One of North Lanarkshire’s newest pre-school facilities has received a gold star in its inaugural report from the Care Inspectorate.
Petersburn family learning centre earned four “very good” ratings – the second-highest available – in all four categories of a glowing assessment.
It followed a three-day unannounced inspection during the summer term, when assessors praised the staff’s relationships and communication with children and their families; an especial source of pride to the team who opened the new centre during the midst of lockdown.
The inspectors identified “significant strengths in aspects of the care provided” and said: “Children attending the service were happy, settled and secure; received nurturing support from warm and caring staff who knew them well, [and] spoke positively about the people caring for them”.
Head of centre Helen Jenkins and her team were delighted with the report, after they first welcomed youngsters during the restrictions of the Covid pandemic in November 2020 and have worked hard to build relationships with the new nursery youngsters and their families.
Care Inspectorate assessors highlighted the links with families, communication-friendly environment and high-quality play and learning experiences on offer at the Airdrie centre, and praised the leadership and interaction of staff.
Depute head Siobhan Millward told Lanarkshire Live how the new centre’s staff overcame the pandemic restrictions at the time of their opening with online workshops, virtual tours, social media videos and phone consultations as they got to know youngsters and their families.
She said: “Building relationships is our number one priority and families are the most important thing; everybody worked so hard and pulled together as a team when we couldn’t have parents in the building at first, and we’ve had a lot of nice feedback.
“All the staff come here every day with smiles on their faces and have that love and nurture for the children which the inspectors said they could really feel.
“Since we’ve been able to have families back in the building, we have great things like stay and play sessions where they can see what their children are doing; a community room for families to use, and we have Petersburn family Fridays where there are pre-loved clothes and toys which families and members of the community can take.
“We’re all absolutely delighted everybody with the Care Inspectorate report and how the staff have come together, responded in different ways during that first year and built up those relationships with families, and we feel this is such an achievement for our nursery having not long opened.”
Constructed on the site of the former Petersburn Primary, the pre-school centre has 72 places for youngsters aged between two and five.
It was one of six new-build centres to have opened during the past two years as part of North Lanarkshire’s expansion of early-years provision, and inspectors praised the building and garden for taking “account of children’s needs”.
They particularly noted its outdoor play area, including mud kitchen, dens, sand and water play, having “an outdoor bathroom [and] seating [meaning] children could eat or visit the bathroom without having to come indoors, maximising choices and minimising interruptions to play”.
North Lanarkshire education convener Angela Campbell said: “This is a truly excellent report from the Care Inspectorate and I would like to congratulate everyone at Petersburn on their success.
“The report makes clear that there is an absolute focus on providing all children with the very best support and care possible.
“Well done to everyone involved; all staff who work at the nursery should be very proud of what they have achieved.”
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