Inspection of 10 July 2025 — Inspection Report
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- (4) There was no evidence available to show that two staff who worked directly with preschool children held at least a major award in Early childhood Care and Education at Level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework, or a qualification deemed by the Minister to be equivalent
Provider's corrective action:
- All of the service preschool staff are qualified, and their qualifications are on file. A number of children who were moving to our afterschool room this year were in the care of afterschool staff for a short period of time on the day of inspection. In future Regulatory Notice EYI-RN11.1 issued in February 2025 will be adhered too. Management have been made aware of the relevant regulatory notice and advised to comply with it in the future
Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service
- (j) 1. The service was observed to have two types of form in use to record medication administration. One form type in use did not include a section for parents to sign to confirm they had been informed of medication administration. This posed a potential risk of sharing inaccurate information resulting in a safety risk to children. 2. The registered provider did not ensure a full record in writing was maintained for medication administration. A sample of 13 forms were reviewed and 8 were observed incomplete. The incomplete records did not include a parent’s signature confirming they had been informed of the medication administration. Of the 8 incomplete forms reviewed 7 of these records were completed on the template form that did not include a space for parents’ signature. This posed a potential risk of sharing inaccurate information resulting in a safety risk to children. (k) 1. The registered provider did not ensure a full record in writing was maintained for accidents and incident. A sample of 15 forms were reviewed and 7 were observed to be incomplete. • Two records did not include the child’s full details. • Five records did not include the date of the parents’ signature to show they were informed of the accident. This posed a potential impact of sharing inaccurate information resulting in a safety risk to children
Provider's corrective action:
- (j) Points 1 and 2 Updated forms are now in use at the service. The outdated forms have been withdrawn. Management has informed staff to fully complete all relevant records and to ensure that the signatures of all concerned are adhered thereto. (k) 1. Training has taken place with all staff with regard to the completion of incident and accident forms. Staff have been advised to ensure that the forms are completed in full, including the full names of children and the signature of the parents obtained. Local, regional and senior management will regularly inspect all forms to ensure that they are completed in full
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- General Safety: 1. An ambient care room temperature between 18-22℃ was not maintained in Pod 3 where children over the age of three were playing. The following was observed: • At 10.55am the temperature was 23.1℃ • At 12.32pm the temperature was 25.6℃ • At 2.05pm the temperature was 26.3℃ It is acknowledged that staff took measures to help reduce the temperature such as lowering blinds, opening windows and using a plug in air cooler. Management arranged for a second plug in air cooler for the care room and informed the inspectors it arrived at 2.30pm. The temperature of the care room was observed to reduce after the use of the second air cooler. 2. Six of nineteen suncreams stored in a box were not individually labelled. This posed a potential risk of skin irritation if a cream was wrongly administered to a child. Administration of Medication: 3. The care plan for a child was not readily available or easily accessible for all staff in the event of an emergency. The availability of detailed care plans provides clear guidance to staff on when medication is required and how to administer, reducing the risk of delayed administration in the event of an emergency. Fire Safety: 4. Attendance records were not maintained in a timely manner. At 11.04am a review of attendance records with staff and management demonstrated that three children who were present in the service were not signed in on any roll book. In addition, a fourth child who was present in the service was recorded on a room transfer sheet and not signed in on a roll book. Some staff had advised they would bring only the roll book in the event of emergency evacuation. The service fire safety policy advises all children must be signed in and out accordingly onto the attendance record and that staff members will take the roll book in the event of a fire. This posed a potential risk of hindering safe evacuation from the premises in the event of an emergency. 5. Staff were inconsistent in their understanding and explanation of the services fire evacuation procedures. Staff informed the inspectors of varying approaches of how children are accounted for in the event of an evacuation. Some staff referenced the use of a room transfer sheet and roll book while other referred to only a roll book. This posed a potential risk of hindering safe evacuation from the premises in the event of an emergency. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
- General Safety: 1. Additional air conditioning units have been supplied and are now available at the premises. Management will ensure that sufficient air temperature control units are in place at all times. 2. Training has taken place with staff advising them that all suncreams should contain the name of the child to whom it is to be administered. Local management will verify that all suncreams are labelled with the child’s name before use, and senior management will monitor ongoing compliance with Regulation 23 to prevent future occurrences. Administration of Medication: 3. Copies of all care plans, containing relevant and up-to-date information, will be kept in each room to ensure staff have access to them at all times. To prevent recurrence, local management will review care plans regularly for accuracy and ensure compliance with all aspects of Regulation 23. Fire Safety: 4. Training has taken place with staff regarding the completion of attendance records. All records will be completed in a timely manner. Management will conduct regular audits of attendance records and provide refresher training to ensure all information are completed on time and accurately in line with regulatory requirements. 5. Detailed training has taken place with all staff regarding the evacuation of children in the case of a fire. A fire drill has been conducted, and clear guidance has been given to staff regarding how children are to be accounted for in the event of an evacuation. Local Management will schedule and record regular fire drills, ensuring all staff are confident in evacuation procedures and in accurately accounting for every child during an emergency. Senior Management will ensure compliance with all aspects of Regulation 23 going forward
Regulation 27 — Supervision
- 1. The registered provider did not ensure that children were adequately supervised at all times during the day. On the morning of the inspection at 10.38am six preschool children were under the supervision and care of unqualified staff. Management advised the children where on a settling in period that morning with the afterschool group, the children were observed in their main care rooms at 12.00pm after returning from the afterschool group. This is in breach of the Early Years regulatory notice Definition of Enrolment in a School Age Service February 2025 which outlines the decision of the early years inspectorate; criteria for recognising a school-age and the time frame for settling in periods of 10 working days before the start of school
Provider's corrective action:
- 1. Management has been instructed that in future years to fully comply with the definition of enrolment of school age children. A copy of the Regulatory Notice EYI-RN11.1 issued in February 2025 is available at the facility and management have been made aware of the contents of same. Local and senior management will ensure that this regulatory Notice is complied with in the future
Found compliant: Regulation 11, 19, 25.