Beechwood House Nursery on Kilmarnock's Dundonald Road has been graded 'satisfactory' following an inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE). The service received the rating across two quality indicators relating to learning, teaching and assessment, as well as wellbeing, inclusion and equality.
Key strengths identified by inspectors
In their report, HMIE highlighted that children at the nursery are "friendly and polite" and have "positive relationships" with each other. Inspectors noted that the children enjoy spending time together and are "happy" to be at nursery.
Regarding support for children who require additional help with their learning, staff provide "well-planned and flexible support" that "meets well the needs" of children. The report also stated that staff work "successfully" with other professionals, when required, to ensure children get "appropriate support."
Improvement areas and next steps
Areas for improvement identified in the report relate to developing the environment for learning, both indoors and outdoors. These were discussed with the nursery manager and an East Ayrshire Council representative.
The report said: "Staff should ensure environments provide increased challenge to help children deepen and extend their learning in order to make the best possible progress." The service is also being asked to develop further the quality of staff interactions. The report added: "Senior leaders should support staff to build on their existing caring interactions to have a clearer focus on learning. Staff need to use their interactions to provoke opportunities for children to be curious and develop a sense of wonder about the world."
No further inspection visits planned
Barbara Daly, HM Inspector, said in a letter to parents and guardians: "We are confident that the setting has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection. East Ayrshire Council will inform parents/carers about the setting's progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its settings."
