Weaknesses at Thurso nursery 'compromised safety and wellbeing of children'
Weaknesses in the running of a Caithness nursery were so significant that they "compromised the safety and wellbeing of children", inspectors have found.
The Care Inspectorate also discovered during an unannounced visit to Thurso's Mount Pleasant Nursery that two staff were working with youngsters while not appropriately registered.
This "had the potential to put children at serious risk", according to the inspection report, which notes that alternative staffing arrangements were put in place after the issue was highlighted.
The checks were carried out by two inspectors on June 13 and 14 this year. Feedback was given virtually on June 16 and the newly issued report sets out a number of requirements.
The nursery is operated by Highland Council and is registered to provide a care service to a maximum of 60 children, from the age of three up to those not yet at primary school. It is based in the grounds of Mount Pleasant Primary School.
Inspectors use a six-point scale to evaluate the quality of service, with 1 meaning "unsatisfactory" and 6 being "excellent". At Mount Pleasant, the leadership was rated as "unsatisfactory" (1), the staff team was "weak" (2) and the standards of care, play and learning were also "weak", while the setting was "good" (4).
On the question of leadership, the report states: "We found significant weaknesses which compromised the safety and wellbeing of children.
"Quality assurance processes were ineffective. Monitoring and auditing that had taken place did not have a positive impact on the quality of children's experiences.
"There were significant gaps in the areas covered by the quality assurance systems which meant children were receiving a poor service. As a result, we identified significant concerns in areas which had not been identified or addressed, compromising children's safety and wellbeing.
"We found that there was no audit of staff's registration with professional bodies and as a result two staff were working with children whilst not appropriately registered. This had the potential to put children at serious risk.
"After we identified this to the manager, alternative staffing arrangements were made."
The Care Inspectorate lists the following "key messages":
- Children experienced inconsistent interactions. Some of these were positive and supported them to feel relaxed, happy and settled, whilst others were not respectful or responsive which did not support children to feel valued.
- Children experienced an environment that was welcoming and homely.
- Children had some opportunities to develop their skills in understanding, thinking and investigation.
- Significant improvements were needed to ensure children's individual care and support needs were effectively planned for.
- Children were put at risk as quality assurance processes were ineffective.
- There was insufficient capacity and skill to support a programme of continuous improvement.
- The service has been too slow to implement improvements to children's care, play and learning.
- Staff deployment across the nursery was ineffective.
The report notes that the service operates in term time only.
It is provided in two locations, one being a prefabricated building close to the primary school, where the Gaelic medium part of the service operates. The other is located within the main primary school building, where the English medium class meets in a dedicated playroom.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The school and nursery are aware of the needs of all their children and take their health, safety and welfare extremely seriously.
"Any requirements from the Care Inspectorate have been met and the setting will be updating and reviewing their Personal Care Plan paperwork with stakeholders, ensuring a robust quality assurance calendar is in place, and improving communication with parents/carers.”