# Claddagh's Treasures Preschool, Dundalk — inspection reports and findings > Claddagh's Treasures Preschool (Dundalk, Co. Louth): what Tusla inspections found — 3 published inspection(s), non-compliances and the provider's corrective actions. ## Claddagh's Treasures Preschool Full Day · 2 - 6 Years · Dundalk, Louth · Tusla ID **TU2015LH016** · 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 8 May 2025 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) No non-compliance recorded in this report. Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 19, 20, 25. #### Inspection of 24 May 2024 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety, and welfare of child - General Safety: 1. Garda vetting was available for 20 staff members. However, 9 of these vetting disclosures was not dated within the previous three years in adherence to with the Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory Notice ‘EYI- RN12.3 Renewal of Garda Vetting’ - Corrective & Preventive Action All staff were re-vetted including the 9 staff members whose vetting disclosures were not dated within the previous three years in adherence to with the Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory Notice ‘EYIRN12.3 Renewal of Garda Vetting’. All staff will be re-vetted together every two years to ensure that the timeframe is maintained while also allowing for delays, etc Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 19, 26, 28. #### Inspection of 7 November 2023 — Inspection Report Full report (PDF, Tusla) **Immediate action notice.** The inspection focused on an examination of compliance under regulations 9, 11,10, 16,19 and 31; however, on inspection additional non-compliance which posed a risk was identified under Regulation 23. These findings are outlined within the relevant regulations within this report. ##### Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child - The registered provider did not ensure that each child’s learning, development, and well-being was facilitated within the daily life of the service in relation to the following: - 1. A number of children in Room 2 needed additional support from the staff members to facilitate their participation in the service. Individualised care plans, which were developed with the support of an external agency were in place for the children with identified goals and actions to support development. However, there was no evidence of planning by the staff in the care room to implement strategies and supports to achieve these goals e.g., when questioned one staff member was not familiar with the plans even though some of the goals had been identified since January 2023. 2. One child who was clearly distressed with noise levels in the room at dinner time and was observed putting their hands over their ears was told by the staff member “I know... I know it’s annoying... but you need to sit at the table...”. This was not supportive of the child’s emotional and sensory needs. 3. The environment in Room 2 during the inspection was chaotic and the noise levels in the room was very high. This was further exacerbated by staff shouting over this noise to give instruction or discuss an activity. The chaotic environment continued during the transition period after dinner, for example; one child was observed walking around the room eating toast and climbed up onto the window sill from which they fell off and banged their head, 2 other children were observed fighting over a toy , while another child was observed banging a wooden house off the window in the play room and 2 children were opening the exit door to the outdoor play area while some staff were observed to lift the children back into the room. When the room leader opened the door and the children ran outside, they were observed to knock over a child who was in a ride on car. (3) Some of the staff in Room 2 were observed to use loud tones and negative language such as “ no…no...no...” and “don’t do that“ “ stop hitting your friends, no…sit on your bum.” instead of employing more positive methods to redirect or promote positive behaviour. Additionally, the volume of some staff voices was very loud - • The Inclusion Coordinator held a meeting on 13th November where she explained the plan agreed with the external support coordinator and a planned staff meeting on the 21st of November . The roles of the key persons were also explained plus the importance of being aware of key children’s goals and individual care plans. Team leaders were also reminded of the importance of using visual aids to facilitate communication and transitions and their implementation of them in all rooms. • The children’s care plans were reviewed with relevant staff members and a curriculum pack was purchased from a reputable source. It was reviewed with the staff to ensure the implementation of the various templates to aid planning, implementing strategies and support to achieve goals. Copies of the children’s individual care plans were emailed to all the staff members and acknowledged. • A staff memo was circulated to the relevant staff members outlining the non -compliance, and staff were informed that support would be further implemented by the registered provider along with an external support agency and the service Inclusion Coordinator in curriculum planning and implementing the care plans goals and strategies. • The entire team received training on the 21st of November. • A copy of the Curriculum Policy, Curriculum Statement and Inclusion Policy was distributed to all staff on 11/12/2023. • An email was sent to the relevant staff members, including information which explains the access and inclusion programme and additional backup information to complement the training session. • The local County Childcare has been contacted to enrol new team members in curriculum training - • Two staff support meetings were held on 28th of November 2023. One with all team members to address observations made by senior staff member and implement strategies to reduce the noise level in the room and to improve support to children in their care. The second meeting took place with two staff members to review their observed work practises and implement corrective measures and strategies moving forward. • A key worker system was implemented after the support meeting on the 28th of November with all team members to address the observations carried out. Clear standards and expectations on how to best engage with children in their care were set out in the meeting. A whiteboard was implemented, and daily tasks were assigned to team members to ensure equity of work tasks and that responsibilities were clearly allocated. • All relevant staff from Room 2, new staff and staff working with this team (9 staff in total) were booked to attend an interactive certified webinar entitled: “Supporting a Neurodiverse child in your EY setting” on 12/12/2023. The registered provider requested that the training includes ideas, strategies, and suggestions to support children’s sensory and emotional needs adequately - • All relevant staff have been booked to complete the e-learning course “Transitions within the daily routine.” • An additional team leader has been added to the team on a temporary basis to support/mentor the team. This will be monitored closely and will be in place until the team is fully confident. Since the day of the inspection, the Senior Childcare Workers have been working closely with the team in ECCE Room 2, holding meetings to assist in implementing daily routines, curriculum planning reflecting children’s emergent interests, implementing transition strategies and positive behaviour management. The first meet ing was held on the 28 th of November, as mentioned above in point 2. A key Worker system is now in place to guarantee adequate supervision of children and ensure their health and safety, and wellbeing. • The daily curriculum plan has been reviewed with staff members and a new one has been developed to include the transitions through the daily routine and clearly allocating different roles to each staff member. • An access outdoor play schedule procedure has been distributed among staff and displayed in the rooms for accessing the outdoor space. • All staff are participated in behaviour management training on the 16th of December. • An additional copy of the Behaviour Management Policy was furnished to all team members. • Clear positive reinforcement strategies have been discussed, as well as how to implement positive language with staff during the meeting on the 28th of November. Preventive Action: • Going forward, one-to-one meetings will be conducted weekly with the external support agency and the relevant staff/ key worker of children in receipt of additional supports. Records of the meeting notes will be available during future inspections. • Submission sent to external source to enrol and engage with a Quality Development Programme. • Going forward a senior team member has been designated to support staff in implementing goals and provide the manager with a weekly progress report. Two meetings have already been held with the team, and the next meeting is scheduled for the 12th of December. • After staff attended the training entitled “Supporting a Neurodiverse child in your EY setting”, a meeting was scheduled with staff for January to discuss the possible strategies to be implemented in the daily routine. The implementation of the strategies will be observed and supervised on an ongoing basis by senior staff members, and observations will be discussed during support and supervision meetings. • Going forward, the curriculum pack purchased , will be used for short -term and medium -term curriculum planning templates. It will be submitted to the senior staff member s/managers weekly and monthly for support and approval. • Staff will continue to undertake ongoing professional development linked to Regulation 19 (including child-directed planning, the national curriculum framework, and supporting children’s developmental needs through play and learning. • Going forward, new staff will receive a copy and introduction of the children’s individual care plan as part of their induction training. This has been included in our induction training checklist going forward. See the evidence document. • To ensure that care plans and supports are implemented in the room and, therefore, in compliance with regulation 19, the registered provider has included a new section in the job chats template that is used which says "supporting children with additional needs and implementation of care plans" as an area for discussion going forward with staff during one-to-one meetings or support and supervision meetings ##### Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child - The Inspectorate is not assured that adequate steps have been taken to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the pre-school children attending the service. The following observations were made: General Safety: 1. An overflow pipe was draining water on the ground in the outdoor play area which is a potential slip hazard. 2. In room 3, the kitchen units and white shelving units and the kitchen unit in Room 1 had sharp corners exposed which is a potential injury hazard. Action submitted by the Registered Provider - 1. Arrangements were made to fix the overflowing pipe in the garden by the caretaker. A staff memo was sent via email to all staff members on 13/12/2023 with a copy of the risk management policy, as well as reviewing the risk assessments already available in each room. The manager/supervisor reiterated the importance of spotting and reporting potential risks so corrective, or control measures can be taken to ensure the health and safety of both children and staff members. 2. Corner covers were ordered and placed in the highlighted furniture and kitchen units that had sharp corners in Room 1 and 3 so all sharp edges and corners have now been covered. All staff are to be retrained in completing risk assessments and reporting procedures in place. A memo was sent to staff in relation to the same, and all risk assessments will be checked weekly by senior management going forward to ensure sustained compliance. In addition, a monthly audit will be carried out by senior management.to fix the overflowing pipe in the garden which will be fixed by the 2ecember by the caretaker Found compliant: Regulation 9, 10, 11, 16, 31. ### Other services in Louth - [Clever Clogs](/creche/clever-clogs-drogheda.md) Drogheda - [Clever Clogs](/creche/clever-clogs-drogheda-2.md) Drogheda - [Cuddles Creche P&S Ltd](/creche/cuddles-creche-p-s-ltd-tallanstown.md) Tallanstown - [Footprints Pre-School](/creche/footprints-pre-school-dundalk.md) Dundalk - [Kool Kidz Creche](/creche/kool-kidz-creche-dundalk.md) Dundalk - [Periwinkles Ltd](/creche/periwinkles-ltd-clogherhead.md) Clogherhead - [Ainedanbury Ltd T/A Bright Beginnings](/creche/ainedanbury-ltd-t-a-bright-beginnings-dundalk.md) Dundalk - [The Wendy House](/creche/the-wendy-house-dundalk.md) Dundalk - [Ready Steady Grow](/creche/ready-steady-grow-dundalk.md) Dundalk - [Kilsaran Preschool](/creche/kilsaran-preschool-castlebellingham.md) Castlebellingham [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/claddagh-s-treasures-preschool-dundalk/ Fonte: Tusla Early Years Inspectorate Recolha: 2026-09-11