# Avon Lodge Creche & Montessori, Dublin 15 — inspection reports and findings > Avon Lodge Creche & Montessori (Dublin 15, Co. Dublin): what Tusla inspections found — 3 published inspection(s), non-compliances and the provider's corrective actions. ## Avon Lodge Creche & Montessori Full Day · 0 - 6 Years · Dublin 15, Dublin · Tusla ID **TU2015FL015** · Registered since 1 January 2026 An inspection records what inspectors saw **on one day**; services respond with corrective actions — [how to read this](/methodology.md). #### Inspection of 12 May 2026 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment - (2) (d) • See Statutory Notice section in relation to Immediate Action Notice IAN 0343 served. • See Statutory Notice section in relation to Immediate Action Notice IAN 0344 served. (3) The registered provider did not ensure the checks required under (2) were completed prior to the start date of two staff having access to children in the service. This posed a potential safeguarding risk - • There was no documentary evidence to show that the registered provider conducted regular staff supervision. In addition, the service did not have a supervision policy in place as per regulatory requirements. It is acknowledged that there was evidence that staff had engaged in supervision meetings with the registered provider on an ad hoc basis. However, it is important that structured supervision is carried out to ensure staff are supported to carry out their work within the service. A staff supervision policy should include how staff are supervised and supported in the service in relation to their work practices, the format, duration and frequency of supervision and where the records will be kept and stored and for how long they will be kept for. • Although there was evidence that staff engaged in continuous professional development training the service did not have a staff training policy in place as per regulatory requirements. A staff training policy should outline how staff training needs are identified and addressed and what resources are provided for training and the availability of ongoing training and professional development for staff - (3) Measures have been introduced to ensure that all Garda Vetting and overseas Police Vetting documentation is completed and verified before employees commence work. The Recruitment and Vetting Policy have now been updated to include overseas police clearance requirements in line with Tusla safeguarding requirements. A staff compliance checklist and regular personnel file reviews will also be maintained to prevent recurrence. (7) (a) A Staff Supervision Policy and a Staff Training Policy were developed, implemented and shared with all staff. The supervision policy outlines the purpose, format, frequency, duration, recording and storage of supervision meetings. A supervision schedule has been established to ensure all staff receive formal supervision on a regular basis. A supervision record template has been introduced and completed records will be signed and stored in each staff member's personnel file. Training needs and professional development opportunities will be discussed during supervision meetings and recorded on the supervision form. Retrospective supervision records were completed where appropriate, and a supervision file has been established to securely maintain all records. The Manager will review supervision and training records annually to ensure they are up to date and that the service remains compliant with regulatory requirements ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - General Safety: 1. The entrance to the service was not appropriately secured when the inspection team arrived at the service. It is acknowledged that it had been left accidently open by a staff member undertaking cleaning duty. It is acknowledged that another staff member present took immediate action and secured the door once the identified risk had been brought to the staff members attention. However, the entrance door to the service must remain secured at all times to ensure children are kept safe. This posed a potential risk of harm if an unauthorised person were to enter the service. 2. A trailing flex was observed to be hanging down and accessible to children in the walkway between the Montessori and the pre-Montessori room. This posed a risk of injury. Administration of Medication: 3. See Statutory Notice section in relation to Improvement Notice IN 0302 served. 4. An over-the-counter medication was observed to be stored in a child’s bag in an area that was accessible to children. This posed a risk of safety. Safe Sleep: 5. Staff were observed to carry out sleep checks and keep a written record of the children that slept, to include their colour, breathing and position every 10 minutes. However, the cot room was observed to be too dark for the staff member to carry out the appropriate sleep checks. It is important that the staff can see the child’s skin colour, position and observe the child breathing during the ten-minute sleep checks. This posed a safe sleep risk. Fire Safety: 6. The service did not ensure the following procedures were in place to support the safe evacuation of children and staff in the event of an emergency evacuation: o An up-to-date contemporaneous attendance log for children was not available in the Montessori room. Two of the six children present were not marked in attendance. This could cause confusion in regard to the number of children present in the event of an emergency evacuation. o The recommended space of 50cm between sleeping children was not maintained. A distance between 9cm to 11 cm was observed between four sleeping children. This could impede staff accessing the children in the event of an emergency evacuation. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - General Safety: 1. The entrance gate/door was immediately secured and checked to ensure it was functioning correctly. The incident was discussed with all staff, and staff were reminded of their responsibility to ensure that all entrance and exit points always remain secure. The cleaning procedures were reviewed with the staff member involved to reinforce the importance of checking that the entrance is locked after access. A daily opening and closing security check has been introduced to ensure all entrance and exit points are secure. Staff have been instructed to check and confirm that the entrance door/gate is closed and locked immediately after use. Security checks will form part of routine health and safety monitoring and will be discussed at staff meetings. The Manager will carry out periodic checks to ensure procedures are being followed. 2. The trailing flex was immediately secured and repositioned out of children's reach, eliminating the risk of injury. A check of all rooms and walkways within the service was carried out to identify and address any similar hazards. Staff were reminded of their responsibility to ensure that electrical cords, cables and other potential hazards are safely always secured and inaccessible to children. The service has updated its daily health and safety checks to include inspection of walkways, electrical equipment and cables to ensure that any potential trip or injury hazards are identified and addressed promptly. Staff have been reminded to report and rectify hazards immediately when identified. Health and safety checks will be monitored by the Manager as part of ongoing risk management procedures. Administration of Medication: 3. See Statutory Notice section in relation to Improvement Notice IN 0302 served. 4. The over-the-counter medication was removed from the child's bag and placed in the designated secure medication storage area, inaccessible to children. A check of all children's bags and storage areas was carried out to ensure no other medication was accessible to children. The medication storage procedure was reviewed with all staff and parents were reminded that any medication brought into the service must be handed directly to a staff member on arrival. Staff have been reminded to check with parents at drop- off whether any medication has been brought into the service and to ensure that all medication is immediately stored in the designated secure storage area. Medication storage procedures have been discussed at a staff meeting and incorporated into routine health and safety monitoring. The Manager will periodically review medication storage practices to ensure compliance and be sure the medication is in date. Safe Sleep: 5. The lighting arrangements in the sleep room were reviewed and adjusted to ensure that staff can clearly observe each child's skin colour, breathing and sleeping position during sleep checks. Staff were reminded of the service's safe sleep procedures and the requirement that the sleep environment must provide sufficient visibility to carry out effective sleep checks while maintaining a restful environment for children. The Safe Sleep Policy and sleep room procedures have been reviewed with all staff to ensure that adequate lighting is maintained at all times when children are sleeping. Sleep room safety checks have been added to daily room checks to verify that visibility is sufficient for staff to accurately observe children's colour, breathing and position during the required ten-minute sleep checks. The Manager will monitor compliance through regular observations and supervision. Fire Safety: - o The attendance record in the Montessori room was updated to accurately reflect all children present. All staff were reminded of the requirement to maintain a contemporaneous attendance record throughout the day and to update it immediately when children arrive or leave the room. Staff have been reminded of the emergency evacuation procedures and the importance of maintaining accurate attendance records at all times. Attendance registers will be checked regularly throughout the day by room staff and monitored by the Manager to ensure they accurately reflect the number of children present. o The sleep room layout was also reviewed and adjusted immediately to ensure that the recommended minimum spacing of 50cm was maintained between sleeping children. This allows staff to safely access children and facilitates prompt evacuation in the event of an emergency. The spacing of cots and sleep mats will be checked before each sleep period as part of routine room safety checks. These procedures will be monitored through regular room observations and discussed during staff meetings to ensure ongoing compliance ##### Regulation 32 — Complaints - (a) The registered provider advised there had been one complaint received since the last inspection on 26 March 2025. A complaint logbook with this information recorded was not available for review by the inspection team. (b) Information given to the inspector in relation to the one complaint showed that the complaint had not been dealt with in line with the service policy. The registered provider confirmed that the service had not followed all of the steps outlined in the policy and the compliant could not be resolved to the parent’s satisfaction - (a) The complaint received was documented in the service's Complaints Log, including the nature of the complaint, actions taken, outcome and date of resolution. The Complaints Policy was reviewed to ensure all complaints are recorded and maintained in accordance with regulatory requirements. A Complaints Log has been established and will be always maintained on the premises. The Registered Provider/Manager will ensure that all complaints, whether written or verbal, are recorded promptly, including the details of the complaint, actions taken and outcome. The Complaints Log will be reviewed periodically to ensure records are complete, up to date and available for inspection when required. (b) The revised Complaints Policy has been changed and implemented to ensure that all future complaints are managed consistently and in accordance with the service's procedures. A Complaint Record Form has been introduced to ensure that each stage of the process, including investigation, communication with parents, actions taken and outcomes, is documented. The Registered Provider will oversee all complaints received to ensure that each stage of the complaint’s procedure is followed, documented and completed within the specified timeframes. The Manager will review all complaints received to ensure that policy procedures have been followed and records are completed appropriately Found compliant: Regulation 11, 19. #### Inspection of 26 March 2025 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment - (3) The registered provider provide evidence to show that the following checks were not carried out prior to one adult working in the service. o there was no evidence of appropriate consideration of two references. o there was no evidence of appropriate consideration of a Garda Vetting disclosure. This posed a potential safeguarding risk for children - The register provider will make sure that reference checks are in place and garda vetting is done for all staff before they start in the service. The service will not allow to employ new staff until collection of all the required documentation. Garda Vetting will be in place before the new staff start in the service ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - General Safety: 1. There was a trailing flex observed in the Montessori room. This posed a risk of injury. 2. There was a cleaning agent spray observed to be accessible to children in the Pre-Montessori room. Infection Control: 3. Soiled nappies were not stored in a suitable lidded bin and were observed to be placed in a bag which was hung above the nappy changing unit. This posed a risk of cross infection. 4. The children were not observed to have their hands washed after nappy changing procedures. This posed a risk of cross infection. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - General Safety: 1. The trailing flex in the montessori room is moved up high and none of the flexes are hanging out for the children. Staff will do a risk assessment daily and report to management to fix it immediately. 2. The staff were told all the cleaning products were to be kept up high and safe stored in the kitchen away from the reach of children. Staff have been educated on the dangerous of poisonous chemicals and to keep out of reach of children's harm. Infection Control: 3. A meeting was held with the staff to prevent this happening again, the hook was removed immediately, and staff will use an appropriate bin that is available in the nappy changing area, to dispose of the nappies, so there is no cross infection. Staff will retrain in preventing cross infection. 4. All management and staff were informed by the person in charge to encourage good hygiene hand washing, especially after changing the nappies and throughout the days with the children. All staff must encourage and help children to wash hands after changing their nappies, garden time/mealtimes. Rufus' handwashing activities will be introduced to the children to encourage them in this procedure ##### Regulation 28 — Insurance - (1) The service did not submit a change of circumstance application to notify the inspectorate of the change in person in charge. There was documentary evidence to show that the named person in charge had left the service in July 2024. This was a non-compliance on the last inspection 17 January 2024. The preventive actions outlined by the registered provider were not maintained - (1) The service has applied for the correct person to be named in charge. The register provider will renew the change of circumstance in appropriate and managing time, when staff leaves and staff start, ensuring to submit the change of circumstance application form Found compliant: Regulation 11, 15, 19, 25, 26, 28, 32. #### Inspection of 17 January 2024 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment - (4) At 10.20am a staff member who does not hold a major award in Early Childhood Care and Education at Level 5 or above on the National Framework of Qualifications or a qualification deemed eligible by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs was observed to be providing direct care to a preschool child in the sleep room located off the baby room - Corrective Action The registered provider has stated that the staff member in question had only been in with the service for one week. Management had explained to the staff member that she could not provide direct care for the children as she did not have a qualification of QQI level 5 Early Childhood Care and Education. The other qualified staff member made an error in calling the unqualified staff member as management were dealing with the inspector and the staff member did not want to interrupt them. This will never happen again as it was a new auxiliary staff member, and it has now been explained to the new staff member. Preventive Action The registered provider has stated that staff who do not have a qualification of QQI level 5 in Early Years Childhood Care and Education cannot provide direct care to any children in the care of the service. Summary Comment The actions taken by the service have addressed the non-compliance identified. The regulatory requirement has been met for Regulation 9 Management and Recruitment ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - Administration of Medication: 1. Out of the seven administration of medication forms reviewed. One form did not have the parents signature giving permission for the service to administer the prescribed medication and the form was not signed on collection to confirm that the guardian was made aware of the time of administration. This is not in line with the service policy which states that medication will not be administrated without written consent. Action submitted by the Registered Provider Administration of Medication: Corrective Action The registered provider has stated that all medicine administration forms must be fully completed with the parent signature giving permission for the child to be given prescribed medication. In addition, medication forms must be signed by the parent on collection of their child to confirm that they are made aware of the time of administration of medicine. Preventive Action The registered provider has stated the above actions will be taken in line with the service policy which states that medication will not be administered without written consent. Supporting documentation submitted Administration of Medication: • No documentation submitted. Summary Comment The actions taken by the service have addressed the non-compliance identified. The regulatory requirement has been met for Regulation 23 Safeguarding Health, Safety, and Welfare of the Child ##### Regulation 28 — Insurance - The service did not submit a change of circumstance application to notify the inspectorate of the change in person in charge - Corrective Action The registered provider submitted a change in circumstance application on the 23 January 2024 to notify the inspectorate of the change of person in charge. Preventive Action The registered provider has stated they will give 60 days notice to the agency in writing of any proposed change before the proposed change will take effect. Summary Comment The actions taken by the service have addressed the non-compliance identified. The regulatory requirement has been met for Regulation 8 Notification of Change in Circumstances. Acknowledgments The inspector wishes to acknowledge the cooperation of the registered provider, person in charge, staff and children who were present on the day of the inspection Found compliant: Regulation 11, 19, 24, 25, 26, 28. ### Other services in Dublin - [AVS Montessori t/a Daisy Montessori](/creche/avs-montessori-t-a-daisy-montessori-dublin-15.md) Dublin 15 - [Axis Centre](/creche/axis-centre-dublin-9.md) Dublin 9 - [Baggot Tots](/creche/baggot-tots-dublin-7.md) Dublin 7 - [Ballybrack/Killiney Montessori and Afterschool Limited](/creche/ballybrack-killiney-montessori-and-afterschool-limited-killiney.md) Killiney - [Barnardos Tivoli Child & Family Centre](/creche/barnardos-tivoli-child-family-centre-dun-laoghaire.md) Dun Laoghaire - [Blue Stars Early Years Service](/creche/blue-stars-early-years-service-dublin-18.md) Dublin 18 - [Castle Creche](/creche/castle-creche-dublin-3.md) Dublin 3 - [Daughters of Charity, Tír na nÓg Early Childhood Development Service](/creche/daughters-of-charity-tir-na-nog-early-childhood-development-service-dublin-8.md) Dublin 8 - [Juliets Kids Club](/creche/juliets-kids-club-dublin-8.md) Dublin 8 - [Queen B's Creche, Montessori and Afterschool](/creche/queen-b-s-creche-montessori-and-afterschool-dublin-15.md) Dublin 15 [Alert me when a new report is published](/help.md) · [Dated report on this service — €19](/report.md) --- Página: https://creche-inspection-reports.pages.dev/creche/avon-lodge-creche-montessori-dublin-15/ Fonte: Tusla Early Years Inspectorate Recolha: 2026-09-11