Inspectionreport

Morrison's Academy NurseryDay Care of ChildrenFerntower RoadCrieffPH7 3ANTelephone: 01764 653885

Inspected by: Marion Neil

Type of inspection: Unannounced

Inspection completed on: 20 February 2013

ContentsPage No

Summary 31 About the service we inspected 52 How we inspected this service 63 The inspection 94 Other information 355 Summary of grades 366 Inspection and grading history 36

Service provided by:Morrison's Academy

Service provider number:SP2003003588

Care service number:CS2003016199

Contact details for the inspector who inspected this service:Marion NeilTelephone 01382 207200Email [email protected]

Inspection report continued

Morrison's Academy Nursery, page 2 of 37

SummaryThis report and grades represent our assessment of the quality of the areas ofperformance which were examined during this inspection.

Grades for this care service may change after this inspection following otherregulatory activity. For example, if we have to take enforcement action to make theservice improve, or if we investigate and agree with a complaint someone makesabout the service.

We gave the service these grades

Quality of Care and Support 6 Excellent

Quality of Environment 6 Excellent

Quality of Staffing 5 Very Good

Quality of Management and Leadership 5 Very Good

What the service does well

• The nursery staff and the Head of Nursery all knew the children very well, andhad an exceptionally good understanding of their development needs.

• The nursery staff team involved the children and their parents/carers in aninclusive and consultative way in the children's learning journeys, takingaccount of the curriculum for excellence principles.

• The Head of the Nursery and the nursery staff were enthusiastic andmotivated about their work, and provided a high standard of daycare.

What the service could do better

• The manager told us that as an ongoing area for improvement, she and herstaff team intended to ask parents/carers for their views on the content andstructure of the questionnaires

• As part of the settling in process to the new building, the nursery staff teamwill be reviewing the nursery resources and keeping only those that arerelevant and purposeful for the modern curriculum.



•

• Working together with the children and parents, the nursery staff teamintended to develop the outdoor space to provide eg an outdoor classroom,dens, bivouac and low rope walks and to move the outdoor equipment fromthe old site.

What the service has done since the last inspection

• The service has moved to a purpose built nursery within the grounds ofMorrison's Academy.

• The service was now very well settled into the new premises, due to the hardwork and dedication of the nursery staff, ably led by the Head of Nursery.

• The service has further involved parents/carers in planning their children'slearning journeys.

ConclusionThe nursery was now very well settled into their new purpose built facility. Thenursery staff team, ably led by the Head of Nursery, were continuing to provide a highstandard of daycare. Significant progress was made in involving the children and theirparents/carers in planning the children's learning journeys.

Who did this inspectionMarion NeilLay assessor: Not Applicable



1 About the service we inspectedMorrison's Academy Nursery was registered with the Care Commission from 1 April2002 for 30 children aged 3 to 5 years, and is a partner-provider of pre-schooleducation for Perth and Kinross Council. The service operates five mornings a week,with the facility for children to stay on for lunch as well as an extended afternoonsession.

Premises consist of three playrooms, large cloakroom with toilets, kitchen, office,meeting rooms and resource rooms, in a purpose built facility within the grounds ofMorrison's Academy. The nursery has access to a large, enclosed outdoor space ontwo sides. One of these areas is decked and provides free-flow play from thenursery. Since moving to the new premises, the nursery has made further extensiveuse of the primary school facilities, including the gym, astro turf, tennis courts,science lab and extensive grounds.

The nursery is managed by the Head of Primary, with a Head of Nursery responsiblefor the day to day running of the service, assisted by a nursery teacher and threeEarly Years Officers. There is also weekly input from the main school's departmentalstaff in music and physical education.

Morrison's Academy Nursery aims to:".... to support children to become successful learners and effective contributorswhilst becoming confident individuals and responsible citizens through providing asafe and stimulating environment in which children feel safe and secure."

Based on the findings of this inspection this service has been awarded the followinggrades:

Quality of Care and Support - Grade 6 - ExcellentQuality of Environment - Grade 6 - ExcellentQuality of Staffing - Grade 5 - Very GoodQuality of Management and Leadership - Grade 5 - Very Good

This report and grades represent our assessment of the quality of the areas ofperformance which were examined during this inspection.

Grades for this care service may change following other regulatory activity. You canfind the most up-to-date grades for this service by visiting our websitewww.careinspectorate.com or by calling us on 0845 600 9527 or visiting one of ouroffices.



2 How we inspected this service

The level of inspection we carried outIn this service we carried out a low intensity inspection. We carry out theseinspections when we are satisfied that services are working hard to provideconsistently high standards of care.

What we did during the inspectionThis report was written following a unannounced inspection visit on 20 February2013. The inspection visit was carried out by Marion Neil, Inspector, Care Inspectorate,the working title of Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland. She gavefeedback about the inspection to the Head of Nursery and the Head of the PrimarySchool, at the end of this visit, which took approximately 6 hours. There were 17children present throughout the visit.

We carried out a low intensity inspection. We carry out these inspections when weare satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards ofcare. We looked at 4 themes - the Quality of Care and Support, the Quality of theEnvironment, the Quality of Staffing and the Quality of Management and Leadership.We looked at evidence for 2 Quality statements in each of these themes.

The nursery, as requested, sent us an Annual Return and a Self Assessment form. Wetalked to the manager, and her staff about the service and the progress made sincethe last inspection visit. We looked at a sample of the nursery's policies andprocedures. We gave questionnaires to parents/carers who use the service. Eight ofthese were returned prior to the inspection visit. We sampled evidence to supportwhat had been written in the nursery's Self Assessment, under these QualityStatements.

We looked at the nursery's records during the visit. These included:

• certificate of registration,• public liability insurance,• attendance register,• records of medication administered,• accidents and incidents,• written risk assessments,• photographs of children taking part in a variety of activities,• written permission for trips, outings, photos, sunscreen and toothbrushing,• children's contact details,



• newsletters,• questionnaires and surveys carried out by the nursery,• consultation with the children,• a sample of children's portfolios,• information on the nursery noticeboards,• information on the school's website about the nursery, including the nursery

blogs,• and the nursery's self evaluation and quality assurance systems.

We talked to some of the children and to their parents/carers when they came tocollect them at the end of the session. We talked to the staff team about theactivities the children do and how their progress is recorded. In this report we refer tothe manager of the nursery as the Head of Nursery. The nursery staff included anursery teacher and 3 Early Years Officers. In this report we refer to them as thenursery staff team or as nursery staff. We observed staff's child care practice duringthe visit, both inside and in the enclosed outdoor area. There were 17 children at themorning session and 15 children who stayed on for lunch on the day that we visited.

Grading the service against quality themes and statementsWe inspect and grade elements of care that we call 'quality themes'. For example,one of the quality themes we might look at is 'Quality of care and support'. Undereach quality theme are 'quality statements' which describe what a service should bedoing well for that theme. We grade how the service performs against the qualitythemes and statements.

Details of what we found are in Section 3: The inspection

Inspection Focus Areas (IFAs)In any year we may decide on specific aspects of care to focus on during ourinspections. These are extra checks we make on top of all the normal ones we makeduring inspection. We do this to gather information about the quality of these aspectsof care on a national basis. Where we have examined an inspection focus area we willclearly identify it under the relevant quality statement.

Fire safety issuesWe do not regulate fire safety. Local fire and rescue services are responsible forchecking services. However, where significant fire safety issues become apparent, wewill alert the relevant fire and rescue services so they may consider what action totake. You can find out more about care services' responsibilities for fire safety atwww.firelawscotland.org



The annual returnEvery year all care services must complete an 'annual return' form to make sure theinformation we hold is up to date. We also use annual returns to decide how we willinspect the service.Annual Return Received: Yes - Electronic

Comments on Self AssessmentEvery year all care services must complete a 'self assessment' form telling us howtheir service is performing. We check to make sure this assessment is accurate.The Care Inspectorate received a fully completed Self assessment document from thenursery. This identified what the nursery did well, along with the sources of evidencefor these areas, and proposed improvements. However, the nursery's Self assessmentform did not always reflect the outcomes for the children.

The nursery may now wish to consider that when using the Self assessmentdocument as part of the overall quality assurance of the nursery, they provide detailedexamples of the nursery's high quality practice and how this impacts on theoutcomes for children.

Taking the views of people using the care service into accountWe talked to the children during the inspection visit. We observed them taking part ina number of age-appropriate activities, including outdoor play. They were happy andcontented at the nursery and engaged very well with their learning journeys. Theircomments are included under the Quality statements in this report.

Taking carers' views into accountEight questionnaires were returned to us and all of them had additional comments.These, along with the views of parents/carers expressed to us on the day of theinspection, are included under the Quality statements in this report.



3 The inspectionWe looked at how the service performs against the following quality themes andstatements. Here are the details of what we found.

Quality Theme 1: Quality of Care and SupportGrade awarded for this theme: 6 - Excellent

Statement 1We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving thequality of the care and support provided by the service.

Service strengthsWe found that the nursery was performing exceptionally well in the areas we lookedat under this Quality statement. We concluded this after talking to the nurserymanager and the nursery staff. We observed staff practice throughout our visit. Welooked at records associated with this Quality statement, including the nursery'sfeedback from the surveys and questionnaires that they gave to parents/carers. Wetook account of the children's views -

• We looked at their feedback about activities in the nursery.• We talked to them during the morning and afternoon session.

We considered the views of parents/carers given to us in the questionnaires that theyreturned to us prior to the inspection visit. We received 9 questionnaires, 8 of whichcontained additional comments from parents/carers. We took account of what themanager had written in the nursery's Self assessment form. We looked at a sampleof the nursery's policies and procedures, including the participation policy.

We reported our findings for Quality statements 1.1, 2.1, 3.1 and 4.1, under this Qualitystatement. This was because we were very satisfied with the level of participation andconsultation with the children and their parents/carers.We gave the nursery a grade 6- excellent, for the areas we looked at under these Quality statements - 1.1, 2.1, 3.1,and 4.1.



We found that the nursery had a clear and effective policy and procedure aboutpartnership with parents/carers and participation. In an example of ideal practicethis stated that the nursery would work in partnership with the wider community aswell eg supermarkets, post office, library, local care homes etc. Photographs welooked at confirmed this way of working eg nursery children visiting a local care hometo sing Christmas carols. Other examples of partnership working in the localcommunity included -

1) Lady Willerby, Drummond Castle, opened the nursery - the children wrote andasked her to come. They visited Drummond Castle Gardens so that they could talk toher when she came to the nursery.2) Visiting down town - to look for sugar mice.3) Visited a member of staff and bought her dog a present - the puppy came to visitthe nursery and sent a card back to the children, thanking them for the present.

The participation and partnership policy was supported by a robust transition policy.This stated arrangements to help the children have a smooth transition from home tonursery, and from nursery to school. In an example of best practice, the nurseryinvited prospective parents to parents evenings, social events, and nursery open days.Working in this way meant that the children were very well supported when using thenursery for the first time. Parents/carers were encouraged to find out about theservice prior to using it. The result was that they knew how the nursery operated andhad first rate opportunities to meet nursery staff, prior to using it.

The nursery staff worked with the children in an inclusive and consultative way. Theywere now making outstanding use of the wall space in the nursery to displaychildren's work, their views and parents/carers views. Nursery staff gathered thechildren's views through the use of mind maps and talking and thinking books. Wesaw a high quality example of this in the children's mind map about water and inmind maps used for restorative thinking eg to look at when the children were sad andhappy -

"I am sad when .....

"When I go outside and I get cold.""Having to go to bed.""When I hurt myself."

I am happy when ......

"Lots of puzzles.""Snowball fights with Dad.""My Mummy."



"Digging with my Grandpa."

Using mind maps in this way means that the nursery staff can find out how much thechildren know about a topic. This means that the nursery staff can plan activities andlearning experiences to extend the children's learning and to re-enforce what theyalready know. It assists nursery staff to base the children's learning experiences ontheir interests. Using restorative thinking in this way helps the children to developtheir emotional intelligence.

One ideal example of how the children's views were taken into account by nurserystaff was the creation of a "My Space" board, which displayed individual children'sideas about their learning goals. Very commendably the 'My Space' was situated onthe nursery 'wave' - a divider in the nursery cloakroom area, which gave parents/carers first rate opportunities to see their child's learning goals. Examples included -

• One child would like to be able to do cartwheels like her mum and dad,• Another found his numbers.• Another wants to read lots of stories and watch stories on the smart board• Another wants to do more running and jumping in PE.

Asking the children to define their learning goals in this way provided the nurserystaff with a wealth of material and ideas for their planning. It meant that the childrenknew that they were listened to by staff and that staff valued their ideas.

Another ideal example of the consultation with the children, was that after moving tothe new nursery building, nursery staff asked the children for their views. Twochildren told them that it was not as good as the old nursery. They told the nurserystaff that this was because they missed the sand tray. They said they didn't want totell staff this in case they upset them. The sand tray was now in place in the newnursery.

The nursery used questionnaires with the children and their views were fed back totheir parents/carers. For example a recent questionnaire was about letter sounds -children's views included -

"No, it's not fun, it's hard work." "I love to find things that begin with the letter of theweek."

Seeking children's views in a variety of ways and settings was following best practiceguidance. This is because some children were happier giving their views in aninformal setting. Some responded better when asked directly about what they think.



Throughout our visit to the nursery, we saw that nursery staff used open endedquestions when talking to the children. This was an example of the ideal way toencourage children to give their views and take part in discussions. Although therewas a structure and routine in the nursery, we saw that nursery staff also gave thechildren choices, allowing them to choose what they wished to play with, and whatthey wanted to do next eg in the afternoon, children were given the choice of playingoutside, or staying in the nursery play room. All the children wanted to go outside- see Quality statement 1.3 and 2.2. We saw ideal evidence that children wereinvolved in assessing risks eg when playing outside - see Quality statement 2.2.

Working in this way meant that the children were encouraged to make choices anddecisions. It promoted their independence and developed their understandingdecision making.

Parents/carers were given exceptional opportunities to give their views about thenursery. These opportunities were both informal and formal -

• parents/carers were provided with verbal feedback from nursery staff eachday when they collected their child,

• the manager had an open door policy - parents could approach her withconcerns or suggestions,

• each child had a named key worker and parents/carers could discuss theirchild's progress with them,

• parents/carers evening were held regularly,• the nursery had an annual open day,• parents/carers were invited to nursery events eg sports day,• parents/carers were sent weekly newsletters,• parents/carers were sent questionnaires and surveys electronically -

this resulted in a 97% response rate,• there is a suggestions box,• the nursery made highly effective use of the noticeboards in the entrance and

cloakroom areas to provide parents/carers with information eg on thecurriculum for excellence, child protection, exclusion dates for infectiousillnesses, their children's learning journeys.

In an example of best practice the nursery had asked parents/carers what kind ofquestionnaires they would prefer - most parents wanted to choose from a selectionof options, with a space for additional comments. As with the children, givingparents/carers a variety of information and communication methods, increased thechances of parents/carers responding. The result was that the nursery had a veryhigh response to recent questionnaires. Parents/carers knew that the nurserylistened to their suggestions for improvement.



An example of how well parents/carers were listened to by the staff team was -

Following the move to the new premises, one parent/carer stated that she was nolonger sure who her child's key worker was. The next day a list of key workers andtheir key children was posted on the 'wave'. This meant that all parents/carers couldrefresh their memories about just who their child's key worker was.

Parents/carers views in the questionnaires returned to us confirmed this -

"The communication from the nursery is excellent and feedback from parents iswelcomed and encouraged.""A weekly newsletter is e-mailed out and details all the activities the children, alongwith weekly blogs, we are kept fully informed."

A parent who spoke with us also said -

"Very approachable staff, weekly e- mail, plus blogs - really useful for grandparents."

In conclusion, the nursery staff, ably led by the highly effective manager, encouragedthe children and their parents/carers to participate fully in the children's learningjourneys. Children's views informed the planning of learningexperiences. Communication with parents/carers, both formal and informal, was ofan exceptionally high standard.

Areas for improvementThe manager told us that as an ongoing area for improvement, she and her staffteam intended to ask parents/carers for their views on the content and structure ofthe questionnaires.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent

Number of requirements: 0

Number of recommendations: 0

Statement 3We ensure that service users' health and wellbeing needs are met.

Service strengthsWe found that the nursery was performing exceptionally well in the areas we lookedat under this Quality statement. We concluded this after -

• talking to the Head of Nursery and the nursery staff,



• speaking to the children and their parents/carers when they came to collectthem at the end of the sessions,

• looking at records associated with this Quality statement, including children'sportfolios, medical protocols for the administration of medication, planning forlearning journeys and experiences and records associated with additionalsupport.

We took into account what the Head of Nursery had written in the nursery's Selfassessment form. We took account of parents'/carers' views, as given to the nurseryin surveys, to us in questionnaires returned to us and directly when we talked toparents/carers.

We looked at evidence to confirm best practice in the following areas - staff'sunderstanding and development of the curriculum for excellence, how well thenursery used the space in the new building; how children's additional support orhealth needs were managed by the nursery staff; healthy lifestyles, including healthyeating and infection control.

We gave the nursery a grade 6 - excellent for the areas we looked at under thisQuality statement.

We noted that each child had a portfolio. This contained -

• An 'All about me' form.• This included the child's personal details, including family, I can do lots of

interesting things, favourite books, colours etc, what makes me happy andsad, and included the child's drawings.

• There was a follow up 'All about me' - part 2.• This included drawing again, the child's friends, activities at nursery, what the

child enjoyed when not at nursery, favourite books and nursery rhymes, andany changes at home.

• A settling in report, mid year report and end of year report.

Gathering this kind of information in this way helps key workers to get to know theirkey children. It helps the nursery staff to plan activities and learning experiencesaround children's interests.

We found that nursery staff had an exceptional understanding about how to monitorthe children's progress. Each portfolio had monthly updates showing the child'sachievements. Achievements were linked to the curriculum for excellence statements,supported by photographs and by staff observations of the child. This informationassisted the nursery staff in the monthly report for each child. This was an exampleof ideal practice as it meant that parents/carers could see their child'sachievements.



Currently key worker meetings were twice a year. The Head of the Nursery askedparents/carers how often these should be held. The majority of parents/carerswanted a key worker meeting termly. The Head of Nursery confirmed that thenursery was now changing to this. Providing parents/carers with a regularopportunity to discuss their child's progress with their key worker was an example offirst rate practice. It provided the parents/carers with ideal opportunities to makesuggestions or raise any concerns.

When we sampled children's portfolios we found that the key workers were assessingthe children against the appropriate learning experiences and outcomes from thecurriculum for excellence. We saw that -

• samples of children's work,• all about me forms and updates,• and details of attributes and skills development,

were now linked to the principles of Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC). TheHead of the Nursery confirmed that work in this area was still developing. Two of thestaff team had completed Restorative Approaches training. The nursery staff werenow introducing this eg using restorative questions when dealing with behaviour.Parents/carers were kept informed about both these initiatives as the nursery hadissued them with leaflets on Using My World triangle and on Restorative Approaches.

This evidence confirmed that the nursery staff were provided with first rate trainingopportunities to ensure that their childcare practice was up to date, and followingbest practice guidance.

We found that planning learning experiences took account of children's views andinterests. It was firmly embedded in identified areas of the curriculum for excellence.Planning took account of SHANARRI principles - Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured,Active, Respected and Responsible, and Included. The nursery staff had an idealunderstanding of these and displays eg on the cloakroom wall and wave wereencouraging parents to think about them too. An example of this way of working was-

The learning objectives for the month were clearly displayed for parents along withthe success criteria eg I can show you how I can use the mouse. I know the name ofwater in solid, gas and liquid form.

This meant that parents/carers were kept very well informed about theirchildren's learning journeys, and how learning objectives related to the curriculum forexcellence.



We saw outstanding examples where the children and their parents/carers wereinvolved in their learning journeys. Examples of this were -

1) The school took part in a 'Right Wee Blether.' This was where Scotland'sCommissioner for Children and Young People, Tam Baillie, asked children between theages of 2 and 5 to have their very own creative conversation using their own forms ofexpression. Morrison's Nursery asked parents/carers to discuss 5 key questions withthe children as part of the school's Rights Respecting School project.

Their views were then passed back to Tam Baillie as part of the 'Right Wee Blether'project. Involving parents/carers in this way means that they can help their childrenin developing different skills as part of their learning journeys.

2) The nursery blog and interactive white board confirmed parents' involvement incelebrating and learning about Chinese New Year. The nursery used lots of clips ofchildren celebrating in China. The children visited a restaurant in Perth for a ChineseNew Year meal, at the invitation of one of the parents. The nursery was presentedwith an authentic dragon puppet, as part of the celebration. Another parent broughtback red envelopes for Chinese New Year gifts.

We found that the new facilities were an ideal setting to develop all the areas for thecurriculum for excellence. The nursery now had 3 main play rooms, one of which wasused as a quiet room. In an example of best practice this room had an interactivewhite board as well as a number of computers for the children. The other 2playrooms were also spacious. They interconnected with one another, and the resultwas that the children had free flow play between the different activities eg wet playroom, home corner, construction, small world toys and dressing up area. A great dealof thought had gone into the design of the new build. Two of the playrooms hadideal access to an enclosed outdoor decking area. The Head of the Nursery explainedthat this area would be further developed with a canopy to allow outdoor play andlearning experiences even in bad weather.

At the time of the inspection, the nursery had only been in the new premises for lessthan 2 months. They were involving the children in helping to decide what activitiesworked best in which areas. The children's views were also informing where thedisplay boards should go, to ensure that these were accessible to the children.

The very spacious hallway and cloakroom area was suitable for indoor push and ridetoys and a trampoline. In an example of best practice the children had helped tomake up simple rules for this area -

"When we ride the scooters inside we make sure to -



• use the timers to take turns,• to put the chairs at the top and bottom to show the pathway,• not to bump into anyone."

Working in this way meant that the children were involved in decision making tomake sure that the new environment was used most effectively. The result was thatthey had settled into the new building very well and were really enjoying the spaciousenvironment.

The new environment meant that the children now had ideal access to extra schoolfacilities. These included -

• going for lunch in the school dining hall,• increased opportunities for music making - the music teacher visits regularly,• Primary 1 teacher comes almost every week for transition, plus• PE takes place across in main school facilities with a specialist nursery trained

PE teacher,• nursery children use the school's climbing wall,• access to the school's science teacher and science lab,• joint working with the geography teacher,• primary children are visiting the nursery to help with Scottish culture, music

and poetry for Burn's night.

In an ideal example of the school and nursery working together the nursery childrenwere at the school's science lab the week before our inspection visit. The Head of theNursery confirmed that school staff were working even better with nursery staff toimprove and enhance the curriculum. An example of this was that the geographyteacher and science teacher have provided additional information for the nursery'swater topic - eg water cycle and making clouds, plus growing crystals.

Not all of the nursery children would be moving to Morrison's Primary School.However, meeting Primary teachers, using primary school facilities and mixing withprimary aged children helps to prepare the children for their transition to primaryschool.

The nursery's medical form was ideal. It included information on allergies. All of thisinformation was stored electronically on the school's PASS system (an electronicdatabase for school use). The nursery was very well supported by the school nurse.



For example if any child at the nursery had a life-long condition eg a severe allergy, amedical protocol was in place and the school nurse would attend to the child at thenursery. The Head of the Nursery confirmed that this system worked very well. Theschool nurse ensured that any recording of the administration of medication wassatisfactory. She had also assisted the nursery in teaching the children about handwashing routines. The school nurse had, the Head of the Nursery told us, twosessions with the nursery children on hand washing. She was now carrying outweekly checks with the children to ensure that they were following the hand washingrules. There were illustrated posters about hand washing in the toilets. The childrenwere now familiar with the hand driers. Special arrangements were in place for onechild who found the hand drier too noisy to use. The children had developed aposter for the hand driers -

"Hand washing - When we dry our hands we move them up and down in the dryer.The water is blown away."

Throughout the day we saw that nursery staff encouraged and reminded the childrento follow simple hygiene routines eg washing their hands before snack and after theyhad been to the toilet.

Having the support of the school nurse was ideal. It meant that the children'slearning about hygiene was re-enforced by another adult. The result was that thechildren had a first rate understanding about why they should wash their hands.Working in this way minimises the risk of infections spreading.

The nursery had a very good system in place to carry out tooth brushing. They didthis 4 days per week. We saw photographs of the children enthusiastically cleaningtheir teeth. A first rate system was in place to make sure that the tooth brushes weresuitably stored and that the holders for them were cleaned regularly.

Health and safety checks were in place in the separate kitchen area eg

• daily checks of the fridge temperature,• food was only re-heated if it came from a tin - the temperature of the food

was checked with a probe,• individual chopping board and colour coded knives were in place, along with

colour coded mops and clothes,• nursery staff followed the latest food safety guidance,• a separate hand washing sink was in place as well as one for preparing food.



•

We noted that the snack menu promoted healthy eating. It included fruit, and tookaccount of children's preference. There was dietary information in place in the kitchenfor any children who had allergies. This meant that staff were vigilant whenpreparing snack. This ensured that children were not given any foodstuffs that theywere allergic to.

The Head of nursery confirmed that an Individual Education Plan (IEP) was in place tosupport a child who has additional support needs. We noted that a Referral letterwas in place. The IEP was comprehensive to ensure that the nursery was workingwell with the external professional. The IEP was updated termly and additions madeas required. A copy was always sent to the parent. This meant that the nursery staffwere supporting the child and parent to ensure the physical needs of the child weremet.

This support was confirmed by a parent who returned a questionnaire to us - shewrote -

"A wonderful school nursery where my child flourishes. She has recently beendiagnosed with some physical problems and the nursery implemented a programimmediately to support her. She adores nursery and wants to go all day, every day!"

The nursery had established strong links with a external professionals eg aphysiotherapist and a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT). These professionals e-mailed additional exercises to the nursery. Nursery staff work with individualchildren with these exercises, in full consultation with parents/carers. We noted thatworking in this way was following best practice guidance. It meant that children weresupported to fulfil their potential, with support from the nursery staff.

The Head of the Nursery confirmed that the new building had other additionaladvantages -

• a meeting room that can be used by parents,• the meeting room has parents information leaflets and nursery resource

books for parents use,• play at home books and nursery policies were kept in the meeting room for

parents/carers,• children's folders will now be kept in the wet room play room, where they

were accessible to parents/carers.



The Head of the Nursery gave us a copy of the nursery Improvement Plan Overview,issued to parents/carers. This confirmed parental involvement in the curriculum forexcellence learning experiences as well as the use of the new meeting room -

"A major part of our plan involves parents being more easily consulted on aspects ofour planning, through our new planning board, and their child's achievements andnext steps, through the My Space area. The new purpose built meeting room shouldfacilitate this and make it easier for staff:parent interaction."

Feedback from parents/carers to the nursery staff included - when talking abouttheir 'Stay and Play' sessions -

"She adored my visit and has been very excited about it for days ""I enjoyed seeing what my son gets up to at nursery as he tells me when he comeshome that he does nothing.""Fantastic how much the children learn and create in one session. .... The nursery hashad such an impact on her development - thank you to all the staff."

Comments from parents/carers who spoke with us on the day of the inspectionincluded -

"My child loves the nursery - they go the extra mile.""I miss the coziness of old nursery but am pleased with the purpose built new one.Staff are brilliant - my son just loves it and daughter is getting first rate support toensure her development needs are met. Also feeds into after school club which isbrilliant too."

In conclusion, the nursery staff, ably led by the Head of the Nursery, had worked veryhard to ensure that the transition to the new building was a smooth one. They werenow very well settled into the new space. The children were involved in helping staffdecide what worked best in the new space. The spacious rooms resulted in highlyeffective use of the space and new facilities. This ensured that the curriculum forexcellence continued to be developed. The skilled staff team were knowledgeableabout childcare and ensured that the development needs and health needs of thechildren were met.

Areas for improvementKey workers may wish to consider recording matters discussed with parents in a moresystematic way, ie not just recording any concerns raised.






Quality Theme 2: Quality of Environment

Grade awarded for this theme: 6 - Excellent

Statement 1We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving thequality of the environment within the service.

Service strengthsWhat we looked at for this Quality statement is reported under Quality statement 1.1.Based on these findings, we gave the nursery a grade 6 - excellent for the areas welooked at under these Quality statements.

Areas for improvementThese are detailed under Quality statement 1.1.




Statement 2We make sure that the environment is safe and service users are protected.

Service strengthsWe found that the nursery was performing to a very high standard in the areas welooked at under this Quality statement. We looked at the progress made in the areasfor improvement identified at the last inspection. We looked at the current healthand safety of the service, including risk assessments. We considered how well theservice was using its outdoor space and the plans to develop this. We spent timeoutside with the children and nursery staff. We talked to the nursery staff, thechildren, the Head of Nursery and to parents/carers.

We gave the nursery a grade 6 - excellent, for the areas we looked at under thisQuality statement.

The following areas for improvement were identified in the previous inspectionreport. We have noted the progress made under each one.

1) The storage of the mop and bucket in the messy play area was not satisfactory.



This was no longer applicable, as the new premises have a separate cleaner'scupboard.

2) The service now needed to record the attendance of all the children, includingthose who are only visiting.

We saw that the nursery now had a separate visitors book where visitors and anyvisiting children will be signed in and out. Once any visiting children were registeredat the nursery, they would be transferred to the nursery's daily register. We viewedthis on the day of the inspection visit and found it satisfactory.

3) The involvement of the school nurse where a child has an accident should berecorded on the accident form.

The accident from now has whether or not the school nurse was in attendance clearlystated.

4) The risk assessments for each room should contain detail similar to the service'sgeneric risk assessment.

We viewed the updated risk assessments on the day of our inspection visit, along withthe children's risk assessments. More information about these are noted below.

5) The nursery should now store all resources and equipment in the main storagecupboard tidily and safely.

This is no longer applicable as there are separate storage cupboards in the newbuilding.

6) The height of the keyboard and computer screen should be reviewed.

The keyboards and computer screens were now at the correct height as they werenow in a purpose built area of the nursery.

We confirmed that the Head of Nursery had satisfactorily completed all the areas forimprovement.

We found that in the new building the standard of overall safety was very high. Thisincluded -

• A fire drill report was in place. This showed that a fire drill was carried outwith the staff and all of the nursery children, at least termly.



• A risk assessment along with written consent from parents was in place forvisits out of the nursery. A comprehensive checklist was in place for staff toensure all safety aspects were followed eg first aid kit, mobile phone, pen,emergency card and child protection card.

• A cleaning schedule for toys and resources was in place. This was underreview and the Head of Nursery confirmed that staff were now makingeffective use of steam cleaning to sterilise the toys and resources.

• Daily generic risk assessments were in place. The Head of Nurseryhad completed risk assessment training. She told us that she was currentlyredefining these for all areas of the new nursery, including the outdoor space.

• There were specific risk assessments in place for all the different activities inthe nursery eg sand tray, snack table, walking in the school campus etc.

• The Head of Nursery confirmed that she was given great guidance on Internetsafety and on infection control.

• She confirmed that she had taken advice on infection control from the CareInspectorate's Professional Adviser for Infection Control. She stated that theadvice was invaluable.

In addition to these safety measures, the nursery staff developed ideal riskassessments with the children. We saw photographs of the children taking part in anactivity and their views as to risks were clearly recorded in a children's risk booklet eg

When the lambs visit us we -

- wash our hands after touching them,- do not put our hands in our mouths or on our face,- we use our quiet voice so that we do not frighten the lambs.

Involving the children in this way helps them to understand about risky situations andprovides them with a basic understanding about how germs are spread. It isfollowing best practice guidance to work in this way.

We spoke with the cleaner. She confirmed that she had access to outstandingtraining - food safety, cross contamination training and COSH training. She confirmedthat the new building was easy to keep clean. There was a wet room disabled toilet,a locked cleaning cupboard, a spacious toilet, and child friendly hand driers. Sheconfirmed that she had a cleaning schedule. The Head of Nursery told us that as aresult of recent training, the cleaning schedule was changed to minimise the risk ofcross contamination. The cleaner confirmed that her hours had changed and told usthat this was now working very well. This was an example of the nursery stafffollowing best practice guidance, to minimise risks.



We found that the nursery had a robust child protection policy in place. As anindependent school they used the Scottish Council for Independent Schools(SCIS), child protection policy document as an additional reference. The nursery had acopy of the local authority guidelines. The local authority held meetings with thechild protection coordinators of the independent schools in their area. The Head ofNursery confirmed that she attended these and found them highly effective. She saidthat they provided first rate opportunities to network with other professionals. Allnursery staff we spoke with had a very good understanding about child protectionreporting procedures. The Head of Nursery had very good links with the localauthority and stated that she would seek advice from them if required. Havingadditional support in place eg through local authority links or through the ScottishCouncil for Independent Schools was very good practice. It means that should a childprotection incident arise, the Head of Nursery and her staff have ideal sources ofadvice and guidance.

The nursery had, in addition to the decking area accessed from the play rooms, anextensive outdoor space with a number of trees. It was an enclosed safe area, buthad not yet been developed. This was because -

• the nursery wished to take time to develop it to provide a variety of learningexperiences for the children,

• there were still some outdoor equipment to come up from the old nursery,• the nursery wished to involve the children in decision making about how to

develop the space,• the parents group was meeting shortly to discuss plans for the space,• the Head of Nursery and her staff wished to assess how the children used the

space in order to make effective use of it.

Despite the poor weather since the nursery had moved to the new building, thechildren had already used the outdoor area very regularly. The Early Years Officerconfirmed that when it was snowy the nursery staff made very effective use of theoutdoor space to give the children sledging and snowman building experiences. Onthe day we visited, the children spent time outside. Their activities included -

• playing on push and ride toys,• running about,• playing with small world toys,• gathering sticks,• and using a Kelly kettle to make hot chocolate outside.



This last activity was very popular. The Early Years Officers used this experience toextend the children's learning. They gathered sticks and pine cones to light a fire inthe Kelly kettle to heat the water for the hot chocolate. The children's commentsduring the activity confirmed that they had made hot chocolate outside before andhad learned simple safety rules -

"Sticks go inside and are hot to boil the water." "Stand back - cos it's a little bitdangerous." "I can smell the smoke." "We're making hot chocolate and we've gotmarshmallows." "Let's snap it - pine cones - they can burn." "Good because there aretractors and the toy farm is up here. That's warm."

One child told me that he liked playing outside best -

"Playing outside - all the bikes and just playing and running." and another confirmedthat - "There's more space for playing."

The Head of Nursery confirmed that in addition to the outside space the nursery alsohad access to the the whole of the school grounds including the astro turf and thetennis courts eg these areas could be used for push and ride toys and games. Shesaid that this was especially useful if the weather has been poor as these areas arenot muddy.

Providing the children with ideal opportunities to develop their physical skills in a safeenvironment was first rate practice. The large outdoor space that the nursery nowhad meant that a wide range of learning opportunities could be developed for thechildren, in a safe enclosed environment. The area was ideal for exploring, running,jumping, climbing, planting and growing, and further developing the nursery's ecocredentials (they had their Green Flag). Some of the nursery staff's ideas for this areaare detailed under areas for improvement for this Quality statement.

Parents/carers who completed questionnaires for us, confirmed that the nursery hada warm, caring environment:

"It is a warm, loving, caring place.""Seeing them (her daughters) thrive in a safe and stimulating environment wherethey are happy is very reassuring as a parent."

and a parent who spoke to us said -

"Happy friendly environment."



In conclusion, the nursery staff and Head of Nursery had an exceptionalunderstanding about how to keep the children safe. The new building was purposebuilt as a nursery and was built following best practice advice with regards to healthand safety and infection control. The nursery staff team worked hard to ensure thatappropriate risk assessments were in place. The staff team, children and parents/carers intended to develop the outdoor space to provide outstanding learningexperiences.

Areas for improvementThe following ongoing areas for improvement were identified and discussed with thenursery team -

1) As part of the settling in process to the new building, the nursery staff team willbe reviewing the nursery resources and keeping only those that are relevant andpurposeful for the modern curriculum.

2) Working together with the children and parents, the nursery staff team intendedto develop the outdoor space to provide eg an outdoor classroom, dens, bivouac andlow rope walks and to move the outdoor equipment from the old site.






Quality Theme 3: Quality of Staffing

Grade awarded for this theme: 5 - Very Good

Statement 1We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving thequality of staffing in the service.






Statement 3We have a professional, trained and motivated workforce which operates to NationalCare Standards, legislation and best practice.

Service strengthsWe gave the nursery a grade 5 - very good for the areas we looked at under thisQuality statement. We concluded this after talking to the Early Years Officers and theHead of Nursery. We looked at staff training and took into account the nursery's Selfassessment form. We looked at the support given to the Head of Nursery by her linemanager and by the Head of Nursery to her nursery staff. We talked to the nurserystaff about their qualifications.

The Head of Morrison's Primary School was the line manager of the Head of Nursery.When we spoke with him he confirmed that he met with the Head of Nursery at leastweekly. He held regular meetings with the Head of Nursery. The school wascommitted to involving the nursery in the life of the school. Joint assemblies wereheld with the primary school and nursery once a month. The Rector of Morrison'sacademy visited the nursery monthly. It is following good practice to ensure that allstaff are appropriately supervised.



The Head of Nursery told us that the regular meetings with her line manager weresupportive. The Rector, Head of Primary and Head of Nursery worked closely toensure that the nursery staff team were supported. The Head of Nursery and theHead of Primary had completed training on quality assurance. This training includedhow to support both teaching and nursery staff. The result of this was thatobservations of practice were now more frequent. Any observations of practice werefollowed up with a support meeting.

Working in this way is first rate practice. It provides staff with ideal opportunities todiscuss their practice, and enables managers to identify areas for improvement orsuggest further training opportunities.

The nursery staff who spoke with us confirmed that they had regular supportmeetings with the Head of Nursery. They said that they received a great deal ofinformal support as well. They confirmed that the Head of Nursery had an open doorpolicy, that she spent a considerable amount of time in the playrooms. This meantthat she offered support and made constructive suggestions on a daily basis. TheEarly Years Officers confirmed that as the staff team worked together for some years,they were comfortable providing each other with constructive feedback. Discussingpractice issues in this way was following best practice guidance. It provides staff withadditional information and extends their knowledge and understanding of childcare.

Parents/carers who returned questionnaires to us confirmed that they thought highlyof the staff team -

"The staff really care for each child and their relationships with each other and theygive them the best start for primary school.""Staff are welcoming and approachable."

and a parent who spoke with us told us that the staff team were -

"Awesome. Fantastic attention they give the kids, with a genuine interest in theirdevelopment."

The nursery staff team confirmed that they had a wide range of trainingopportunities. These included training offered by the local authority. Recent traininghad included further child protection training and training in Restorative approaches,which focuses on the underlying ethos of behaviour management. We looked at thenursery training calendar for this academic year. It confirmed that training wasselected to take account of the nursery improvement plan as well as staff's owninterests. Examples included -



• Emergency First Aid and Baby and Child First Aid,• Food Safety Management, Nutrition and Healthy Eating,• Introduction to Autism,• Attachment Theory.

We found that the staff team were appropriately qualified. The team comprises aHead of Nursery, a qualified teacher who was registered with the General TeachingCouncil (GTC), and 3 Early Years Officers. All of the Early Years Officers heldappropriate qualifications and were registered with the Scottish Social ServicesCouncil (SSSC).

The nursery staff confirmed that they held weekly planning meetings. This providedthem with a first rate opportunity to discuss practice issues with the Head of Nursery.It meant that she ensured that planning -

• took account of children's interests, the curriculum for excellence, Getting ItRight For Every Child, and the SHANARRI principles,

• was based on each child's learning journey,• took account of children's next steps for learning.

Ensuring that members of the staff team -

• were appropriately qualified,• were registered with professional bodies,• had ideal training opportunities,• and were appropriately supervised,

resulted in a a staff team who were motivated, knowledgeable, up to date aboutcurrent childcare practice and enthusiastic about their job. The result was thestandard of childcare in the nursery was very high.

In conclusion, we found that the nursery staff team were knowledgeable andenthusiastic about their work. They held appropriate qualification, were registeredwith professional bodies, and had first rate training opportunities.

Areas for improvementWe recognised that over the past few months the whole nursery team and especiallythe Head of Nursery, had worked extremely hard to ensure that the move to the newnursery building was seamless. However, now that the nursery was well establishedin the new building the Head of Nursery and the staff team may wish to considertaking their time to effect further changes. In particular, the Head of Nursery shouldwork together with her line manager to identify areas for delegation to othermembers of the nursery team.



Grade awarded for this statement: 5 - Very Good





Quality Theme 4: Quality of Management and Leadership

Grade awarded for this theme: 5 - Very Good

Statement 1We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving thequality of the management and leadership of the service.






Statement 4We use quality assurance systems and processes which involve service users, carers,staff and stakeholders to assess the quality of service we provide

Service strengthsWe found that the nursery was performing very well in the areas we looked at underthis Quality statement. We concluded this after talking to the Head of the PrimarySchool and the Head of Nursery about the quality assurance systems in place. Welooked at the nursery development plan, along with the self evaluation that informedthis. We took account of the nursery's Self assessment. We noted the way that theHead of Nursery informed parents/carers about the development plan. We tookaccount of the ideal communication she had with parents/carers, as described underQuality statement 1.1. We gave the nursery a grade 5, very good for the areas welooked at under this Quality statement.

The Head of Nursery and her staff team had a first rate understanding of thenursery's quality assurance systems. The Head of Nursery understood herresponsibilities to carry out regular audits to inform the nursery quality assurancesystems - these included -



• health and safety checks,• audits of accidents and incidents,• regular observations of staff practice,• regular support meetings for staff.

Working in this way provided the Head of Nursery with an overview of the work of thenursery. It meant that she could, by carrying out regular audits, identify any areas forimprovement.

The nursery identified the following quality assurance systems in their Selfassessment form -

"We complete the centre evaluation annually for local authority purposes which isbased on the local authority Improvement planning system to systematically assess allareas of our service over a manageable time frame. We are piloting a StrategicPlanning model which it is hoped will replace the current improvement planningsystem which has become a little stale and cumbersome. We will also be part of thenew quality assurance system being implemented at the School next session."

When we talked to the Head of Nursery she confirmed that the improvement planningincluded a self evaluation against the quality indicators for the curriculum forexcellence. All strategic areas have a clearly defined person who is responsible, atimescale and resources including any external support. This is following goodpractice as it means that the Head of Nursery can monitor the progress of eachstrategic area and ensure that work is taken forward timeously.

Nursery staff confirmed that they were involved in the self evaluation process. Recentdevelopments in this area included assessing progress against GIRFEC andSHANARRI. We looked at documents which confirmed this - the nursery's currentposition against the curriculum for excellence quality indicators were clearly stated,along with targets in each area for 2012-13 and longer term targets for 2013-14.Working in this way was an example of first rate practice. The Head of Nursery hadwritten to all parents/carers, providing them with an overview of the nurserydevelopment plan. In this letter she highlighted key areas in the plan, including -

• parents being more easily consulted on aspects of planning, through thenursery's new planning board and 'My Space' area (see Quality statement 1.3),

• using the whole school facilities, maintaining and expand the nursery's use ofthe community - establishing the parents/carers garden group and joiningthe school Eco group to maintain the nursery 'Green Flag' status,

• developing the learning from the Restorative Approaches training (see Qualitystatement 1.3 and 3.3).



In the letter she highlighted that copies of the full improvement plan were on displayin the nursery, and that she would welcome input from parents/carers.

Keeping parents/carers informed in this way was a first rate example of the nursery'scommitment to actively involve parents/carers in their children's learning journeysand in improving the work of the nursery.

As part of the planned move to the new building, the Head of Nursery and her staffteam identified key targets to ensure that parents/carers and their children "feel partof settling into and developing the new nursery as we move in".

Examples of these key targets included -

• Setting up a parents/carers group to look at ways of celebrating children'sachievements - this was now in place, meeting regularly and usingthe meeting room in the nursery.

• Designating a member of nursery staff to sit on the school's Health PromotingSchool's committee and provide information and support for parents to use athome - this was now in place.

• Contact all local schools regarding the nursery transition and continue to buildprofessional relationships with mainstream school staff - this was ongoing -the liaison with mainstream staff described in Quality statement 1.3 showedthat the nursery staff had made very good progress with this.

We noted that parents/carers were kept very well informed about all aspects of themove to the new nursery building. An example of this was the detailed informationprovided on the school's website and in the nursery blogs.

The Head of Nursery highlighted in the Self assessment form other ways that thenursery kept parents/carers informed about improvements - she wrote -

"We produce a Standards and Quality Report for service users each year which isbased on the Improvement Plan and this will have involved all staff and service usersduring its production. By looking at key areas each year the whole process becomesworkable for all concerned. As mentioned previously, within the past year greatprogress has been made to harness the viewpoints of all our service users which hasbeen put to excellent use in our service implementation."

Parents/carers confirmed in the questionnaires returned to us that they thought thatthe nursery was well run -

"..... we have now experienced 3 nurseries and it is my opinion that Morrison'sAcademy has provided the best level of care and opportunities."



"A wonderful school nursery where my child flourishes ...""The wide variety of activities and resources provided establish great building blocksfor their learning - they love being nursery girls!""My son has developed into a confident, well rounded boy with a wide range ofinterests during his time at the nursery .... "

In conclusion, the nursery, as part of the whole school complex, was well led by theHead of Nursery and the Head of the Primary School. There was a robust qualityassurance system in place. This involved the nursery staff team in evaluating thework of the nursery. Self evaluation and self assessment informed the improvementand development plans for the nursery. Parents/carers were kept very well informedabout planned improvements.

Areas for improvementThe following areas for improvement were identified by the nursery as ongoing areasfor improvement, as detailed in the nursery's Self assessment form -

• Head of Nursery is part of the communications review team for the wholeschool to look at innovative ways to improve and enhance the relevancy ofcommunication with our service users - covering all aspects of our service.

• We have been part of the school processes to gain Health Promoting status,Rights Respecting level 1, Eco Flag and different members of nursery staffhave responsibility for these areas. They are all ongoing and requiresustainable effort to maintain.

• The school is due to sign up for Investors in People for the next session andthe pre-liminary study has been carried out. The nursery will be part of theteam.

Grade awarded for this statement: 5 - Very Good





4 Other information

ComplaintsNo complaints have been upheld, or partially upheld, since the last inspection.

EnforcementsWe have taken no enforcement action against this care service since the lastinspection.

Additional InformationNone noted.

Action PlanFailure to submit an appropriate action plan within the required timescale, includingany agreed extension, where requirements and recommendations have been made,will result in SCSWIS re-grading the Quality Statement within the Management andLeadership Theme as unsatisfactory (1). This will result in the Quality Theme forManagement and Leadership being re-graded as Unsatisfactory (1).



5 Summary of grades

Quality of Care and Support - 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 6 - Excellent


Quality of Environment - 6 - Excellent



Quality of Staffing - 5 - Very Good


Statement 3 5 - Very Good

Quality of Management and Leadership - 5 - Very Good


Statement 4 5 - Very Good

6 Inspection and grading history

Date Type Gradings

14 Jun 2010 Unannounced Care and support 6 - ExcellentEnvironment 5 - Very GoodStaffing Not AssessedManagement and Leadership Not Assessed

7 Nov 2008 Unannounced Care and support 6 - ExcellentEnvironment 6 - ExcellentStaffing 5 - Very GoodManagement and Leadership 5 - Very Good

All inspections and grades before 1 April 2011 are those reported by the formerregulator of care services, the Care Commission.



To find out more about our inspections and inspection reportsRead our leaflet 'How we inspect'. You can download it from our website or ask us tosend you a copy by telephoning us on 0845 600 9527.

This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can get more copiesof this report and others by downloading it from our website:www.careinspectorate.com or by telephoning 0845 600 9527.

Translations and alternative formatsThis inspection report is available in other languages and formats on request.

Telephone: 0845 600 9527Email: [email protected]: www.careinspectorate.com



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