CHILDREN at Winton Primary are “healthy, active, nurtured and included” and the school has “good” safety and security measures according to an inspection report.

The Care Service Inspection Report, published this month, also said that the views of children and parents/carers were respected and that pupils were engaged in their choices of activities.

The report by the Care Inspectorate noted that during the inspection “children were engaged in their choices of activities and some were happy to chat with us and involve us in their play. Staff readily met their needs and positive, caring relationships were observed”.

Head teacher Lesley Bell said: “I’m thrilled that the hard work of the staff has been recognised in this excellent report.

“They have all done an excellent job in creating a safe, secure and nurturing environment for children to thrive and learn.

“It is also the first inspection of our Early Years Room since it opened last session and, considering we’ve a new team in place, I’m delighted that the Inspector praised our achievements in such a short space of time.”

The report gave a Grade 4 ‘Good’ rating for quality of environment, staffing, care and support and management and leadership.

It said that the school had met its objectives that service users’ health and wellbeing needs were met and that the environment allowed service users to have as positive a quality of life as possible.

The report noted that parents were “fully involved in their child’s routines and strategies put in place to support individuals”. It also said that staff worked very well together to provide a happy, caring environment and that the culture valued staff and supported ongoing improvement.

The report added that staff listened to the children, responded to their individual needs and requests and engaged with them at their level and “provided opportunities for the children to share, take turns, listen to one another in group activities and make their own choices”.

When asked if staff treated their children fairly and with respect and if they encouraged them to form positive relationships with other children, parents/carers responded positively.

One parent/carer reported: “Children are made to feel part of the whole school and have a strong sense of belonging.”

The school was commended for its safety, security and cleanliness.

It was noted that the playroom was “clean and bright and good quality furnishings were suitable for the ages of children attending” and that toilet facilities “promoted good hand hygiene practices and children’s personal belongings were stored in separate containers to help reduce the spread of infection”.

The fitting of an alert to the playroom door as an additional safety precaution to the ones already in place was suggested.

The quality of care and support was praised for showing “that parents/carers and children’s views were respected and included in the day-to-day life of the service to help ensure positive outcomes for all”.

Areas for improvement included the continuation of developing “effective opportunities for parental engagement”.

It was suggested that the service should progress with their intention to further develop parent/carer involvement through ‘stay and play’sessions.

Staff were praised for working well together and providing “a happy, caring environment for all service users”.

The report added: “They listened to the children, responded to their individual needs and requests and engaged with them at their level.”.

Mrs Bell added: “Of course there are things we can improve on. The report mentioned we could develop opportunities for parental engagement and this is something we are already working on.”