A Bridge of Don nursery has been given further time to make improvements following a fifth damning Care Inspectorate report.
Stompers was served an improvement notice last June ordering it to make changes or face losing its registration.
Inspectors have since returned to the day care centre in October, January, February and April to check that progress is being made.
During the most recent visit, officials saw staff run out food for children on one occasion, and noted one child needing support in the toilet was not noticed for five minutes.
Other children were left to play on dirty play surfaces after mud was brought in from outside.
Stompers says it has changed its management structure while improvements have already been made to the interior and exterior of the nursery with further upgrades due over the summer.
What improvements are still to be made at Stompers?
Three Care Inspectorate officials returned to Stompers, which is in the Balgownie Science and Technology Park, to check on improvements for another two-day visit on April 27 and 28.
Seven requirements were made during the last visit with two met within the ordered timescale, two outside the timescale, one was not assessed and two are still to be met.
Stompers has been given until June 23 to ensure children are adequately safeguarded and protected from harm and proper quality assurance processes are in place.
During their visit, inspectors were told staff had taken child protection training and “most” were knowledgeable and confident in following proper procedures.
However, some staff were identified as not “fully understanding” the importance of chronologies to protect children.
The Care Inspctorate report said opportunities to develop numeracy and literacy skills were “limited”, and while staff chatted and sang with children the language was not always “rich and meaningful”.
Books and other materials available were described as being “tired and uninspiring”.
The report added: “Most children had fun; however, activities did not provide rich learning opportunities where children could engage their imagination and curiosity.
“Older children lacked challenge in their play and learning and staff missed opportunities to build on their interests. Staff lacked the skills to extend children’s learning through high quality interactions.”
Care Inspectorate results for Stompers (One is unsatisfactory, six is excellent)
- How good us our care, play and learning? – Weak (2)
- How good is our setting? – Adequate (3)
- How good is our leadership? – Weak (2)
- How good is our staff team? – Weak (2)
What improvements has Stompers already made?
Care Inspectorate officials found that Stompers has met four of the required improvements.
Personal plans have been developed to highlight key aspects of children’s support needs and how they will be met.
A clear and robust absent child procedure has been developed, children are now effectively supervised during meal times and steps have been taken to improve reporting to the Care Inspectorate
Stompers has told The Press & Journal further upgrades are expected to be made to the nursery over the coming months.
A spokeswoman said: “As you can imagine, changing the structure of the interior and exterior building takes time and within two months new parents meeting rooms, staff area, and the main pre-school classroom has been created and revamped.
“This has included an influx of resources. There are still upgrades to be made which are continuing at this time and will be completed over the summer break as many children will not be attending due to the end of term.
“There are still requirements/improvements outstanding. It is not that they have not been addressed, it is often been due to the fact procedures have been put in place, however, Care Inspectorate would like to ensure they are continuously being maintained before allowing them to be met.
“The building welcomes families in to the setting and management now have opportunities to meet and chat each day with them so families are familiar with the full team. We will continue to strive forward and have a close working relationship with Care Inspectorate.”
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