We have been looking at the nursery ratings for childcare facilities across the north and north-east.
The Care Inspectorate, the watchdog for care services, uses a six-point evaluation scale with excellent being a six.
Last month we featured a number of childcare premises across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands.
Whether your precious little one is off to nursery or a childminder it is important to know how the watchdog rates them.
We have gathered all of November’s good and very good reports from the Care Inspectorate for the north and north east into one list.
Did your local nursery figure? And what did the inspectors think of it?
Westhill Kidz Klub, Westhill
This north-east children’s club has been praised by the watchdog.
Officials from the Care Inspectorate visited Westhill Kidz Klub on October 26 and rated its quality of care, environment and management as good.
Its quality of staff was given a very good on the watchdog’s six-point scale.
Westhill Kidz Klub operates from Westhill Community Education Centre and the town’s primary school and looks after more than 100 youngsters across the two sites.
It operates between 7:30am and 9am and then from 14:45pm until 6pm during school term time.
The inspection report praised the atmosphere that staff at Westhill Kidz Klub had created.
It said: “The staff worked well together as a team contributing to a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
“This helped children feel relaxed and cared for. Staff responded attentively and warmly to children. Interactions were supportive and encouraging during play experiences.
“Staff knew children’s care and support needs, preferences and personalities well. Staff told us about children with any additional support needs, emotional needs or children requiring medication and discussed strategies in place to support children. As a result children were being well supported.”
Lynn Robertson, Elrick
This Aberdeenshire childminder has been rated as good by the officials.
Lynn Robertson offers care for children under the age of 16 at her own home both before and after school.
Following a visit on October 5, officials rated the quality of care, environment and management as good.
Parents also praised the childminder in a series of comments made to officials from the Care Inspectorate.
They included: “Lynn is kind and supports the children naturally. She has lots of patience and understands all the children, she knows them well”
“The girls love Lynn, they often ask to draw pictures for her and put them through her door.”
The watchdog did recommend that the service needs to make sure each child has a personal plan and this is updated with parents at least every six months.
The inspection report said: “The childminder clearly knew the children she cared for and gave examples of steps she had taken to extend children’s interests and to provide resources and experiences that she knew were of importance to children.
“It was evident that the childminder was committed to providing quality care that ensured good outcomes for children.
“The childminder was up-to-date with core training such as child protection, food hygiene and first aid.”
Karen Coburn, Strathpeffer
Highland-based childminder Karen Coburn has been rated as very good by the Care Inspectorate following a visit completed on September 22.
She can look after a maximum of six children under the age of 12 at her home in Strathpeffer.
The childminder makes use of the family kitchen, lounge, designated playroom and toilet.
Care Inspectorate officials rated the quality, environment and leadership as very good and praised her relationship with the youngsters in her care.
The inspection report said: “We found that the childminder provided very good care and support for the children which ensured positive outcomes for them.
“Children had strong attachments with the childminder who was very responsive to their individual needs.
“The children presented as being very happy, confident and relaxed in the care of the childminder.
“The childminder was warm and caring in her approach which supported the children to feel nurtured and secure.
“During the visit the childminder was very attentive and responsive to the needs of the children.
“There was lots of warm and nurturing interactions, chatting, smiles, praise and encouragement.”
Little Angels Nursery, Dingwall
Officials rated a north nursery very good following an unannounced inspection in October.
Little Angels Nursery is based in Dingwall and cares for a maximum of 95 children from birth to 11-years-old.
Its quality of care, environment, staffing and management were all graded as very food by the Care Inspectorate.
There was also praise from parents who made comments to the care sector watchdog.
Parents said: “We are absolutely delighted with the nursery and the staff that work there. You can clearly tell the girls enjoy their work and they are passionate about what they do.”
“My daughter loves going to the nursery, enjoys the activities they do and is thriving under their care.”
The Care Inspectorate’s subsequent report praised the work put in by staff.
It said: “The nursery was well maintained, clean, bright and very welcoming. The manager and staff continued to develop the playrooms to create a calming, cosy and neutral environment throughout the nursery.
“Both the indoor and outdoor environments offered a very good range of learning experiences.”
The Kindergarten Nursery, Aberdeen
Inspectors praised the Westburn Road nursery.
They rated it good after an unannounced visit on September 3.
The Kindergarten Nursery operates from a large townhouse in Aberdeen and can cater for up to 74 children of different ages.
Its quality of care, environment, staff and management were all rated as good and parents were also happy with the regular updates they received about their children.
Parents comments included: “There are regular newsletters, Facebook parent group updates and all staff are open and informative when called or met with in person.
“There are photos, learning updates, journal updates, daily activity logs for
younger children.”
“They also seek regular updates on my son’s interests and if he has been up to anything new in order to incorporate that into what they do for him.”
The Care Inspectorate report also praised the different kinds of playrooms on offer at the nursery.
It said: “Each playroom had a range of resources readily available that children could choose from.
“The balance of resources offered was good with a mixture of different play types available.
“This meant that children could choose the activities they would like to take part in and there were enough resources to keep children engaged throughout the day.”
Isabel Campbell, Whitehills
Isabel Campbell looks after a maximum of seven children at her home in Whitehills near Banff.
The Care Inspectorate rated the childminder as good following their visit on September 29.
The watchdog classed the quality of care, environment and management as good.
The Care Inspectorate also praised the childminder for keeping in constant contact with parents.
Their report said: “The childminder knew the children in their care and their families well.
“This positive relationship contributed to a sharing of information at drop off and pick up times. This meant the childminder was well aware of the child’s likes and dislikes and their preferred activities.
“Photographs and text messages were used to reassure parents that their child was happy, safe, and well.”
More from the Schools and Family team
Anger amid claims Aberdeenshire Council are ‘downgrading’ librarians’ role
Where can you find Santa in the north and north east this year?
Government sex survey: Only one of our councils will use it so far
