Children at Towie School Nursery 'confident and happy'

Towie School Nursery has earned a ‘very good’ report card from the Care Inspectorate following a recent inspection.

During the unannounced visit to the nursery at Towie Primary School in Donside, inspectors spoke to parents and carers, children and staff throughout the assessment process.

The report is broken down into four main categories and rated from one to six:

•    How good is our care, play and learning? - 5 Very Good
•    How good is our setting? – 5 Very Good
•    How good is our leadership? – 4 Good
•    How good is our staff team? – 5 Very Good

The inspection team found staff to be “kind, warm and nurturing” in their approach with children, who they all knew well and supported their individual needs.

The report said: “Children appeared confident and happy. We observed positive relationships had been formed between staff and the children who had fun together. 

“There was lots of laughter, encouragement and celebrating success. We observed a lovely example of this outdoors when a child invited a member of staff to join their imaginative play, having built a house from bricks. 

“The staff member was to be the big bad wolf and to try and blow their house down. A few children joined in and were very aminated as they acted out the story of the three pigs.”

Inspectors were impressed with the staff describing them as “passionate about their role” and that all were keen to extend their professional development to further improve outcomes for children.

The inspectors found strong links with home and families ensuring that parents and carers felt well included and valued within the setting.

Chair of the Education and Children’s Services Committee Cllr Gillian Owen said: “This is a wonderful report to read from one of our rural settings and I was pleased to see the children making the most of their community. 

“Inspectors picked up on the children picking fruit in a nearby orchard and visiting a farmer's lambs and highlighted ‘Woodland Wednesday' where groups of children visit the local woodland.

“With opportunities such as these, it is great that children have the opportunity to explore and learn in different environments so a huge congratulations to the whole team.”

Education and Children’s Services Committee vice chair Cllr Anne Simpson added: “I was very pleased to see that parents all spoke positively about how they felt well-informed about their child's experiences and learning.

“The full report picks up significant strengths in the different aspects of the care provided so well done to the team at Towie nursery.”