Rare ‘excellent’ mark for family-run childcare service

A FAMILY-OWNED Dumfries childcare service has received a rare top mark from inspectors. The Care Inspectorate awarded Happy Faces Nursery and After School Club an ‘excellent’ grade for its leadership. The Calside Road nursery scored ‘very good’ marks for how children are supported to achieve and how children play and learn there. Key messages from the report included: “Outstanding leadership of staff and resources supported children to reach their full potential. “An exceptionally strong emphasis on staff wellbeing resulted in a confident, motivated team. “Children experienced consistently high quality play and learning. “Planning, assessment and tracking were robust and responsive. “Children experienced consistently warm, nurturing and responsive care. “Strong personal planning and collaborative relationships with families ensured children received individualised support.” And a delighted Happy Faces founder and lead practitioner Lesley Woodhouse said: “We are incredibly proud of our team and the relationships they build every day with our children and families. “Receiving a grading of six (Excellent) is extremely difficult and rare.We are delighted to have received a six for leadership and management of resources which is seen as ‘sector leading’. "We also received our other two grading as 5 (very Good) for both play and learning and nurturing care and support. “Our grateful thanks to all our families for their amazing support.”