
Happy 10th birthday to our Heriot-Watt nursery!Posted on: 13/06/13 10:45 Our Heriot-Watt nursery has turned 10 years old! The children and staff enjoyed parties throughout the week. Here's to another ten successful years! :-) |
Gilmerton 7.30am openingPosted on: 15/05/13 17:09 |
Free registration throughout February and MarchPosted on: 01/02/13 16:23 |
Snow!Posted on: 21/01/13 14:16 |
Reduced session pricesPosted on: 17/01/13 16:39 |
Founded in January 1997, Pinocchio's is fully registered and HMIe approved; offering full-time and part-time placements for children aged 3 months to 5 years and grant funding.
Stratos and Lewissa Koulis, a husband and wife team, opened their first nursery with the view to creating a nursery that they would be happy for their own child to attend. With one child aged 3 and another child on the way, both their children attended the nursery until school age. This vision still applies, and Stratos and Lewissa aim to make the nurseries an environment which is focused on the children's social and emotional needs foremost and an environment they would be happy to place their own children in. Their concept is if the children are happy then they will develop.
Nursery is a big step for both parent and child and we suggest that you visit Pinocchio's for a family tour. We have a regular open family viewing time at all our nurseries every Friday between 9.30am to 11.30am. You are more than welcome to drop in to the nursery during these times. If you would prefer to visit the nursery at another time of your convenience, please contact to the Nursery Manager who can arrange this with you. Our Nursery Managers would be happy to hear from you and discuss how we can meet your family's individual needs.
Often our nurseries have waiting lists, especially Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. It is not unusual for us to receive a booking a year in advance. We would encourage you to visit the nursery early if you are considering a nursery place in order to make it more likely we will have suitable availability for you. We do however accept short notice bookings however it is dependent on room capacity and number of children already using the nursery.
There is a natural flow through the nursery in the summer time
when the oldest children leave to start school. Most children will trial/move to their next playroom depending on
age/stage of development. In July-September the nurseries have the most flexibility with regards to sessions available. The
nurseries are at their highest occupancy levels from April-June every year, when availability in all play rooms is very
limited.
At Pinocchio's our fee structure is transparent and there are no added extras for your daily requirements. Our fees include home cooked, healthy meals, nappies and baby care items. We understand parents today are very busy and we wish to make our service as convenient as possible.
Please see our children's menu area for more details on the healthy meals we provide. For more information on fees
structure and grant funding for children over 3 years, please contact the nursery manger of the nursery you are
interested in.
We offer two hours free trial sessions for new children starting. We can accommodate if parents/ carers wish to build up their sessions over their first month. This is particularly important when a parent is returning to work as it avoids parents and child having to start work and nursery on the same day.
Our employees are always pleased to get to know children and parents and will work along with you to make nursery a happy and rewarding experience. We use a Care Plan which you fill in when your child starts nursery to ensure we are meeting your child's individual needs.
The majority of our employees are qualified professionals in Early Years Care and Education. Our employees who are not yet qualified are working towards a formal qualification. Each room has a Room Supervisor and we all work well as a team to provide a friendly, home from home atmosphere which creates a happy, fun environment for the children to grow and develop. Pinocchio's employees are trained to recognise genuine effort; to know when a child is trying hard and children's own work is valued.
STAR Customer Service
In Pinocchio's we strive to offer the best possible customer service. Our employees are awarded a monthly STAR customer service award and parents and colleagues are encouraged to nominate employees.
Care Inspectorate is the day-to-day name for the SCSWIS: Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland, formally Care Commission.
A full time qualified company teacher - Jenni, supports the Preschool children and staff in the Curriculum for Excellence. Pinocchio's Nursery are one of the few private nurseries that employ a full time teacher. We also have teacher support from the local council, as we are in partnership for Pre school grant funding. This supports consistency of education provided in the company.
Please see below the company's history since inspection grading started in Scotland in 2009. We are proud that all our nurseries have been graded Good or very good in every area inspected consistently every year at all nurseries.
Eskbank
|
Date |
Quality of Care and Support |
Quality of Environment |
Quality of Staffing |
Quality of Management and Leadership |
|
15 Feb 2010 |
Not Assessed |
4 - Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
|
26 Jan 2009 |
5 - Very Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
|
Date |
Quality of Care and Support |
Quality of Environment |
Quality of Staffing |
Quality of Management and Leadership |
|
14 Dec 2010 |
5 - Very Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
Not Assessed |
Not Assessed |
|
15 Feb 2010 |
Not Assessed |
4 - Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
|
26 Jan 2009 |
4 - Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
|
Date |
Quality of Care and Support |
Quality of Environment |
Quality of Staffing |
Quality of Management and Leadership |
|
16 Nov 2010 |
Not Assessed |
5 - Very Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
Not Assessed |
|
15 Feb 2010 |
4 - Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
4 - Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
|
20 Mar 2009 |
4 - Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
|
Date |
Quality of Care and Support |
Quality of Environment |
Quality of Staffing |
Quality of Management and Leadership |
|
19 Jul 2011 |
5 - Very Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
5 - Very Good (I) |
|
15 Dec 2010 |
4 - Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
Not Assessed |
Not Assessed |
|
15 Feb 2010 |
Not Assessed |
4 - Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
|
18 Mar 2009 |
4 - Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
|
Date |
Quality of Care and Support |
Quality of Environment |
Quality of Staffing |
Quality of Management and Leadership |
|
07 Dec 2010 |
5 - Very Good (I) |
Not Assessed |
Not Assessed |
Not Assessed |
|
28 Jul 2009 |
5 - Very Good (I) |
5 - Very Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
4 - Good (I) |
SCSWIS Grading Key
(I) Grading resulting from an inspection
(C) Grading resulting from an upheld or partially upheld complaint
(E) Grading resulting from an enforcement
There is a six point grading scale. Each of the Quality Themes they inspected, is graded using the following scale:
They can choose from six grades:
1= Unsatisfactory, 2= Weak, 3= Adequate, 4= Good, 5= Very good, 6= Excellent.
Joint HMIe and Care Inspectorate
Eskbank: In May 2011 HMIe inspected and graded the nursery in the following areas.
Improvement in performance- Good
Children's experiences- Good
Meeting learning needs- Good
The Curriculum- Good
Improvement though self-evaluation- Satisfactory.
HMIe use the following word scale.
Unsatisfactory= Major weaknesses, Weak= Important weaknesses, Satisfactory= Strengths just outweigh weaknesses,
Good= Important strengths with some areas for improvement, Very good= Major strengths , Excellent= Outstanding, sector leading.
Last HMIe visits to other nurseries:
Heriot Watt: January 07
Lasswade: January 07
Penicuik: March 07
Gilmerton: None since we opened in June 08