Education Scotland Inspection of Jennyswell Nursery ECSPB
Renfrewshire Council · 30 October 2025
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 30 October 2025 and its agenda
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Page 2 of 5 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 30 October 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Children’s Services ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Education Scotland Inspection of Jennyswell Nursery ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 Education Scotland Inspection of Jennyswell Nursery was inspected by Education Scotland in June 2025 as part of a national sample of education. Education Scotland uses different models of inspection and at Jennyswell Nursery the short model approach was deployed. Inspectors assessed the Nursery with a focus on two quality indicators which are referenced in How Good is our Early Learning and Childcare, the national quality improvement framework for early learning and childcare. Quality Indicator 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment. Quality Indicator 3.2 Securing children’s progress. 1.2 This was a positive inspection which evaluated the quality indicators in the Nursery as: Quality Indicator 2.3 - Good Quality Indicator 3.2 - Good 1.4 As part of the inspection model the following area was also reviewed: Quality Indicator 2.1 Safeguarding and child protection 1.5 Education Scotland do not attach an evaluative grade to this. Instead in the Summary of Inspection Findings there are evaluative statements provided which are positive and contribute to the overall Nursery ratings. The inspection report in the form of a letter to parents, published by Education Scotland on 19 August 2025, is attached as an appendix to this report and is also available from the Director of Children’s Services or from the Education Scotland website. 1.6 The letter to parents identified three key strengths of the Nursery:
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Page 3 of 5 • The manager and practitioners, who create positive and nurturing relationships with children and families. Children are ready to learn and engage well in their play. • The wide range of learning experiences that practitioners provide to meet children’s needs. These engage children well to follow their interests and make good progress in their learning. • The celebration of children’s wider achievements and successes. This is building children’s confidence and pride in their developing skills and talents. 1.7 The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the head of centre and a representative from Renfrewshire Council: • Continue to develop approaches to planning and assessment. Practitioners should clearly and consistently record the skills children are developing to inform their next steps. • Practitioners should build on the quality of their interactions with children. This will help to provide greater levels of challenge and support all children to make the best possible progress ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 Members of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board are asked to note and celebrate the key strengths and recognise the areas for further improvement in the Education Scotland report on Jennyswell Nursery. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Renfrewshire Council’s Flexible Framework for Early Learning and Childcare Places, reference RC-CPU-20-113 (“Council’s Framework") enables the Council to purchase placements in private and voluntary sector nurseries and with childminders (these private and voluntary services and childminders are identified as “Approved Funded Providers” or “AFP”). Jennyswell Nursery is an AFP on the Council’s Flexible Framework for Early Learning and Childcare. 3.2 Children’s Services welcomes the process of audit undertaken by Education Scotland as supportive to continuous improvement in Renfrewshire’s education establishments and AFP settings. The team at Jennyswell Nursery were positive about the inspection process and embraced it as a professional learning opportunity in partnership with colleagues at Education Scotland. 3.2 The report includes two areas for further improvement, and progress in addressing this will be monitored by Children’s Services officers through the Quality Improvement Framework and Flexible Framework for Early Learning and Childcare. 3.3 The inspection report will inform planned improvement activity and will enable the Nursery to build on the recognised strengths and focus further development on areas for improvement to enable the Nursery to continue to deliver a quality educational provision.
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Page 4 of 5 ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – No financial implications 2. HR & Organisational Development – No HR implications 3. Community/Council Planning – engaging with, and learning from external inspection, ensures that our Renfrewshire is thriving. High standards of education provision ensure that children and young people are given the best start in life so that they promote and contribute to a more prosperous, fairer society. It also ensures our Renfrewshire is well – by providing an environment which encourages care, welfare and development, establishments play a crucial role in developing children and young people so that they become responsible citizens. The inspection process also supports delivery of the Council Plan crosscutting theme of improving outcomes for children and families as well as other Council Plan key strategic outcomes. Economy Equipping all children and young people to achieve success in life Fair Creating inclusive and supportive learning environments for children and young people. Embedding children’s rights in our decision-making processes 4. Legal – no implications 5. Property/Assets – No risks to property/assets. 6. Information Technology – No information and technology risks. 7. Equality & Human Rights – No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations due to the nature of the report. AFP are required to comply with the Equality Act 2010 8. Health & Safety – No negative impacts on health and safety. 9. Procurement – No procurement risks 10. Risk – No risks identified. 11. Privacy Impact – No impact on privacy. 12. Cosla Policy Position – N/A
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Page 5 of 5 13. Climate Risk – None. 14. Children’s Rights - This links to, Article 3 (best interests of the child) - the best interests of the child must be a top priority in all decisions and actions that affect children. Article 28 (right to education) - every child has the right to an education. Article 29 (goals of education) - education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment. Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) - every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities. List of Background Papers - The inspection report and additional evidence is published on the Education Scotland website. __________________________________________________________ KMcD 22 September 2025 Author: Kathleen McDonagh, Education Manager, Telephone Number 07799034553 kathleen.mcdonagh@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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1 | Jennyswell Nursery, Renfrewshire Council, 8636311 © Crown Copyright 19 August 2025 Dear Parent/Carer In June 2025, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited Jennyswell Nursery. During our visit, we talked to parents/carers and worked closely with the manager/head of setting and staff. The inspection team found the following strengths in the setting’s work. • The manager and practitioners, who create positive and nurturing relationships with children and families. Children are ready to learn and engage well in their play. • The wide range of learning experiences that practitioners provide to meet children’s needs. These engage children well to follow their interests and make good progress in their learning. • The celebration of children’s wider achievements and successes. This is building children’s confidence and pride in their developing skills and talents. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the manager/head of setting and a representative from Renfrewshire Council. • Continue to develop approaches to planning and assessment. Practitioners should clearly and consistently record the skills children are developing to inform their next steps. • Practitioners should build on the quality of their interactions with children. This will help to provide greater levels of challenge and support all children to make the best possible progress.
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2 | Jennyswell Nursery, Renfrewshire Council, 8636311 © Crown Copyright We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the setting’s work using quality indicators from How good is our early learning and childcare?. Quality indicators help learning and childcare settings, local authorities and inspectors to judge what is working well and what needs to be improved. Here are Education Scotland’s evaluations for Jennyswell Nursery Quality indicators for the nursery class Evaluation Learning, teaching and assessment good Securing children’s progress good Descriptions of the evaluations are available from: How good is our early learning and childcare? Appendix 1: The six-point scale A more detailed document called Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF) will be available on the Education Scotland website at: Jennyswell Nursery | Inspection Report | Education Scotland What happens next? We are confident that the setting has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection. Renfrewshire Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its settings. Jacqueline O’Donnell HM Inspector