Staff at an Ayrshire day care service have been praised for their efforts in creating a “welcoming” and “nurturing” space for the kids who attend the centre.
The Care Inspectorate graded staff’s work at the CHILDREN 1ST, Day Care of Children service in Girvan’s Wesley Road, as ‘good’ after a recent inspection — and they were “well supported” by the senior management team.
The scrutiny body’s findings follows an unannounced inspection.
CHILDREN 1st provides day care for up to 16 children aged 0-5 years and operates within Girvan Primary School campus.
As part of their overall findings the Care Inspectorate observed children who attended the service, spoke with family members, staff and management and observed staff practice and daily life.
An extract from the Care Inspectorate report said: “Children were happy and settled in the nursery. They were smiling, laughing and having fun with their friends and staff.
“Staff knew children well and could speak about their likes, dislikes and support needs.”
Interactions were “kind and caring” with staff offering children cuddles if they needed comfort or reassurance.
The report goes on: “Staff were aware of children’s allergies and medical needs, although we have asked for improvements to be made around safe recording and administration of medication.”
Another area where the scrutiny body thought improvements could be made was in relation to the lunchtime experience.
The service has also been asked to “review and develop” the environment to make it more “interesting and homely” and create an area where children can “rest and relax.”
And management and staff should continue to develop “robust and routine” quality assurance systems to ensure that the quality of the service is monitored and assessed “effectively,” according to the report.
Overall, the service was graded ‘good’ in one quality indicator and ‘adequate’ in four others.
One aspect which hit the right notes with the Care Inspectorate was the centre’s links with the community, with the report adding: “Children had opportunities to be included in their local community which helped to develop social skills and confidence.
“They regularly visited the local beach and woodland areas.
“And parents told us they were very happy that their children were involved in outdoors activities and trips into the local areas.”
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