Inspection of 3 December 2025 — Inspection Report
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- (2)(a)&(b) • Two staff members did not have a 2nd written and validated reference available for inspection
Provider's corrective action:
- (2)(a)&(b) • The registered provider has obtained 2 new references. • The following will be noted in the recruitment policy - as requested by regulation 9, the employee must produce a reference from their last place of employment. If this reference from the last employer is deemed unsuitable or if the last employer’s company policy does not provide references, then a character reference will be sought from another source
Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service
- (a) A curriculum vitae detailing qualifications, experience and if the person has resided in a state or country outside of Ireland for more than 6 consecutive months was not available for 1 student who attends the service. (i) On day 1 when the inspectors arrived at the service, the staff roster presented for inspection was incomplete and did not include all staff members in the service e.g. the service manager or maintenance person. The roster was a weekly record and did not include the staff rostered each day of the week. It is acknowledged that an updated rota was presented in the afternoon
Provider's corrective action:
- (a)Curriculum Vitae for student was obtained. Student files will be checked and signed off before the person commences their work experience. (i)All the information required on the new staff rota was collated from the separate documents on file and put on a single document as requested. New staff rota is filled out each week by the receptionist
Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child
- During the inspection, one staff member was observed to speak to the children when carrying out activities in a loud voice on a number of occasions. In addition, on day 2 this same staff member was observed bending over and speaking ‘down’ to two children in a loud voice while dealing with a minor behavioural issue. This is at variance with services ‘Encouraging Positive Behaviour’ policy that states “we will speak at the child’s level, so the adult’s body language is not intimidating to the child”
Provider's corrective action:
- The staff member noted has completed extra training on ‘Positive behaviour in the Early Years’ supporting children age 2 and above. The registered provider is sourcing more detailed training in ‘challenging behaviour’ and ‘positive behaviours’ for all the staff in a training week later this year. Further observations will be completed by senior team members in the room to ensure staff are not stressed or ‘burnt-out’ which can lead to stress when dealing with children. The senior team and Link co-ordinator will also offer support and strategies to all staff upon dealing with challenging behaviours
Regulation 20 — Facilities for rest and play
- 1 (b) The rest area available in Prefab 2 consisted of a mat. This is not considered adequate to provide an inviting, comfortable area for a child to rest or take a break from activities when required during the day
Provider's corrective action:
- 1 (b) The cosy area in Prefab 2 has been updated to make it more appealing to the children. Review of the rooms by senior team to make it more appealing for the children
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- The registered provider did not ensure that all reasonable measures were taken to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of a preschool child in relation to the following: General Safety: 1. A wooden toy microwave positioned on top of the toy kitchen in Prefab 1 was unsecured and is therefore a potential impact hazard if pulled or knocked by a child. Infection Control: 2. Ineffective hand-washing practices were observed in Room 3. While it is acknowledged that the preschool children were observed to wash their hands after messy play, they were unable to reach the soap dispenser which was located high up over the sink. 3. There was not a constant supply of thermostatically controlled hot water available in the sanitary area adjoining Prefab room 1. It is acknowledged that the service manager confirmed that they had contacted a plumber to fix this issue. 4. The infection control policy in operation in the service on the day of inspection did not provide a cleaning programme or a care of ‘mouthed toys’ procedure that is in accordance with best practice public health guidelines
Provider's corrective action:
- Corrective & Preventive Action General Safety: 1. The wooden toy microwave has been taken down from the top of the toy fridge and removed from the classroom. It will only be re-introduced when a suitable solution is found to include the toy microware safely. Infection Control: 2. The new child’s sink in Room 3 has a new soap dispenser and disposable hand towels placed in an area on the wall, that they can now reach. All rooms have been checked and all have adequate soap and towel dispensers available at children’s height level. 3. Following a call to the plumber who arrived and fitted the replacement part, the hot water supply is now working effectively. The registered provider will continue to check the hot water temperature as standard. 4. The registered provider has introduced new cleaning policies to all staff. Reminders of the cleaning policies are on February staff memo. The current mouth toy cleaning procedure to change the wording from ‘wash’ the toys to ‘wash in hot soapy water’’. The service will continue to follow the mouthed toy cleaning procedure and do mock inspections in the rooms with some of these focusing on the cleaning policies
Regulation 29 — Premises
- (d) 1. There were accumulations of dust and black particles on the nappy changing unit off Room 2 and the nappy changing unit in the sanitary area off Room 3 was not maintained in a clean and hygienic condition. Grime and dirt were observed along the edges of the bin unit. 2. The following items were in a state of disrepair, the cushions in Prefab 1 were showing signs of wear and tear. The green and red covered cushions in the rest areas in Room 4 and were cracked and had fabric exposed. This also does not allow for effective cleaning
Provider's corrective action:
- (d) 1. Nappy changing unit has been cleaned and the bin unit replaced with a foot pedal bin. The nappy changing units have always been sanitized after every use and at the end of each session. Change to nappy changing policy to reflect the use of pedal bin. 2. Cushions that were reported to show wear and tear have been replaced with new cushions Observation of the cushions and nappy changing units will continue
Found compliant: Regulation 11.