17 May 2016
Dear Parent/Carer
Farmhouse Nursery
West Linton
In April 2015, HM Inspectors published a letter on your child’s setting. Recently, as
you may know, we visited the setting again. During our visit, I talked to children and
worked closely with the manager and staff. I heard from the manager and other staff
how the setting has continued to improve. I looked at particular areas that had been
identified in February 2015 and at aspects of the setting’s work, as proposed by the
manager. As a result, I was able to find out how well children are now learning and
achieving and how the setting is continuing to support them to do their best. This
letter sets out what I found.
How well do children learn and achieve?
There have been important improvements to the way in which children learn and
achieve. Recent developments to the way in which the playrooms are organised
have supported this very well and children have adapted to their new rooms with
ease. Babies, toddlers and children aged three to five years continue to be happy,
enjoy their experiences and show an increased confidence in their play. Babies
continue to benefit from caring and respectful interactions with staff and respond well
to staff. Toddlers continue to display confidence and independence both indoors
and outdoors. There are now more, and relevant, opportunities for all children to
play with natural materials. Children also benefit from more opportunities to
participate in mixed-aged activities. Older children are now much more involved in
their own learning and make freer, and better-informed, choices about their play.
They talk to staff regularly about their play and, as a result of this, are taking greater
responsibility for, and display more confidence in, their learning. Staff are using floor
books well to discuss, develop and record children’s learning. They have improved
the ways they observe children’s learning and how they use the information gained.
Through all of this, and the emerging use of e-journals, children are developing a
much better awareness of themselves as young learners. Information about
children’s learning is now shared more effectively with parents. I have asked staff to
continue with these developments and give a sharper focus to how they help
children know what they need to do next to improve. Children continue to enjoy the
regular opportunities to play outdoors. These opportunities have continued to
develop since the original inspection and have the potential to develop even further.
Children enjoy exploring the outdoors through, for example, growing flowers,
observing changes in the seasons, identifying birds and experimenting with the flow
of water from the hose. The setting continues to engage well with its local
community.
Education Scotland
Denholm House
Almondvale Business Park
Almondvale Way
Livingston
EH54 6GA
T
F
E
0131 244 4877
0131 244 6221
eyfp@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Transforming lives through learning
How well does the setting support children to develop and learn?
The staff team continue to support children and families well. An increased flow of
information between the setting and parents has helped promote this even further.
The improvement planning display at the entrance, and regular newsletters, are
helping parents understand what the setting is aiming to achieve. Staff interact well
with children and use questioning purposefully to support and challenge them.
Across children’s learning, the pace of sessions has been improved and this,
together with an increased choice for children, is now offering more challenge for
children in their play. Staff are now making a much greater use of children’s
interests when planning their learning and this is now evident in many aspects of the
setting’s work. In order to support children when they have shared placements with
other settings and as they move on to school, staff have initiated, and are
developing, purposeful links with relevant partner settings.
Staff now show more confidence in planning learning for children of all ages. They
use national guidance well and children’s learning experiences are now much more
appropriate to each child’s stage of development and interests. For children
three years and over, staff are now making more appropriate use of Curriculum for
Excellence guidance to develop the curriculum they provide for children. They now
have a clearer understanding of what is necessary for children to make effective
progress across all areas of their learning. Whilst important improvements have
clearly been made to the curriculum, staff realise that further ongoing work is still
necessary. I have discussed this with the setting and I am confident that the owner
and staff have an understanding of what still needs to be achieved in order to
develop the curriculum fully and how this can be realised.
How well does the setting improve the quality of its work?
Since the report of April 2015, there have been significant improvements to how staff
evaluate the work of the setting. They are now much more reflective in their practice
with self-evaluation for improvement now being at the heart of the work of the
setting. Staff have implemented a wide range of successful strategies to secure
improvement which involve all stakeholders. These include a calendar outlining
monitoring activities, increased observations of the setting by the owner and giving
parents more helpful feedback on what is working well. Staff are now much clearer
about their own roles and responsibilities. In order to achieve this, all staff have
worked hard as a cohesive team and shown a strong commitment to making
improvements to the setting. The owner and depute manager have supported this
process very well and are aware that their task now is to ensure that these
developments become sustained and embedded over time. I am confident that, with
the continued support of staff from Scottish Borders Council, Farmhouse Nursery is
in a strong position to be able to continue to improve the quality of its work.
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What happens next?
Important improvements have been made to address all the recommendations from
the inspection of February 2015. I am confident that the setting has the capacity to
continue to improve and will make no further visits in relation to this inspection.
Alan Urquhart
HM Inspector
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/school/eyc/Farmh
ouseNurseryWestLinton.asp.
If you would like to receive this letter in a different format, for example, in a
translation please contact the administration team on the above telephone number.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact
us by telephone on 0131 244 4330, or email:
complaints@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or write to us addressing your letter to the
Complaints Manager, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Livingston
EH54 6GA.
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