What is a Nursery Improvement Plan?

An Improvement Plan is a way for our nursery to set out the steps we are taking to make sure we keep getting better for children and families. In Scotland, all Early Learning and Childcare settings regularly reflect on how well we are supporting children’s learning, wellbeing and development. We then agree on clear priorities for the year ahead, based on national guidance Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors.

For families, this means you can see how we are working to:

• Build on children’s strengths and interests.

• Create an environment where every child feels safe, happy and included.

• Work closely with parents and carers to support learning at home and in nursery.

• Keep improving the quality of care and education we provide.
  
  

Our Improvement Plan helps us share our goals openly with you, so that you know what we are focusing on and can be part of the journey.

Self-evaluation is how we reflect on what we do well and what we can improve in our nursery. Guided by national frameworks from Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate, it helps us look closely at children’s experiences, gather evidence, and plan positive changes. This ongoing process makes sure we are always developing, so that children receive the best care, learning and support. 

Education Scotland says: 

"Self-evaluation is a reflective professional process through which centres get to know themselves well and identify the way forward which is best for their children. It should, therefore, promote well-considered innovation. The framework of indicators is there to guide you in that process."  https://education.gov.scot/media/udzpeirj/thechildatthecentreselfevaluationintheearlyyears.pdf

Care Inspectorate says: 

"Self-evaluation is central to continuous improvement. It enables care settings to reflect on what they are doing so they can get to know what they do well and identify what they need to do better." https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/Self_evaluation_for_improvement_-_your_guide.pdf

How will we achieve this?

As a team, we achieve this by identifying our Annual Improvement Plan, by evaluating the previous year and we use staff voice to inform our future developments. From there we create a termly Action Plan, giving everyone an area of responsiblilty to lead on (Early Years Champions). They drive forward on the developments and share their amazing work with the rest of the staff through our Self-Evaluation floorbooks.