A nursery in Dundee has been told it must make improvements in the quality of care it provides to children.
Inspectors from the Care Inspectorate graded the Law Nursery School as “weak” for the quality of care and support provided at two consecutive inspections.
Whilst noting that efforts had been made to improve some areas of concern highlighted at an earlier inspection, inspectors said further improvement was still needed.
In their report, the inspectors said: “The service had not maintained the standard identified at the last inspection.
“Several management changes have taken place, and the current head teacher only commenced in post in late October 2015.
“There was an upheld complaint about the service in June 2015 in relation to staff's approach to supporting children.
“The inspection found that the children were not fully engaged in their indoor environment, however, they were seen to be very engaged in their outdoor play. The indoor environment for the pre-school children could be developed further to offer a more challenging learning environment and be better supported by staff to extend their learning.
“More work is required in relation to creating a more positive ethos across the team and service, to impact positively on outcomes for children. The head teacher and the local authority reassured us at the time of the inspection that they had identified the need for improvement and had begun to address areas of priority.”
They also noted: “Whilst we observed positive interactions and engagement from some staff with children, we did not observe this consistently across the staff team.
“We observed several examples of staff engaging with children in a manner which we did not feel respected the children or positively engaged with them. We discussed at feedback the impact of this on children's outcomes and the importance of all staff engaging with children in a respectful and caring manner.”
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “We have clearly laid out in our inspection report the areas which require improvement at Law Nursery School, and we will continue to work closely with this nursery to support that improvement, and ensure it is sustained.
“Every child in Scotland has the right to safe, compassionate care which meets their needs and respects their rights.
“Anyone with a concern about a care service can contact our helpline on 0345 6009527.”
Notes to editors
The full inspection report is available here