Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
General Safety: • Contrary to the administration medication / medication management policy an adult did not check the expiry date on the medication to be administered to a child which was out of date. This may pose as a safety risk to a preschool child if administered. Action submitted by the Registered Provider The registered provider stated in their response:
Provider's corrective action:
General Safety: The management team has reissued the medication administration policy. Staff have been given a refresher demonstration on the procedure of administering medication. A paper copy of the administration of medication consent form has been reinstated to ensure that expiries and medication requirements are cross checked before administration
Found compliant: Regulation 9, 11, 16, 19, 25, 26, 27.
Immediate action notice. This inspection was triggered by information received by the Early Years Inspectorate. 17 July 2025: An immediate action notice was issued on day 1 of the inspection under
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
(2)(a)(b)1. A second reference with evidence of verification by the service in respect of one adult was not available. 2. One reference was deemed as unsuitable for an adult employed by the service. The adult had a reference on file from a friend as stated on the reference. The employment history record detailed that this adult had two previous employers. The potential risk of not having adults appropriately vetted may allow adults who are inappropriate to have access to children. (4) Two of the 15 adults who required a childcare qualification working directly with the children did not hold a record of Early Childhood Care and Education qualifications at a minimum of Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications or a qualification deemed by the Minister to be equivalent. The potential risk of not having adults with appropriate qualifications could impact on the care and wellbeing of children. (7)(a) The supervision of the adults working in the childcare facility was at variance with the adult’s supervision policy. The supervision policy outlined that all adults must have regular and consistent supervision and records in relation to each supervision will be maintained on the adult’s files. Records of supervision w ere requested for two adults in each of the five care rooms. Of the 10 supervision records requested 6 were presented to the inspectorate for review. A request was made on three occasions over two days for these records . Not having adults appropriately supervised has the potential to impact the care and well-being of children
Provider's corrective action:
The registered provider stated in their response: Corrective and Preventive Action
1. A second reference has been provided to the service by the employee in question, which have subsequently been verified by the company’s recruitment administrator. 2. An alternative reference was sourced for the adult. The service will ensure that all verification of references is carried out by the registered provider. (4) The two adults present on the day of inspections without the relevant qualifications have subsequently been removed from their current positions. One adult is no longer working for the company, and the other has been allocated to their school aged service until recognition is obtained. (7) The area manager has completed all supervision reviews for the service in line with the company’s policies and procedures. The date has been set for the follow up reviews and will be monitored by the area manager. The area manager is required to produce a quarterly overview of the supervisions to the registered provider which will be signed off on by the registered provider
Regulation 16 — Record in relation to pre-school service
(1)(i) The staff roster for the week beginning 14 July 2025 and the week beginning 21 July 2025 did not have the full name of each adult working in the service for each day recorded. The staff roster was at variance with the adults present on the 17 July 202 5 and the previous t hree days. • Four adults working in the service on the 17 July 2025 were not recorded on the roster and one adult who was on leave was recorded on the roster as working. • On the 21 July 2025 an adult who was on leave was recorded on the roster and a second adult who worked in the service throughout the day was not recorded on the roster. This posed a potential risk to the health and safety of both adults and children in the event of an emergency leading to an evacuation of the service
Provider's corrective action:
(1)(i) The roster has been rectified, and a template of this roster has been implemented in the service. A new roster template will ensure accurate recording of staff allocation and staffing levels
Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child
19(1)(a) Basic Needs of Children: 1. Soft seating was not provided in the Turtles playroom for children aged 1 to 2 years to relax or rest during the day. 2. An adult In the Koalas room caring for children ranging in age from 3 to 5 years had difficulty with understanding the English language and speaking in English. The adult was asked about the programme of care and was unable to understand and communicate effectively with the inspector, an adult was observed not being able to communicate effectively with the children in their care or with the inspection team due to a language barrier. The adult and manager stated that the adult was attending English classes. The difficulties the adult had in the care room was notably communicating in and understanding the English language. This potentially may impact negatively upon relationships to support children and their parents/guardians, may impact speech and language development in children attending the service and may create challenges in providing individual care and support to children in their care. 3. Transitions in activities in the Turtles playroom which accommodated children aged 1 to 2 years were not planned by adults in advance. Children were observed being left to wait on the floor with no activity planned for them. This in turn led to children be ing upset and unable to adjust to the next activity. Physical and Material Environment 4. On the 17 July 2025 children aged 1 to 2 years in the Turtle room were observed pulling out of and crawling under the 3 highchairs and not being stimulated due the lack of available equipment and materials. Staff did not recognise or respond appropriately to the children’s needs for accessible play equipment. A soft play foam climbing area and a wooden kitchen that had no supporting play materials and equipment was available for the 10 children present. The inspectors had to call on the area manager to assist in this room. The area manager was shown the lack of stimulating activities and equipment available for the children. Upon the area manager arrival the children were sung to, engaged with and toys were placed on the floor from shelving
Provider's corrective action:
The registered provider responded to say: Corrective and Preventive Action Basic Needs 1. The soft seating has been expanded in the Turtles playroom. 2. The adult working in the Koalas playroom with the language barrier no longer works in the service. 3. Staff members were provided with additional training documentation around transitions to ensure the experience are more engaging for children. 4. Regular reviews of the playrooms will be carried out by the registered provider
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
General Safety: 1. A studded earing was observed in a 16-month-old child’s ear in the Turtles playroom where children are aged between 1 and 2 years of age which may present as a choking hazard to a preschool child. 2. On the 17 July and 21 July 2025, the sleep room and care room temperatures were not maintained between the required range of 18 to 22° Celsius. The safe sleep procedure was at variance with the service’s p olicy. A suitable means to measure and maintain the sleep and care room temperatures was not available for staff. The external air temperature was recorded as 19° Celsius. On the 17 July 2025 the managers and adults were requested by the inspectors to take immediate action to resolve the unsafe temperatures. On the 18 July 2025 an immediate action notice was issued to registered provider requesting a written response to resolve the potential risk of the high care room and sleep room temperatures. This posed a potential risk to children due to their limited ability to regulate their temperatures, heat exhaustion, dehydration, poor concentration and irritability. Air conditioning units were purchased by the registered provider and placed in some rooms however the temperatures were not reduced. The inspectors requested the managers and staff to act in relation to the high temperatures as the risks associated with the excessively high temperatures had not been identified. The non-compliance remained unresolved on inspection 21 July 2025. This was at variance with the requested measures outlined in the immediate action notice issued on the 18 July 2025 and the registered provider’s written response . A suitable means to measure and maintain the sleep and care room temperatures was not available for the adults to use. The external air temperature was recorded as approximately 15° Celsius. The room temperature measurements were as follows: Room Temperatures 17 July 2025 Sleep Room 26.6° Celsius Turtles Room 27.2° Celsius Penguins Room 26.8° Celsius Koalas Room 27.1° Celsius Zebras Room 27.5° Celsius Llamas Room 24.8° Celsius On the 21 July 2025 i t is acknowledged an engineer was consulted and the registered provider closed the service for a period and children were sent home due to the high room temperatures. 3. The wash hand basins in the sanitary facilities of the Koalas playroom on day 1 did not have thermostatically controlled hot water. The water temperature was recorded at 59.1 °C which posed as a safety risk for children. It is acknowledged that on day 2 that this was rectified and the hot water was recorded at 28.6 °C. Room Temperature Measurements 21 July 2025: Sleep Room 25.5 ° Celsius Turtles Room 26.6 ° Celsius Penguins Room 26 ° Celsius Koalas Room 24.4 ° Celsius Zebras Room 24.2 ° Celsius Llamas Room 26 ° Celsius Administration of Medication: 4. A sample of 10 administration of medication records were reviewed. Two of these records with five written entries of prescribed medication did not detail a parental signature after the medication was given . This posed a potential risk to children’s safety and medication error. Action submitted by the Registered Provider The registered provider stated in their response:
Provider's corrective action:
General Safety: 1. A notice has been shared with all parents informing them that studded earrings are not permitted in line with the services updated policy. 2. Air conditioning units were installed in all play rooms and sleep rooms at the service to reduced temperatures to within the permitted range. daily risk assessment to include assessment of room temperatures has been implemented. 3. The heater under the sink in the Koalas playroom was adjusted to return the water to permitted temperature range. A daily risk assessment carried out by managers includes a check on water temperatures. Administration of Medication: 4. Staff have received training on the administration of medication policy, the process for administering medication, documenting and seeking parental signature after the administration of medication