A CHILDREN’S nursery boss says she is “desperately disappointed” after challenging an inspection report which raised serious concerns over the service she and her staff provide.

Old Station Nursery at Palma Place in Melrose is registered to provide day care for a maximum of 41 children between the ages of three months and 12 years.

The service operates from a converted railway station building close to the centre of the town.

One representative from the Care Inspectorate paid an unannounced visit to the facility on July 2 and returned on July 4.

The report found that the provider had “failed to effectively support the manager and staff team to drive and sustain improvement”.

It said children’s safety, health and well-being were being “compromised ” as the service had not sufficiently developed and implemented effective child protection policies and procedures.

The report adds: “We remain seriously concerned over the low staff levels and the mix of skills, knowledge and experience of staff.

“Staff were not always being offered adequate time away from children throughout their working day to support them to feel rested and refreshed.

“The tone and manner of some staff interactions did not support the overall well-being and nurture of children.

“Due to babies being moved through to the two and five year old playroom, babies resources and play experiences were inappropriate, limited and did not support or nourish babies' development, well-being and happiness.”

The report did find that the provider had implemented required improvements to nappy changing facilities and that the indoor environment for two to five year-olds had been improved since the previous inspection.

The service, provided by Zara Hedley trading as the Old Station Nursery, was rated ‘weak’ for its setting, and ‘unsatisfactory’ for play and learning, its staff team and for its leadership.

Ms Hedley is working with the Care Inspectorate to respond to the requirements for improvement outlined in the report.

But she also raised 44 disputes with the Care Inspectorate as to how it reflected upon the inspection.

She said: “We are desperately disappointed with the findings from this most recent inspection.

“Unannounced inspections are extremely challenging experiences for the staff team, and we thank all of the team for their effort and input during the process.

“We do not believe that our performance as a provider of childcare is unsatisfactory, with a staff team whose experience extends back over two decades in some instances, we have a strong track record of achievement and no record of failing to meet the well-being and welfare of those in our care.

“Indeed our staff team mainly consists of mothers/grandparents and carers outside of work, people with the attributes required to be childcare practitioners.

“We pride ourselves on being able to help and support families in our communities over a long period and remain committed to doing so.

“We do accept that continuous improvement is a never-ending process and are working with the Care Inspectorate to respond to the requirements they have made following their recent inspection.

“We are happy to be scrutinised as to our performance and aim to be able to demonstrate that the practice within the setting is far better than the inspection suggests as we continue our journey.”