A second child made a bid for freedom during an unannounced inspection at an Aberdeen city centre nursery.
While inspectors made a visit to Kingsford School Nursery to assess concerns about the escape of one child, another made a bid to leave the nursery by the garden entrance.
The nursery on Kingsford Road was graded as “weak” by inspectors following the unannounced inspection by the Care Inspectorate.
Staff at Kingsford Nursery School were said not to meet the emotional needs of children who were settling into the service.
No idea her son had gone missing
The inspection followed a serious incident where one child left the premises without an adult and walked along Lang Stracht, a second child tried to leave the premises during the inspection but was intercepted by inspectors.
Mum Kayleigh Kilpatrick had no idea her son River, who was the first child to escape, had gone missing from the nursery during the summer and was almost hit by a bus.
He was taken home by a member of the public.
Speaking of the incident, inspectors said: “A recent serious incident had resulted in a child leaving the school grounds unaccompanied. The parents had been informed of this incident. We discussed this with the provider and management team at the time.
“The provider had implemented some changes as a result of the incident including the addition of new door alarms to improve security.”
Staff told inspectors the new safety system was difficult and took them away from being with children.
The inspectors continued: “A further incident occurred that resulted in a child making their way out of the nursery garden on the first morning of the inspection, the parent of the child was informed.
“This had the potential for children to come to harm. This was responded to immediately by staff at the time however procedures were not followed to inform the manager and senior staff.
“There were no effective plans put in place to supervise and support the child. We had to intervene to ensure this was completed and implemented.”
Across the board inspectors graded the facility and its staff as “weak”.
Inspectors outlined key messages as
- Staff did not consistently meet the emotional needs of children who were settling into the service.
- Some children’s personal plans had not been reviewed and updated.
- Children did not always receive their snacks.
- The provider must ensure they keep children safe by ensuring they prevent children leaving the setting without an appropriate adult.
- Further work was required to develop quality assurance and self-evaluation system.
- The senior staff and management team were not always available to effectively guide and support the staff team.
Children went without food
Following the two-day inspection, officers told staff to put in place an action plan.
The report said: “Not all children’s personal plans had been reviewed and updated. Staff had not read the personal plans and were not well informed of children’s individual needs. This put children at risk of harm and emotional distress.
“Staff did not consistently meet the emotional needs of children who were settling into the service. Some children were distressed for extended periods and staff did not effectively comfort or reassure them to support them to feel secure. This did not support children to feel emotionally secure.
“Children who did not eat their lunch were not provided with suitable support or
an alternative. This meant that they did not have the necessary dietary intake they needed. Some children benefitted from a social time with attentive staff, for others the interactions were limited.
“On day two of the inspection, children did not receive their morning snack as staff did not take the initiative to organise. This meant that children were not having their basic dietary needs met and were not encouraged or supported to remain hydrated.”
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen City Council said: “We are aware of the findings by the Care Inspectorate and are working with the staff team to ensure all areas for improvement are fully addressed which we are making good progress on.”