An out of school care service has been praised by the Care Inspectorate.

MACS Neilston, which caters for a maximum of 40 school children at any one time, has use of a large gym hall, various classrooms and secure playground areas within Neilston Primary.

An unannounced inspection was carried out by one inspector between November 14 and 15, with the results published in the lead up to Christmas.

In evaluating the service’s quality, based on a six-point scale where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent, it was rated as 5 or very good for “how good is our care, play and learning?”, “how good is our leadership?” and “how good is our staff team?”.

For “how good is our setting?” it received a four, meaning good.

The were several key messages outlined in the report, including the following points.

It was found that children were cared for by staff “who displayed warm and nurturing approaches, which made children feel welcome and supported", “staff regularly engaged in a range of professional learning activities that built on and sustained their practice,” and that “staff were confident about the procedures to follow in the event of concerns for children's welfare.”

It also said that staff “promoted a culture within the service that focused on promoting the children's rights to play.”

Planning approaches, meanwhile, focused on capturing and responding to the play interest of a child or group of children.

Personal planning it was said should, however, be “more collaborative and provide children with a greater sense of ownership of their next steps for play and development.”

Inspectors also highlighted the value of providing professional learning opportunities linked to wider champion roles for staff and the potential benefit to outcomes for children of ensuring staff were deployed in ways which maximised free flow access to outdoor play.

To inform their evaluation, the Care Inspectorate spoke with children using the service and received survey responses from eight parents or carers, spoke with staff and management, observed practice and daily life, and reviewed documents.

The report also stated that no complaints have been upheld since the last inspection.