Creche Inspection Reports

Little Tobys Playschool

Sessional · 0 - 6 Years · Muff, Donegal · Tusla ID TU2015DL075 · 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
3non-compliances at latest report read
1immediate action notices
0registration conditions

Inspection of 30 May 2025 — Inspection Report

Full report (PDF, Tusla)

Immediate action notice. 1. A written immediate action notice under

Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service

  • (1) (k) Of the nine files reviewed, the registered provider did not ensure that the signature of the manager was present on five of the forms
Provider's corrective action:
  • The Service has implemented new Accident/Incident forms which have a space for management signature as the forms that were in use at the time of the inspection did not allow space for this. Part of an ‘End of Day’ checklist to ensure all Accident/Incident forms filled out on a given day signed by Designated Person in Charge or Deputised Person and another Staff Member as a safeguard against this reoccurring

Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child

  • 1. On the day of inspection, it was observed that one of the care rooms did not have enough tables and chairs to accommodate all children during mealtimes. This led to a rushed atmosphere and limited opportunities for social interaction during meals. Mealtimes were staggered, requiring one group of children to finish their meals before the next group could be seated. During this process, children were constantly requested to finish their food promptly to allow their peers to eat. This practice was observed to be in contradiction to the service’s own Healthy Eating Policy, which states: “Children that eat slowly will be given time to eat and not rushed.” 2. It was observed that not all children had the opportunity to access outdoor play during the day. Some children did not go outside at all, while others were only outdoors for approximately five minutes before being collected by their parents. This limited outdoor access may impact children's opportunities for physical activity, fresh air, and engagement with the outdoor environment. 3. In one of the care rooms there was a noticeable lack of materials available for children to engage with. When queried by the inspector, the adult presented a large box containing play materials; however, these resources were not accessible to the children, thereby limiting their opportunities for independent and spontaneous play
Provider's corrective action:
  • 1. In address to both point 1&2, the room in question has implemented a better ‘rolling mealtime’ situation. This is part of a larger routine and purpose of routine overhaul for this room to allow for better care to be given to the children. Mealtimes no longer disrupt playtime meaning children have more freedom to come to the meal table and return to play, this is coupled with children preparing for outside play at the same time. The group of children is split into two sittings. The first sitting eats while the second sitting play, once the first sitting finish their educator prepares them for outside play while the second sitting eats, then their educator prepares them for outside play. Upon review of this implementation, it has been working. Review thus far of the strategy to address points 1&2 it has been working, however if it proves unsuccessful in the future the service will invest in more tables for mealtime and change to an everyone sitting practice. 2. ‘Treasure Basket’ approach has been reaffirmed for this room where children are able to develop agency in selecting their preferred play resources

Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child

  • General Safety: 1. On 29 May 2025, a written Immediate Action Notice was issued to the registered provider under Regulation 23 – Safeguarding Health, Safety and Welfare of the Child. A large open grate on the premises posed a significant risk to a child. When brought to the attention of the person in charge he responded promptly by securing the area and ensuring the grate was covered, made safe and inaccessible to children. 2. The windows in one of the care rooms were not fitted with fire safe window restrictors to prevent a child from potentially exiting or falling. 3. Children were observed seated in highchairs without being secured using the provided harnesses, posing a risk of falling. When questioned, adults appeared unfamiliar with the correct use of the harness system and advised the inspector that the straps were not fully working. 4. In the outdoor play area, a wooden pole with a protruding nail was observed, posing a potential injury risk to children. This issue was brought to the attention of the person in charge for prompt action to ensure the area was made safe. 5. It was observed that one of the outdoor bikes was missing a seat. This limited their usability and affected the range of equipment available for children's outdoor play. 6. On the day of inspection, no indoor or outdoor risk assessments were available for review. The absence of these documents meant that the inspector was unable to verify whether potential hazards within the environment had been identified, assessed, and appropriately managed prior to their arrival. Infection Control: 7. It was observed that there was insufficient space between cots in the sleep room, which poses a risk of cross- contamination and does not support best practices for infection control. Adequate spacing between sleep equipment is essential to ensure a safe and hygienic rest environment for children. 8. No daily cleaning schedules were available for review on the day of inspection. When questioned, adults informed the inspector that these schedules were not being completed. The absence of documented cleaning routines limited the ability to verify that regular and consistent hygiene practices were being carried out across the service. 9. Gloves and aprons were observed not to be removed after disposing of an unclean nappy, and prior to moving onto the next care practice of placing on a clean nappy and redressing the child. This could lead to a risk of cross infection. Administration of Medication: 10. Each child in the Rainbow Room had an individual bottle of antipyretic (fever-reducing) medication stored on- site. Upon inspection, four of these bottles were found to be expired. While it was acknowledged that the service had an in-date bottle available for emergency use, the presence of expired medication indicates a lapse in the regular monitoring and management of stored medications. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
  • Click or tap here to enter text. General Safety: 1. Immediate Action Notice has been addressed and replied to following the Inspection. Maintenance Staff were reminded of the importance of fixing concerns raised by staff in a prompt and timely manner. Indoor and Outdoor Risk Assessments were made available showing the date and time that the grate was noticed as posing a risk. Maintenance staff have been asked in future to please complete work in a timely manner as there was a passage of 5 weeks between the concern being raised in the risk assessment and the date of the inspection. 2. Upon review, several of the windows have need of repair. Works have been contracted and are estimated to be completed by 25/07/2025. 3. Highchairs without working straps have been removed. Staff have been reminded of the importance of highchair safety in a meeting following the inspection. 4. Nail was removed following the inspection. Perimeter fencing will be more closely monitored in the Indoor/Outdoor Risk Assessment not just for security but for hazards like this. This has been communicated to maintenance staff and staff completing Indoor/Outdoor Risk Assessments. 5. Outdoor toy in question was removed from use. Remaining outdoor play equipment was observed to be in good working order. 6. A copy of the Indoor/Outdoor Risk Assessments Dating from 06/01/2025 until the day of the inspection was forwarded to the inspector on 11/07/2025. Infection Control: 7. Staff have been made aware of their roles and responsibilities relating to the daily cleaning requirements of the service. Daily Cleaning Checklists are now included in the ‘End of Day’ Checklist to ensure checks and balances are maintained in filling out the Daily Cleaning Checklists. End of Day checklist will continue to be carried out to maintain compliance. 8. Staff have received a refresher meeting on following the appropriate nappy changing procedure. One of the Supervisors/Deputised Persons have been made aware they are responsible for identifying and checking nappy changing procedures are being followed. 9. Cots have been moved farther apart to support safe sleep practices. Refresher meeting was held in relation to safe sleep practices. Administration of Medication: 10. All out of date anti-febrile medication has been removed. End of Day checklist includes checks relating to all medicines stored on the premises

Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 15, 26.

Inspection of 21 October 2024 — Inspection Report

Full report (PDF, Tusla)

Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment

  • (4) There was no documentary evidence provided to state that one employed adult, working directly with children in the service, held at least a major award in Early Childhood Care and Education at Level 5 or equivalent on the National Framework of Qualifications
Provider's corrective action:
  • (4) At this time the employee is awaiting a letter confirming their completion of work equivalent to a QQI level 6 in childcare through NWRC. The employee has also submitted their current qualification for assessment to DCEDIY. Until such time as either a letter confirming their completion of work equivalent to a QQI level 6 or acceptance of current qualification by DCEDI Y employee is no longer working with Early Years Children and is working only with School Age. This is also reflected in the updated Staff Roster

Regulation 15 — Record of pre-school child

  • (f) Health care plans for two children attending the service did not contain sufficient ly detailed information to ensure the safe management and care of the children in the event they became unwell or required emergency administration of medication. This included the child’s symptoms which indicated that the medication needed to be administered, the appropriate actions to ensure that the child’s safety and the instructions when to contact the emergency services
Provider's corrective action:
  • (f) The care plans are not required as following consultation with the parents, the children no longer require the medication. The PIC has added to the parent’s booklet that any medications like this will need a care plan. The parent’s booklet is discussed and signed during induction of any new children and all existing parents have received an updated copy

Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service

  • (i) While it is acknowledged that a staff roster was available, each staff members attendance was recorded hourly and on a daily basis. This was challenging to assess the overall staffing for the service as it was contained on multiple pages. The staff roster is required to detail the start and finish times for all staff members on a weekly basis . It should include the staff breaks and which staff member is allocated to cover the staff member on break in the care rooms. (j) While it is acknowledged that there was a system of recording medication administered to a child attending the service, it was not adequate for the following reasons: • there was not an individual administration record used for each child. • the record used did not contain the required details which included time of administration, two staff signatures and a parental signature. • There was not a consistent record used to record parental authorisation of medication. • There was no evidence of a record which included a system to regularly review a medication care plan for children who required medicine to be administered regularly or on ‘an as required’ basis with parents to update any changes in the administration requirements
Provider's corrective action:
  • (i) Updated copy of staff roster. (j) • Service now has a detailed care plan template. • Service now has individual administration record. • Service now has an individual authorisation of administration form for each child. • The person in charge will now meet with the registered provider monthly and assess each child’s medication folder and records and make any amendments that may be required

Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child

  • Physical and material environment 1. The physical and material environment of the Sunshine room required a more varied selection of resources to promote a range of developmentally appropriate , challenging, creative and enriching experiences for the children attending. Examples of this would include: • Treasure baskets with natural and open-ended materials. • Rattles, musical toys, soft balls. • Simple peg board puzzles, stacking toys, building blocks, large connecting blocks and shape sorter puzzles. • A standing rail and a mirror at the level of the children to look at themselves. • Soft play activity blocks / play tents with a crawling tunnel / large box. • Age-appropriate books such as material type books with touch and feel textured pages, small hardback picture books, more lift the flap books, books with peek a boo pages, musical and nursery rhymes, books with hand puppets to support story time interaction with the children. • Age-appropriate sensory play opportunities such as shredded paper, colourful spaghetti for example. 2. The Prefab room, being used as a pre-school room for children aged 2-3 years, was not constructively planned with areas of interest to prompt the children to engage in self -directed play and activities, for example there was no dress up, sand or water play, play dough, library area, or construction area. 3. The room was also under resourced with play and learning materials as observed by the following: • The play kitchen/home area had limited props and no further associated paly materials such as a table with tea set, or real-life items to prompt the children’s imagination. There were two dolls available, but they had no accessories such as clothing, a dolls buggy or dolls bed, as a result the children did not use this area. • A car garage had one car, and a set of train tracks had no train. • The books were observed placed in a container on a shelving unit in the corner that could not be seen by the children. • There were no age-appropriate jigsaws or puzzles to promote fine motor manipulative skills. • The lack of sand, water and play dough limited the children’s sensorial experiences. • The roll of paper was missing from the art easel and there was no chalk for the alternate side of the easel, which was a chalk board, therefore, this item provided no play value for the children
Provider's corrective action:
  • The service has introduced treasure baskets with natural open-ended materials. The service has purchased some musical toys and rattles. The Room leader has increased the amount of sensory play activities. The service plans to continue the purchase of more materials and resources in the coming weeks including some new soft play materials and the creation of a coasting rail and child height mirror fixings. The ‘Pre-Fab room’ is no longer being used as a care room

Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child

  • General Safety: 1. Garda vetting was available for fourteen staff members. However, one vetting disclosure 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’. 2. There was no documentary evidence available that daily indoor and outdoor risk assessments were completed which did not align to the risk management policy for the service which stated the “risk assessment checklist will be used to identify hazards”. 3. A nail was observed protruding from the wooden frame of a cot which had been modified. This posed a risk of injury to a child if they fell against the nail. This was brought to the attention of the person in charge and the nail was immediately removed. 4. Two sides of the wooden frame of a cot in the sleep room adjoining Sunshine room had been modified and therefore the cot frame was no longer a stable structure. This created a potential risk of injury to a child if the cot frame came apart when a child was using it. 5. The staff members did not recognise the potential risk of choking that amber bead necklaces worn by young children in a child care setting posed . It was observed that one child attending was wearing an amber bead anklet. 6. There was no bottle warmer available to reheat infant formula milk in Sunshine room. Bottles of infant formula milk were observed being reheated in a container with boiling water. 7. A gap was observed between the side of the ramp and the skirting board in the Sunshine room which created a potential risk of injury to a child as their fingers could be caught or trapped in the gap. 8. Four hanging window curtains were observed in the Ladybird room and required to be shortened to the level of the window sill. They posed a risk of strangulation if a child became entangled in the curtain. 9. The windows in Ladybird and Sunshine rooms were not fitted with f ire safe window restrictors to prevent a child from potentially exiting the room. 10. The glass patio doors in Sunshine room did not have any visibility strips fitted to potentially safeguard a child for the potential risk of injury if they failed to recognise the glass. 11. The surface temperature of the portable electric heater in the Prefab room was recorded at 78.9°C at 10:04am and was accessible to the children; this posed a risk of a burn injury to a child. Immediate corrective action was taken by the staff member upon request of the inspector and the heater was placed on a height out of reach of the children. Infection Control: 12. The system for the cleaning and sterilising soothers, shared toys and equipment to prevent cross-contamination required to be reviewed for the following reasons: • The staff members were not clear about the differences between cleaning and disinfection. • It was stated that boiling water was poured over soothers rather than soothers being washed in soapy water to clean first and then placed in sterilising solution for disinfection. • A container with sterilising solution was not observed to be available on the day. • The ma nagement of mouthing toys / shared toys in Sunshine rooms was unclear as it could not be determined that toys had been used by the children and placed in their mouths were removed for washing. 13. Written daily cleaning schedules were not available in Sunshine, the Prefab and Ladybird rooms to evidence cleaning of the care rooms as part of the service’s general infection controls. 14. The nappy changing procedure observed for three nappy changes were not carried out to mitigate against the potential risk of cross infection as observed by the following: • A staff member did not remover the apron and gloves until the end of the nappy changing procedure. This contaminated the clean nappy and child’s clothing and created a risk of cross infection. • A staff member was observed to handle the lid of a nappy change bin to open it to disposing of the bag with the soiled nappy and cleaning materials as a foot pedal operated nappy change bin was not available in the nappy change area . The practice did not adhere to the updated requirements of the Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory notice - Use of nappy disposal bins in Early Years Services issued on 10 November 2022. 15. The following infection control risks were observed in the Prefab room: • There were no foot pedal operated bins or hygienically dispensed paper hand towel in the sanitary area to promote hygienic hand drying and disposal of used hand towel, two open bins were observed. • Children were being handed pieces of paper towel by the staff member when they returned to the pre - school room following toilet use. The roll of paper towel was located on the kitchen countertop and not hygienically dispensed. • There was no toilet roll holders for the toilet paper in the sanitary area, the toilet roll was observed on top of a plastic container on the bathroom floor in one cubicle and on top of the cistern in the second cubicle. • Children’s belongings were stored in waterproof bags on the floor directly beside the toilet in one toilet cubicle. • The walls behind the wash hand basins in each toilet cubicle were heavily marked and stained due to the absence of sink splash backs and therefore could not be adequately cleaned. Safe Sleep: 16. Three travel cots were used in the service for children requiring sleep. The use of travel cots in child care services are prohibited as a facility for sleeping children. Fire Safety: 17. Two of the wooden gates on the fire evacuation route used by the Sunshine and Ladybird rooms were stiff and difficult to open. This could potentially impede the evacuation of the children and adults in the event of a fire. 18. There was no heat/smoke detection system in the Prefab room to alert staff and children in the event of a fire occurring in the unit. It is acknowledged a fire extinguisher, last serviced August 2024, was available in the room. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
  • General Safety: 1. Garda vetting acquired for staff member in question. 2. Room Leaders and Management have begun daily indoor and outdoor risk assessments following a risk assessment checklist. 3. Cot has been removed from the cot room. 4. Cot has been removed and is no longer in use. Only fixed cot’s will be used in place of foldable cots. 5. The person in charge spoke to staff individually and explained the risks of amber teething jewellery. The parent’s handbook has been updated to include a policy on all forms of jewellery both accepted and not accepted in the service. The Parents booklet also contains information on children being checked daily to ensure they are not in breach of the jewellery policy i n the parent’s handbook and if any breach of policy is found what steps the staff will take re: removing jewellery and returning it at the end of the day. As per the policy included in the parent’s handbook, children attending the service are checked daily upon entering the room and any unsafe jewellery is removed. 6. Bottle warmer has been purchased and is now used in place of boiling water. Going forward only a bottle warmer will be used to heat bottles. 7. The gap has since been fixed. Daily risk assessments will identify these risks sooner in the future. 8. The curtains have been removed from the room. Daily risk assessments being carried out will identify these risks if and when they are present. 9. New window restrictors have been purchased. Daily risk assessments will identify that these are always in proper working order. 10. Windows have been painted with visibility markings. Daily risk assessments will identify whether or not the windows are visible to the children. 11. This room is no longer in use for early years children. Infection Control: 12. Staff received training on cleaning protocols relating to soothers and mouth toys. Cleaning and sterilisation records added to updated cleaning records for any rooms containing soothers and mouth toys. 13. Written daily cleaning schedules are now in use in every room. Staff have been instructed on the importance of filling in the cleaning schedules and maintaining proper records of all cleaning/sterilisation carried out. 14. Staff members have received a refresher on proper nappy changing procedure. We will continue regular checks to ensure proper nappy changing procedure is being observed going forward. 15. This room is no longer in use for early years children. Safe Sleep: 16. Travel cots are no longer used in the setting. Fire Safety: 17. The wooden gates have been planed and now open and close smoothly. Daily outdoor risk assessments will identify these issues sooner in the future. 18. This room is no longer in use for early years children

Regulation not named in the report text

  • (1) The service was operating outside the registration of the service as there were eight children aged 2-3 years being accommodated in an unregistered building
Provider's corrective action:
  • (1) Following the inspection, building in question is no longer being used for any children in Early Years care (0 -6). The service will plan not use the building in the future for any Early Years children

Found compliant: Regulation 11, 25, 28.

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