Children at Letham Mains Primary School's nursery sent home thirsty with unreported injuries, inspection says

Children attending a nursery at a new primary school came home thirsty and suffering injuries which parents were not told about, an inspection report has said.

Letham Mains Primary School’s nursery, which opened in Haddington’s Gateside last year and has 48 children attending over two sessions, has been ordered to improve after inspectors said parents were losing confidence in the staff.

They said an unannounced inspection of the East Lothian Council-run nursery in May found some parents complained about not receiving feedback about their children and receiving information about the wrong child when asked.

Others said accidents which happened during the day at the nursery were not reported to parents who only found out when their children came home hurt.

A report by the Care Inspectorate said: “Although accidents were recorded, we saw that records were not always signed by parents.

“This was confirmed by some parents who told us their child had gone home with an injury that they had not been informed of.

“Parents were concerned for their child’s safety as accidents were going unnoticed potentiality (sic)putting their child at risk of not receiving the correct first aid or being comforted when hurt.”

The inspector who carried out the visit said that staff were “warm and caring” and supported children to feel valued, loved and secure.

They added: “We saw that children were confident in the care of all staff who sat with them and provided quality interactions.”

However they said that while the nursery management team was “aspirational” staff issues had delayed improvement plans adding that on some occasions the nursery only had two staff working.

The report said concerns were raised by parents about the lack of feedback about their children and access to water.

It said:” Some parents told us their children were thirsty when they arrived home.

“The setting does have a water dispenser for children, however it was not used during our visit.

“Staff should ensure children are aware how to use the dispenser and perhaps think of other ways to make sure children are kept hydrated if the current arrangements are not suitable to use or access.”

The Care Inspectorate issued two requirements for improvements at the nursery which was graded a three or adequate for quality of care and support, staffing and management.

The quality of the environment of the nursery was graded four or ‘good’.

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “This is the Care Inspectorate’s first inspection of Letham Mains Nursery School.

“We are very pleased to see they have recognised our staff’s warm and caring approach which helps children to feel valued, loved and secured at nursery, and their commitment to improving the experiences for children and families.

“The team works hard to develop close relationships with all of the children’s families and the recent ‘stay and play sessions’ are one example of this partnership approach.

“Like many other settings, staff shortages have had an impact on our services, however our teams in the nursery and centrally are committed to addressing the feedback from families and implementing the requirements detailed within the report.”