A MUSSELBURGH nursery has been told to improve staff skills and cleanliness at its facilities following a visit by the Care Inspectorate.

Happitots Day Nurseries, on Stoneybank Terrace, received praise from inspectors for the “happy and warm” relationships children had with staff.

However, there was criticism over the levels of supervision in place, as well as the learning experiences.

The nursery was issued with four requirements by inspectors to raise its standards, including ensuring the service premises and resources were maintained and kept clean to ensure the safety and welfare of the children.

They were also told to ensure all employees were qualified, skilled and experienced to perform the work they were employed to do, and to ensure all those working within the nursery implemented service accident policies and procedure.

A final requirement ordered the nursery to “ensure children receive proper provision to meet their health, welfare and safety needs. This includes staff deployment within the service and how staff manage tasks ensuring children’s safety and security needs are met”.

The inspectorate report highlighted the strong relationships built between children, staff and parents and described youngsters at the nursery as happy, friendly and confident. It also praised the manager as committed to improving the nursery, adding that “she has gained the respect and trust of staff and is an effective role model”.

Following the inspectors’ visit, it had been agreed that: the nursery would further improve learning experiences for children and ensure all children’s needs were met; continue to improve the curriculum; and strengthen approaches to self-evaluation.

The Care Inspectorate said it would continue to monitor the nursery and its progress.

A spokesperson said: “We think that the early learning and childcare setting needs additional support and more time to make necessary improvements.

“Our area lead officers and lead officer early education, along with the local authority, will discuss the most appropriate support in order to build capacity for improvement and will maintain contact to monitor progress.

“We will return to carry out a further inspection.”