Inspection of 6 October 2025 — Inspection Report
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
- General Safety: On inspection of the outdoor play area, the following were found to pose a risk to the safety of the children: 1. A wooden storage cabinet in an area of the outdoor play space, which was accessible to the children, was broken and presented with jagged pieces of wood. 2. Concrete steps, to the left-hand side of the outdoor play space, which lead down to another area of the school grounds had not been blocked off to prevent children from either falling down these steps or from accessing this area unsupervised. 3. On the perimeter of the outdoor play space, steps leading to what is known as “the castle” had not been blocked off to prevent children from accessing this area unsupervised. On the day of inspection at 12 noon, one child was observed climbing up these steps and a staff member had to leave the group to help her down. Infection Control: 4. On their return indoors from playing in the outdoor play space and to collect bags prior to home time, children were not supervised in handwashing, and the adults were not observed to wash their hands. One child was observed to rub their hands across the table and lift resources from the shelves to play with them. This poses a risk to staff and children in cross contamination and cross infection. Action submitted by the Registered Provider
Provider's corrective action:
- General Safety: 1. The damaged wooden cabinet was removed from the outdoor area as it was broken and unused. The surrounding area was thoroughly checked to ensure no remaining hazards were present as well as a full visual inspection of the outdoor area was completed on the following day by the manager, confirming no other remaining hazards and area was made safe. A weekly and monthly structural inspection of all outdoor furniture and storage will be carried out by the manager and staff and the services daily and monthly risk asessments have been updated to include these. 2. The day after the inspection, the area was cordoned off to prevent children’s access until a permanent solution put in place. The area has now been securely blocked off with a foldable, durable and sturdy barrier to ensure ongoing safety and prevent any risk of unsupervised access. Staff were reminded of the importance of supervising children at all times and of ensuring that the barrier is properly set up each morning before the children arrive. Additionally, children were reminded about their play boundaries and the areas or lines they should not cross, as doing so would place them outside of staff supervision or at risk. This area and its control measures have also been included in the services daily and monthly risk assessments to ensure continued monitoring and compliance. 3. The steps leading to the area known as “the castle” were immediately cordoned off and blocked off with cones on the day following the inspection to prevent any further access by children. These cones will remain in place until the new secure barrier is delivered and installed to ensure the area remains inaccessible during outdoor play. Supporting evidence will be provided as soon as it is received and implemented. Staff were reminded of the importance of always maintaining constant supervision of children, particularly in outdoor areas and of ensuring that the cones/barrier is properly set up each morning before children access the area. In addition, children were reminded of their play boundaries and of the areas they are not permitted to enter for their own safety. This control measure has been included in the services daily and monthly risk assessments to ensure ongoing monitoring and compliance. The situation will continue to be reviewed regularly to confirm that all safety practices are consistently implemented and effective. Infection Control: 4. Handwashing is supervised daily and forms part of the routine as outlined in the services Hand Hygiene policy. On the day of inspection, the adults made a temporary adjustment to the children’s routine (bags were not collected directly from the outside bench) and as a result the usual supervised handwashing on re-entering did not take place. Supervised handwashing after outdoor play continues to be reinforced daily and remains an integral part of the services infection-control practices. Staff were reminded of the importance of adhering to this policy for health and infection control purposes. The manager and staff will conduct regular monitoring of hygiene practices and a record of this will be maintained in our handwashing record template, completed daily by the manager at the end of the day
Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 15, 16, 19, 25, 26, 28.