A fledgling Ayrshire nursery has breezed through its first-ever inspection from the care watchdog.
Heads of Ayr Nursery, at Laigh Kyleston Farm, Dunure, was rated as ‘good’ across four quality indicators.
The findings come from the Care Inspectorate, which made an unannounced visit to the nursery earlier this year, and has now made public its report.
It said the nursery had “important strengths” in the service it provided.
And the quality of care, environment, level of staffing and quality of the management and leadership were all graded ‘good.’
The nursery, situated next to Heads of Ayr farm park, opened its doors in 2021 and is registered to provide care for a maximum of 57 children at any one time.
The Care Inspectorate said it spoke with 30 children during the inspection and observed the interactions between staff and other children.
An extract from the report said: “Children who spoke with us said that they liked going to the service. They told us they had lots of friends there and liked the toys they had to play with.”
Forty-five parents responded to an online survey and three spoke with the Care Inspectorate by telephone.
Parents were “very happy” with the service provided, according to the Care Inspectorate.
The report goes on: “Heads of Ayr Nursery had created a positive, nurturing ethos where children and families were placed at the centre of their work. Children were relaxed, happy and settled in nursery and were valued and respected by staff.
"They had formed positive relationships with staff and received cuddles, warmth, and affection. This created a caring, nurturing environment where children felt safe, secure, and loved.”
There were “sufficient numbers” of staff to meet the needs of the children; each child had a key worker who was responsible for their care and wellbeing and this provided “consistent care” each day to help them settle and “feel safe”.
One drawback was the lunchtime experience appeared to be “quite long”, although most children were seated comfortably and chatted with their friends throughout.
The Care Inspectorate said: “We discussed ways in which mealtimes could be improved with the management team, who have agreed to take this forward.”
It added: “The inspection visit took place on the service’s first birthday. The new staff and management team were in the early stages of developing the service. They had a shared vision for high quality childcare and were committed to improvement.”
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