Ducklings Furzton

Ducklings Furzton

Unique reference number (URN): 2776098 Address: Furzton Community Centre, 1 Blackmoor Gate, Furzton, Milton Keynes, MK4 1DS Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 23/01/2024 Registers: EYR, CCR Registered person: Ducklings Limited

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders and staff prioritise children's wellbeing, developing wonderful relationships that are respectful, warm and nurturing. This results in a trusting environment. Children thoroughly enjoy themselves. They feel secure, as they know staff listen to them and understand their needs.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff offer guidance and advice about healthy food choices with families, such as sharing photos of healthier packed lunch options to gently encourage families to make small changes.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

During care routines, if children need additional emotional support, staff sensitively implement strategies that make the experience more enjoyable. Younger children are shown a nappy to help explain what is happening next, or children who find the routine upsetting are given toys to distract them. This helps all children to feel emotionally secure.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children develop positive attitudes to healthy lifestyles, thoroughly enjoying nutritious and healthy snacks and a regular sports session. Children explain they eat vegetables 'to make them grow' and that 'exercise makes us strong'. Children manage risks themselves, readjusting a plank in the obstacle course to ensure that it is safe for the next person.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff are vigilant when children eat. They sit next to children with allergies and intolerances to ensure close supervision. They face children as they eat to ensure that any risks of choking are minimised, understanding that the younger children need observing more closely.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders recognise the context of their pre-school, including the varied needs of the children, and employ special educational needs professionals whose knowledge and skills are utilised effectively to guide staff and liaise with other professionals. There is a passion in ensuring equality of opportunity for all children, including disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those known to children's social care and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. Staff put in effective plans for children who need support and prioritise communication with families, regularly sharing strategies such as visuals to support communication.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders identify children's needs quickly using developmental guides, precisely recognising which areas of development are lowest. Assessment is robust, which allows staff to quickly recognise any changes to identified needs and swiftly implement new strategies to support children. Leaders and staff consistently make a notable difference to children's experiences and progress. A wide range of adaptations are implemented, specific to each child, and these are used expertly. Staff have high expectations for all children to participate and recognise where simple adaptations can support this. For example, staff acknowledge a whole-group circle time may be upsetting for some children, and, therefore, children are included through playing elsewhere with favourite toys. Children show they listen and feel

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Expected standard

included as they smile and giggle in response to the group of children singing their name. These adaptations are highly successful in ensuring that all children can access their full funding entitlement.

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Achievement Expected standard

All children, including disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are known to social care, make sustained progress and are well prepared for the next steps in education, including school. The sharp focus on getting children ready for school has a successful impact. Parents universally comment that their children have gained new skills and knowledge through regular attendance and are well prepared for school.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children increasingly gain confidence in communicating with their peers, including children who enter the setting as non-verbal or speak English as an additional language. These children rapidly understand and use more words or become able to use single words or visuals to communicate with their friends and key persons. Children thrive, as they are consistently encouraged and supported by staff to achieve well from their starting points.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff embed a mutually respectful culture where adults and children treat each other with kindness, care and respect. Staff are positive role models. They remind children to be careful around the younger children and to include them in play. Older children reflect this in their behaviour, asking other children if they would like a turn with their play dough mixture when there are not enough spaces at the table and they notice a younger child watching the activity.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Older children understand the routines well, and transitions between parts of the day are seamless. Children understand what is expected of them, and routines do not interrupt learning. Younger children are sensitively given reminders to stop and listen when the bell rings and are reminded what is happening next.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

During whole-group times, it is the leaders' aim for staff to adapt teaching content and behaviour expectations to match the children's stage of development. When staff follow this aim and deliver whole-group times that are suitable for the age range of children present, children behave well, attentively join in and enjoy answering questions. However, this approach is not yet consistently embedded by all staff, and, on occasion, children become distracted, lose focus and are then unable to show their best possible behaviour.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders are proactive in tackling barriers to children's attendance. They listen to families to understand the barriers and create solutions that ensure attendance improves. This clear focus enables children and their families, including disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known to social care, to increase attendance, which in turn impacts the progress children make. Children become happier and increase friendships, they make progress with speech and language and the familiarity of daily routines improves behaviour.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have developed a detailed curriculum that considers the age range of children in the mixed room and builds learning over time across all 7 areas of learning in the early years foundation stage. There is a sharp focus on preparing children for school, which includes developing independence, using the toilet, recognising letters in their name, concentration and attention in larger group times. Staff know their key children well and understand that each child requires a different level of support for communication and language dependent on their stage of development. However, on occasion, teaching is not targeted precisely enough for individual children to be as highly effective as it could be.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders and staff understand the importance of their interactions in developing children's communication and language skills, including increasing children's vocabulary in context, repeating words and sentences correctly and building sentences by adding one more word. A love of books is developed throughout the day. For example, adults extend children's knowledge of minibeasts by looking at non-fiction books together and discussing how children are feeling in reference to a story. Children explore the meaning of 'squish and squash' as they manipulate flour and oil to make play dough.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Children develop highly positive attitudes to physical development outside. They show coordination and balance as they walk on bucket stilts. Children build social skills as they wait for their turn on the obstacle course and listen attentively to staff when asked to jump from the plank, carefully landing on 2 feet. Children collaborate playing games and kindly invite other children to join in. Leaders understand the context of this community and that home life does not always facilitate a broad experience for every child's physical development, successfully prioritising this in the curriculum.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff encourage children to count carefully and check. They match shapes to real objects and link the number 2 to the number of eyes they have.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders thoroughly understand the context of their setting and the priorities this brings. There is a clear ambition for all children, and they make timely decisions to maintain high standards of education and care. The recent focus on improving transitions between activities has resulted in children being able to maintain high levels of involvement in their play without waiting unnecessarily. Transitions are now seamless.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders accurately identify the strengths and areas to develop within the pre-school. They are reflective in keeping up to date with changes in statutory guidance and strive for continuous improvement. Continuing to support staff to implement even higher-quality interactions will ensure that staff maximise the positive difference they can make to all children's education.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders understand the importance of partnership collaboration with parents and the significant impact this has on improving outcomes for children. Leaders carefully build respectful relationships with families and target additional individualised guidance for families who would benefit. Parents feel highly supported as staff prioritise time for them. Parents comment that they value the regular communication from the pre-school and how the information shared helps their children's development.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children show they feel safe at the pre-school. When they arrive, they rush in and settle quickly, as they are excited to meet their friends and get involved with the wide range of enticing activities available to play with. Staff carefully organise the environment to reflect what they want children to learn, linking activities to children's interests and next steps. As a result, children are motivated and become immersed in the learning opportunities. Children explore the pre-school with energy and curiosity, and they concentrate for sustained periods of time. For example, children eagerly dig for minibeasts, younger children exploring filling and emptying containers, older children thrilled when they match the creature to the spotter card describing differences between a butterfly's wings and a millipede's legs and how they use these to move.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

A sense of belonging runs through the pre-school. Leaders carefully plan a flexible approach to children settling that prioritises children's wellbeing. Parents comment on the significant support staff give families to feel welcome, such as using key words from the child's home language to help them settle and learn English. Children and families quickly form secure and positive attachments with staff. Children confidently ask for help if needed, alongside

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Address:

Furzton Community Centre 1 Blackmoor Gate, Furzton Milton Keynes MK4 1DS becoming increasingly independent as staff gently encourage them to pour drinks and manipulate tongs by themselves to pick up fruit at snack time.

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Address:

All children flourish and thrive. The pre-school ethos values the uniqueness of each child. Staff work collaboratively internally, with families and alongside other professionals to deliver a highly inclusive approach that recognises the different needs of children at the heart of all decision-making. Leaders prioritise increasing children's attendance and work with families to find solutions to any barriers. As a result, all children who attend, especially disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are known to social care, make sustained progress and are well prepared for the next steps in education, including school.

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Next steps

Leaders and staff should continue to reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust their teaching accordingly. Leaders should continue to develop staff's understanding of how to adjust their teaching to consistently enable children's best possible behaviour.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with children, leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator and parents during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection 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 children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage. Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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About this inspection

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:45 - 14:45

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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