Inspectors report on Troon’s Granny Smith Nursery School

A. Troon The nursery was given a clean bill of health following an unannounced spot check on its service delivery.

Granny Smith’s Day Care, town Ayr Street, It was rated ‘very good’ on two quality indicators and ‘good’ on the other two.

The ratings come from the Care Inspectorate, which made an unannounced visit to the setting in September and has now published its findings.

Among the Maintenance Inspectorate’s main messages was that the staff’s approach was “warm and understanding”.

“Positive relationships” between staff and children supported children feeling “safe and valued”.

Their planning approach was “sensitive” and “took into account” the needs and interests of most children. The care review board said it “supports” children to manage their own play and learning.

Children also experienced a “safe, homely, inviting and well-cared for” environment.

The plus points continued; Opportunities for parental involvement were “encouraged.” Most parents told inspectors they were “regularly asked” to evaluate the service through surveys and informal feedback. This promoted a “culture of collaboration” and “continuous improvement.”

They also were “respectful and courteous” in staff interactions with each other. As a result, the staff was “happy” and “felt valued” in the working environment.

Granny Smith’s Day Nursery is registered as a childcare service to care for 60 children who are not yet in primary school.

Operated in partnership with the service South Ayrshire Council.

An extract from the Care Inspectorate report said: “Children benefited from warm and understanding staff. Positive relationships and attachments supported children feeling safe and valued. The children enjoyed spending time with the staff and being invited into the play areas by the staff.

“Most parents told us they valued the relationships staff built with their children and families.

“A parent said that the staff; “Supportive, nurturing, experienced, friendly staff.”

Additionally, staff knew the children “well” and were able to discuss children’s health and emotional wellbeing needs on an individual basis.

These were rated ‘very good’ on quality indicators for staff team and environment. These were rated ‘good’ on quality indicators relating to care, play and learning as well as leadership.

Personal plans were one of the areas addressed by inspectors, and the report states: “We sampled a range of children’s personal plans and found that many were missing details of the strategies staff would use to support children. A few personal plans were also not reviewed within the appropriate timescale.

“We have discussed this with the management team and advised that this will be actioned and monitored going forward. This will ensure that children continue to receive care and support that reflects their current needs.”

Inspectors also asked the manager to “review” current medication procedures to ensure they “reflect” best practice guidance.

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