriate changes to staff deployment to improve experiences for children.
This led the staff team being scored 2 or Weak by the inspector, on a six point scale where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent.
Croy's care, play and learning rated 3 - Adequate; its setting 4 - Good; and leadership 2 - Weak.
On leadership the report said quality assurance and self-evaluation procedures were in the early stages of development and were not yet "robust and transparent" resulting in a slow pace of change.
"The manager told us that they still had very limited time to undertake their roles and responsibilities, due to demands on their time within the school," said the inspector.
"They had carried out some monitoring of staff practice, and had identified some areas for improvement. For example, improving the lunchtime experience and increasing opportunities for numeracy across the setting.
"However, this was not yet having a positive impact on improving outcomes for children.
"We previously made a recommendation around this, and this will be continued and reviewed at the next inspection."
To improve outcomes for children, the manager should develop an effective system of quality assurance and self-evaluation to support improvement planning. This should include finding sufficient time to carry out the managerial role and developing an effective monitoring programme, including individual support for staff.
Despite negative aspects of the report, key messages included that staff were kind, warm and nurturing with the children, making them relaxed and happy.
They knew the children well, supporting their individual care needs and their ability to develop their language, literacy and communication skills.
And staff had developed the environment to be warm and welcoming making the children feel comfortable.
