A CHILDREN’S day centre in West Linton has transformed its fortunes in less than 12 months after being labelled ‘weak’.

That was the verdict of the Care Inspectorate following a visit in October last year to Newlands Kids at the Newlands Centre at Romano Bridge, a service registered to provide learning and child care to a maximum of 52 children from two years to the end of primary school.

Inspectors noted a “culture of mistrust” at management level and rated the service ‘weak’ in three areas – care, play and learning, its leadership and its staff team. It received a rating of ‘adequate’ for its setting.

Following the negative report the centre’s management and board said they were “committed to addressing the deficiencies promptly and comprehensively”.

They proved as good as their word as a follow-up visit by the Care Inspectorate in February this year painted a much-improved picture.

It was found that the service had brought about improvements that were “having a positive impact on outcome for children and families”.

Children’s play spaces had been developed with resources that reflected their current interests and created new play and learning opportunities.

The service was rated ‘adequate’ in the three areas previously deemed ‘weak’.

And the improvements have continued.

A further unannounced inspection completed on June 26 rated the service ‘good’ in all categories.

Key messages were that children received comfort, warmth and kindness from staff who knew them well.

The service was invested in the principle of ‘seed to table’ and were engaged with children in learning about where their food came from.

Staff continue to develop and strengthen their use of language to extend children’s ideas and promote curiosity.

The manager, staff and provider have also “worked hard to collectively build positive relationships that were underpinned with trust and respect”.

The report notes that the service manager had worked in partnership with Scottish Borders Council to connect with partner services and had also dedicated a “significant amoun of time” supporting the staff team.