Creche Inspection Reports

Little & Big Rascals

Sessional · 2 - 6 Years · Dunleer, Louth · Tusla ID TU2015LH049 · Registered since 1 January 2026

An inspection records what inspectors saw on one day; services respond with corrective actions — how to read this.

2published inspections
4non-compliances at latest report read
0immediate action notices
0registration conditions

Inspection of 27 January 2026 — Inspection Report

Full report (PDF, Tusla)

Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment

  • (1) (a) Whilst the inspector was informed that there was a named person to deputise this was not reflected in the roster provided to the inspector. (b) Following discussion with the person in charge, and a review of the staff roster the inspector could not confirm that when the preschool service was in operation, the designated person in charge or a deputy person in charge was on the premises. (c) The inspector could not confirm there was a clearly defined deputy person in charge to ensure lines of accountability. During the inspection staff named differing colleagues as the deputy person in charge. This did not always reflect the staff member named by the person in charge to the inspector. Some staff members also stated that they may contact the person in charge or the area manager should the person in charge not be on site
Provider's corrective action:
  • (1) (a) The registered provider stated that the named designated deputy person in charge has been added to the roster to ensure all staff are aware of who it is when person in charge is not on the premise. This is available in the service. (b) The registered provider stated that there is a display of person in charge and deputy person in charge posted on the staff notice board. All staff will be told who is in charge when named person is not on the premises. (c) The registered provider stated that it has been made clear during a staff meeting who will be the deputy in charge going forward. This information will be displayed in the service

Regulation 11 — Staffing levels

  • (1) On the day of inspection there was an inadequate number of adults available in the Toddler Room to facilitate the needs of the children in the same room. Whilst the ratio of adults to children was correct, the staff member was unable to provide appropriate care to children who were trying to sleep, who wanted to play or who was waiting to go home. The following was observed which demonstrated this. One staff member was providing care to four children - two children were being settled to sleep, one child was asleep and one child was due to go home. The two children could not settle to sleep and two of the three children chose to play with noisy toys. Although the staff member tried to distract them and play with them, they were also trying to complete the sleep checks on the sleeping child. One of the children returned to the staff member who tried again tried to settle them for sleep. The child who was due to go home was taken by another staff member to have their nappy changed and on return to the room this child became upset. The child who was sleeping awoke at 1.20pm. A review of a sample of sleep records for this child demonstrated the child would normally sleep till 2.00 to 2.10pm
Provider's corrective action:
  • (1) The registered provider has stated that whilst the minimum ratio was adhered to the safe sleep guidelines have been updated and children who don’t require sleep will be moved into a different room to prevent disruption. The guidelines are on display in the room

Regulation 15 — Record of pre-school child

  • (1) (i) One of the records for a child did not contain the parental consent for medical treatment in the event of an emergency. This practice was found to be non-compliant on the previous inspections on 15 April 2024. The corrective actions submitted following that inspection failed to prevent a recurrence of this non- compliance
Provider's corrective action:
  • (1)(i) The parental consent was gained and as a preventive action the registered provider stated that a second person will help go through registration forms to ensure all pages are attached and signed so nothings is missed

Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child

  • Infection Control: 1. Children’s hands were not washed before they ate on all occasions. It is acknowledged that staff in the Toddler Room were responding to children’s needs and allowing them to eat their snack when they were hungry rather than at a designated time. However, the children were observed playing with toys and equipment and they did not wash their hands before they ate which increases the risk of cross contamination. 2. Whilst the nappy changing procedure was correct in most cases, there were occasions when it was insufficient in preventing the spread of infection. On two occasions the gloves needed to be replaced prior to redressing a child where heavy soiling had occurred
Provider's corrective action:
  • Corrective Actions Infection Control: 1. Hand washing procedure has been placed beside each sink and hand-washing policy has been updated and placed in each room. 2. A new updated procedure has been placed in changing area for all current staff and future staff to see before nappy changing. Preventive Actions The registered provider did not submit preventive actions that would give assurances that these non-compliances would not re-occur

Found compliant: Regulation 21, 25, 27, 28.

Inspection of 15 April 2024 — Inspection Report

Full report (PDF, Tusla)

Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment

  • (2)(a)(b) Three statements of employment rather than written, validated references were provided for 2 staff members. These documents contained no details apart from the staff members names and dates of previous employment within organisations but did not outline any personal attributes or information regarding the employees’ suitability for employment. There was no evidence that these documents had been validated with the sources. Additionally, a written reference provided from a past employer for one of these 2 staff members had not been validated
Provider's corrective action:
  • The registered provider stated the following corrective actions and preventive actions have been carried out: Corrective Action (2)(a)(b) The service requested and received two references for the staff mentioned. These have been verified. The other reference was validated on 19/04/2024 by the Manager. Preventive Action (2)(a)(b) A new staff checklist has been compiled for the Managers in each service to use for new staff employed. On this, Managers are required to have 2 written references on file and verified. During a recent Manager s meeting it has been highlighted that statements of employment are not sufficient for staff files. All files have been reviewed

Regulation 15 — Record of pre-school child

  • (1)(i) Written parental consent was not provided on 9 of the 19 sampled registration forms to authorise staff members avail of appropriate medical treatment for these children in the event of an emergency
Provider's corrective action:
  • The registered provider stated the following corrective action and preventive action have been carried out: Corrective Action Parents have been given the medical consent page that was missing from their child’s enrolment form. These have been signed by parents. Preventive Action New parent packs for new children attending the service containing all pages have been printed . New parent packs are now on file and on Managers desk tops to ensure this does not happen again

Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child

  • General Safety: 1. The cord on a roller blind in the Green Room was not appropriately secured. This blind was attached to the wall and sometimes used as a drape over the cosy area. The blind cord was observed loosely sitting in a small wall-mounted basket beside the blind which could potentially be accessible to a pre-school child if they stood on the low-level window sill and wooden storage unit beneath. This posed a safety risk for the children in attendance. Action submitted by the Registered Provider The registered provider stated the following corrective action and preventive action have been carried out: Corrective Action 1. The cord on blind has been cut off as it is not in use in the service. Preventive Action 1. A staff member has been appointed in the service to do health and safety checks, using a maintenance form that is completed once a month to ensure all equipment and materials are safe and in good working order. Summary Comment The inspectors reviewed the corrective action submitted by the registered provider following the inspection. The registered provider demonstrated that the non-compliance identified under Regulation 23 has been adequately addressed

Found compliant: Regulation 11, 19, 24, 25, 26, 28.

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