Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Splintered boxes, unsecured doors and hanging blind cords raise ‘serious concerns’ at Aberdeen nursery

Following the inspection, a letter of "serious concern" was issued for the nursery to take immediate action.

Copper Pots Day Nursery in Aberdeen
Copper Pots Day Nursery on Clifton Road in Aberdeen. Image: Google Maps.

A care report has laid bare serious concerns at an Aberdeen nursery, from splintered crates to unsecured doors and looped blind cords.

Copper Pots Day Nursery on Clifton Road was visited by the Care Inspectorate last month, prompting serious concerns raised over safety.

The worries have led inspectors to issue a letter of “serious concern” to make sure the nursery made improvements swiftly.

The nursery says the visit coincided with the manager’s first day back from maternity leave and stressed actions to fix the concerns were taken immediately.

What concerns were raised in Copper Potts report?

Assessing four areas, inspectors rated the nursery as weak on three, including care, setting and leadership.

While noting the children were cared for in a “nurturing environment”, options for playtime were lacking.

The report read: “Children’s play and learning experiences were not stimulating or exciting.

“They did not clearly follow children’s interests or provide sufficient challenge for children’s individual stages of development.”

Some of the children indicated they wanted to play outdoors, however, this went unnoticed by the staff.

Our new Loose parts, small world area

Posted by Copper Pots Day Nursery on Thursday, 29 June 2023

Inspectors were critical of the setting the children were in, including some fixtures, which could potentially prove dangerous.

For example, loosely hanging looped blind cords in the baby playroom were not secured and were pointed out to staff, who quickly secured them out of the way.

The report added: “Wooden crates in some of the playrooms were used to display and store resources which children accessed.

“Some of these crates were rough and splintered presenting a risk to children.”

‘Setting did not offer children a range of rich, stimulating play’

The report also noted a parent had gained access to the building via an unsecured door raising security concerns.

As a result, inspectors issued a letter of “serious concern” urging immediate action to address issues at the nursery.

When they returned, a new lock was being fitted to the unsecured door, the blinds had been secured with a permanent fix and the wooden crates had been sanded down or removed altogether.

The report was also critical of the range of activities available to the children.

It read: “The setting did not offer children a range of rich, stimulating play resources to support and develop their learning.

Children play in the garden at Copper Pots Day Nursery. Image: Amanda Wallace Davidson.

“There were limited sensory experiences on offer, such as paint, water and sand. This restricted children’s opportunities to play and explore.”

In terms of staffing, there were sufficient staff for the facility, however, some lacked experience.

The report noted some parents found the newer staff members “inexperienced” and that “a strong leader is needed downstairs at all times”.

Staff took immediate action address safety concerns

The Care Inspectorate has issued several requirements for the nursery to implement before the next visit to ensure health and safety standards are being met.

A spokeswoman for Copper Pots Day Nursery explained the inspection coincided with the manager’s first day back from maternity leave and was a particularly busy day.

She said: “The team and I are devastated with the grading received by Care Inspectorate, from taking over the pervious setting we have faced many challenges, a lot which were unforeseen.

“As we are a new setting, we were already aware of areas of improvement and are determined to action these quickly. We have already actioned the areas of improvement in our report and will continue to add to these.

“On the day of inspection, unfortunately there were isolated incidents including the one blind cord which were not in reaching distance to the children, it had already been identified on our risk assessment and was actioned as soon as possible. As the report states all areas were actioned immediately.”

Conversation