Puddleducks Day Nursery

Puddleducks Day Nursery 3 Holland Road, SPALDING, Lincolnshire, PE11 1UL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30/06/2014 03/12/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children bond exceptionally well with their key person and form very secure emotional attachments. They show an excellent level of independence and confidence for their age, as a result of exemplary staff practice and a highly effective learning environment.  Children make excellent progress in their learning given their starting points. Staff demonstrate an outstanding knowledge of how children learn and provide a rich, varied and imaginative educational programme to excite and enthuse them. Activities are very well planned to meet children's individual needs and interests.  Excellent partnerships with parents are in place, which enables children to benefit from a coordinated and highly supportive approach to their care, learning and overall welfare.  The environment is extremely welcoming and safe, and a clear priority is given to safeguarding by all staff. This means that children feel very safe in the nursery and are

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This provision is outstanding

comfortable to explore their surroundings.  Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are extremely well cared for as staff are highly skilled in providing care that meets their specific needs. They work very effectively with other agencies, ensuring every child makes excellent progress in respect of their individual starting points.  The management team and all staff are highly motivated and dedicated to providing the best quality childcare for all children. The nursery is consistently monitored and evaluated to ensure children benefit from a highly stimulating and continually evolving provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's activities in the downstairs rooms and outdoor learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager and spoke at appropriate times to staff throughout the sessions.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children and the provider's self-evaluation form.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Puddleducks Day Nursery was re-registered in 2008 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It was established 18 years prior to this date. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a converted Victorian house and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 11 members of childcare staff. Of these, two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 5, one at level 4 and eight at level 3. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round except for one week at Christmas and bank holidays. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 64 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a small number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 continue to enhance the already excellent practice in promoting children's communication and language by further extending resources, such as visual aids in the outdoor area.

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who attend

A highly stimulating and exciting learning environment provides children with an excellent start to life in both their well-being and education. Children flourish and make rapid progress in their learning and development, due to staff's outstanding knowledge of how children learn. They are given fantastic opportunities to explore their environment, think critically and make their own decisions in their play. This fully supports and encourages their confidence and independence while attending the nursery. Teaching is outstanding. Children receive high levels of support during activities where needed and staff use a variety of highly effective teaching methods during play to extend learning, including taking full advantage of spontaneous learning opportunities as they occur. For example, staff spot a balloon floating in the sky and this leads to discussions about where the balloon has come from and where it is going. Staff then bring balloons into the children's

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who attend

play, some filled with air and some with water to compare the differences. When the balloons run out, staff improvise by continuing to fill disposable gloves with water as children are extremely motivated by the activity. Children want to make a hole in the glove so staff encourage children to think critically by asking them, 'what could you use to make a hole?' They decide they need something 'spiky' and hunt enthusiastically around the garden to find items, such as sticks and forks to prod the glove with. Children giggle and squeal as they squirt their friends and staff with water or make puddles to splash in. Staff enhance children's sensory play even further by adding scented liquid soap to the puddles as they jump and make bubbles.

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who attend

The skilful organisation of the garden is highly successful in encouraging children to become active and independent learners and a key feature of the nursery. Children spend the majority of the day outside, where they are constantly busy and occupied by the excellent activities provided. Children celebrate 'national mud day' with many mud based activities, which are messy and great fun. Children splatter mud on paper with sticks to create a picture and cook their 'meals' and make 'perfume' and 'potions' in the mud kitchen. They take a sensory walk barefoot around the garden to feel the different textures, such as, mud, sand and grass with encouragement from staff to describe how each texture feels beneath their feet. Babies are fully included in these fantastic sensory experiences and thoroughly enjoy exploring and investigating with their hands and feet. Staff successfully build children's vocabulary by giving choices, modelling clear language

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who attend

and repeating words and sentences for reinforcement. Children are encouraged to make their own decisions and develop their problem solving skills and independence from a young age. For example, they independently fill their buckets and watering cans from the water butt and look for items they can use to stop the reel of paper from blowing up when they paint. At tidy up time, children are encouraged to match their numbered cars and bikes to the corresponding number in the car park space. This supports children's number recognition from a young age, while promoting a sense of responsibility. As a result of such activities, children are making rapid progress in their development given their starting points. This ensures they gain a vast range of skills that will support them superbly in their future learning and their progression into primary school.

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who attend

Children are highly respected as individuals and staff demonstrate a superb knowledge and understanding of their learning needs. Planning is thorough and fully takes into account children's different learning styles, interests and development needs. Staff endeavour to provide children with lasting memories of their pre-school years through stimulating and motivating activities, which are most of all fun and highly enjoyable. Staff carefully observe children in their play. They share these observations with parents and inform them of their children's next steps on a regular basis so that they can continue to support their children's learning at home. Parents share their own views of their children's development, which staff use to further enhance assessments of children's learning. Precise systems to track and record children's progress through the areas of learning are securely embedded and monitored on a regular basis for their effectiveness. Meticulous

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who attend

support is given to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities as staff are highly experienced in working closely with families and outside agencies, such as speech therapists. Staff use sign language, labels, gestures and visual aids to support verbal communication with children, including those who speak English as an additional language. This is particularly well supported within the indoor learning environment and staff are now considering how to extend these resources further when children access the garden.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

A highly effective key person system means that staff get to know children and their families extremely well. They develop a deep appreciation for children's backgrounds, strengths and interests, which enables them to support and promote children's well-being to a high standard. Children's emotional development is continually promoted as they develop secure, trusting relationships with staff. This enables children to feel safe and secure within the setting. For example, babies are kissed and cuddled and held close when they are given their bottle. They smile as their key person makes eye contact and talks to them in a loving and gentle manner. Soft furnishings in the baby room provide young children with a 'home from home' environment to help them to settle. There is a highly effective and gradual transition between the upstairs and downstairs rooms, which is tailored to suit individual children's needs and ensure a smooth process. Staff ensure

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

siblings spend as much time together as possible and welcome their interactions. For example, when older children help to give their younger sibling their bottle. Staff are able to plan effectively for each child from the beginning based on thorough discussions and written information obtained from parents to find out about their strengths and interests. Parents receive a very detailed account of their child's day in a diary at collection time so that they are always aware of all aspects of their care and the learning that has taken place. Excellent relationships have formed with local schools that children attend. Reception teachers visit the setting and liaise closely with key persons regarding children's well-being and development prior to starting school.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are extremely relaxed and confident due to the excellent nurturing and care from staff. The nursery has an extremely calm and relaxing atmosphere, where children are constantly busy and occupied, resulting in excellent behaviour. Through consistent modelling from staff, children learn how to negotiate and interact in a positive manner. They wait patiently for their turn in activities and happily share resources with their peers. Staff consistently praise and acknowledge children for their progress and achievements, which encourages high levels of self-esteem. Children are enthusiastic at tidy up times as they work as a team to put the toys and resources away carefully, which enables them to gain a very good understanding of responsibility. Staff place a high priority on children's safety and thorough risk assessment ensures that children play in a safe and suitable environment. Children learn to take acceptable risks in their environment, for example,

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

when toasting marshmallows on a camp fire and participate in safe practices, such as fire drills. They learn how to carry scissors correctly when walking and are very mindful of other children when cycling without stabilisers in the garden.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children's awareness of healthy eating is very well promoted by serving a healthy and balanced range of home cooked meals and snacks. Fresh produce, such as herbs grown in the garden, are often used in the meals children eat and used to enhance their sensory experiences in their play. The nursery have also taken part in a local authority food project, where they were found to be meeting the nutritional needs of children under five very well. Weekly menus are shared with parents in their children's daily diaries so they are always aware of the foods their children are eating in advance. Children spend an excellent amount of time in the fresh air and have very good opportunities to broaden their physical skills on large apparatus and a range of challenging equipment including bicycles, scooters, cars and tractors. They skilfully manoeuvre around the paths, twisting and turning with ease and negotiate space very well as they reverse a tractor. Children are

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

fully involved in planning their own activities to support their physical development, with the nursery taking part in a scooter day at the children's request.

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provision

Staff are extremely knowledgeable regarding safeguarding practices. They are highly experienced and trained in child protection and fully understand their responsibilities to protect children in their care. A robust procedure for the appointment of staff is in place and all staff, including students, participate in a thorough induction procedure to ensure they are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities. Safeguarding is always the top of the agenda in staff meetings and discussed in supervisions so that it is consistently at the forefront of staff's minds. Staff demonstrate an exceptional and insightful understanding of the families and children in their care and have developed highly effective professional relationships with other agencies. This provides a coordinated approach to children's care in the nursery and they meet regularly to ensure children's identified needs are being consistently met. Highly comprehensive risk assessments ensure children play in a safe

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provision

and secure environment. Staff are deployed exceptionally well throughout the nursery to provide high levels of supervision.

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provision

Leadership and management of the setting is outstanding and this is reflected in the very low turnover of staff, who are highly valued as individuals by the owner and manager. An extremely passionate staff team work rigorously together to provide a high quality provision for all children. All staff work at a consistently high level and frequently access training to continually enhance the excellent skills and practices that are already in place. All staff have fully embraced the learning and development requirements and there is an excellent understanding of how to meet these at all times. There is an extremely robust system for monitoring and evaluating the educational programmes, that ensures areas of learning are not missed and gaps are quickly identified. Professional development of all staff is supported extremely well and regular supervisions and appraisals are used as part of the on-going reflection of the nursery and its needs.

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provision

Staff have built excellent working relationships with parents and value their active contribution to their children's learning, prior to school. They are encouraged to be involved in their children's learning and development through attending a range of events, such as, trips, parent breakfasts and progress meetings. Feedback from parents is extremely positive. Parents comment on the 'home from home' environment and how friendly and approachable the staff are. They particularly like that they are given lots of opportunity to input their own thoughts and ideas into the nursery and that these are listened to. Staff also implement clear processes for sharing information successfully with other early years providers, to promote children's learning and welfare to a high standard. Overall, children excel in this highly stimulating and inspirational nursery, where staff's exceptional practice is worthy of dissemination to other settings.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY371195 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 858052

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 64 Name of provider Sheona Smith Date of previous inspection 03/12/2008 Telephone number 01775 769798

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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