Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service
(j) There was no administration of medication record form available for use by staff members should a child require medication to be administered while in attendance. (k) The method of recording accidents and incidents in the service did not provide sufficient information to parents/guardians, staff, management or the Early Years Inspectorate. Of the three records reviewed none recorded unique identifiers such children’s surname or date of birth. There was no reference to who was present when the incident occurred or numbers of children in attendance
Provider's corrective action:
(j) There is now an administration of medicines record book in place. The medicine book has been discussed with staff and will be used if a child needs medication during school hours. All staff know where this book is and how to correctly fill it out. (k) The records of incidents have now been updated to include all relevant information. All staff have been informed of how to correctly fill this out and the forms are left in an accessible area
Regulation 21 — Equipment and materials
A table used by children was worn and part of the covering had broken away
Provider's corrective action:
The new table is in place. Staff will now record on a monthly basis if any furniture needs fixing or replacing
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
General Safety: Garda vetting was available for four staff members. However, one of these vetting disclosures were not dated within the previous three years in adherence to with the Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory Notice ‘EYI-RN12.3 Renewal of Garda Vetting’. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
General Safety: The garda vetting that was necessary was in the registered providers second early years service. In future all files will be double checked that the correct staff vetting is in the correct file
Regulation 24 — Checking in and out and record of attendance
(3)(b) A method of recording visitors to the service was not available on the premises
Provider's corrective action:
The visitor book is in place and will be left in a common area so that it can be filled out by any person who visits the school
(d) Police vetting was available for one staff member who had lived in a state other than Ireland for a period of longer than six consecutive months however the police vetting was not translated
Provider's corrective action:
The police vetting has been translated and is now available on file in the service
Regulation 10 — Policies, procedures etc. of pre-school service
There were no copies of the policies and procedures in place in the service available on the day of inspection, in either written or electronic form. Preschool services are required to have copies of the policies and procedures in place in the service for review by parents and the staff who are working in the service
Provider's corrective action:
The policies in place in the service have been printed and are now available in hard copy in the service
Regulation 20 — Facilities for rest and play
There was no rest area in the room for children to rest on during the day
Provider's corrective action:
A rest area consisting of bean bags and blankets has been reinstated in the service
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
The entrance door was open on arrival. The door was checked again during the inspection and remained unsecured for the duration of the inspection. This posed a risk to children leaving the service unsupervised
The nappy changing mat was ripped, worn and needed to be replaced. The mat was stored on the floor of the toilet in use by the children and posed a risk of cross infection in the service
There were outdoor clothes and wellies in use by the children stored on the floor of the toilet. This practice posed a risk of cross infection in the service
The bin in the toilet area used for disposing of handtowels was a flip top bin and was not pedal operated which caused a risk of cross infection in the service. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
The door is now kept locked when the service is in operation. The key is safely stored close by to ensure it can be opened in case of emergency
The nappy changing mat has been discarded. The wall mounted unit is primarily used when changing nappies in the service now
The clothes and wellies are stored in a large, lidded box in the cloak room now
The bin has been replaced with a pedal operated bin
Regulation 25 — First aid
There was no evidence available in the service that there was a person trained in a First Aid Responder Course available to the children on the day of inspection. It is a requirement that children have access to a person trained in a first aid responder course when attending preschool services. It is acknowledged there was one person trained in another type of first aid in the service on the day of inspection
The first aid box was not suitably equipped and was not easily accessible to the preschool children. There were no plasters or sterile water in the box and staff took several minutes to locate the box when requested by the inspector
Provider's corrective action:
There is a person trained in a First Aid Responder Course available to the children attending the service now
The first aid box has been restocked and is now stored on the shelf in the classroom
Regulation 26 — Fire safety measures
There was no evidence that regular fire drills were carried out in the service. The last fire drill was carried out in the service in December 2023. (b) There was no maintenance record demonstrating the fire alarm in the service had been maintained. The absence of monthly fire drills was noted on the last inspection on 16 June 2021. Following this inspection the registered provider submitted a corrective and preventative response to the inspectorate. Despite this submission the action proposed did not prevent the recurrence of the non-compliance on this inspection
Provider's corrective action:
There is a hard copy of a template to record monthly fire drills now in place in the service. (b) The annual maintenance of the fire alarm in place in the service was carried out on 20 November 2024