THE early childhood centre at Dalrymple Primary needs "additional support" and more time to improve following an inspection by Education Scotland.

Two recommendations were made along with two more pressing requirements following the inspection which rated the school's leadership as weak.

At the time of the inspection, a vacancy for a senior early learning and childcare practitioner had gone unfilled since January last year.

The school and East Ayrshire Council have been working with Education Scotland regarding the early childhood centre's capacity to improve.

In the inspection report, the two requirements stated: "In order to ensure the health and welfare of children attending the service, the provider must develop and maintain effective risk management procedures. Risk assessments must be completed for all areas of the service.

"In order to improve outcomes for children, the provider must develop and implement a robust quality assurance system and improvement plan."

It is understood that action had been taken to address these concerns before the inspection report was released.

The report also stated: "It is recommended that the service develops a consistent system to record children’s identified needs and show how these will be met by the service.

"It is recommended that the service develops a training plan to monitor staff training and development needs. This should be audited to measure its effectiveness in developing practice and improving outcomes for children."

A spokesperson for Education Scotland said: "As a result of our inspection findings, we think that the early childhood centre needs additional support and more time to make necessary improvements.

"We will liaise with East Ayrshire Council regarding the early childhood centre’s capacity to improve. We will return to carry out a further inspection, with a particular focus on the early childhood centre, within 12 months of the publication of this letter.

"We will discuss with East Ayrshire Council the details of this inspection. When we return we will write to you as parents/carers informing you of the progress the school has made."