Staff at Aberdeen’s Kingsford Nursery have been praised for their “outstanding” work to improve conditions one year after coming under fire when toddlers went missing.
Last year, the nursery was graded “weak” across the board following an unexpected visit by the Care Inspectorate.
It came after three-year-old River Wood walked out of the Kingsford Road facility without staff noticing.
He was later found wandering down the busy Lang Stracht and even had a near miss with a bus.
The youngster was then taken home by a kind passer-by.
An investigation later found that nursery employees took around 25 minutes to realise the toddler was gone.
Inspectors returned to the Sheddocksley nursery for a follow up unannounced visit this summer.
But it was a great result for the facility this time, as three areas were upgraded to “adequate” while one was even marked as “good”.
What did inspectors have to say about the nursery?
Inspectors said staff had an increased focus on children’s overall wellbeing and worked hard to ensure youngsters were nurtured and supported.
They also highlighted that children’s safety was improved thanks to new security measures that have been installed.
Meanwhile, inspectors said the nursery created a “welcoming environment” for youngsters.
Kingsford Nursery staff praised for ‘amazing’ achievement
The latest inspection result was recently discussed by the city council’s education committee.
Labour councillor Kate Blake welcomed the improvements, and said it was “an absolute credit to the staff for achieving that”.
The report was also hailed as an “amazing achievement” by Conservative councillor Richard Brooks.
He said: “Under “how good is the setting” it has moved from weak to good, that’s two steps up.
“The efforts that have gone in through officers, through staff must have been outstanding to achieve that.”
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