Ducklings Day Nursery

Ducklings Day Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2862720 Address: Ducklings Day Nursery, 170 Attleborough Road, Nuneaton, CV11 4JW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 11/11/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: TLNI

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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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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Overall, staff support children to behave well. Staff provide brief explanations to children regarding the consequences of their behaviour.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff working with the babies provide opportunities during play and routines for them to be alongside their peers and become familiar with one another. Staff explain to babies what is happening next to help them become familiar with their routines. Staff working with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities use resources, such as picture cards and prompts, to help them to understand what is next. This helps them to prepare for the routines throughout the day.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children's attendance is monitored and staff know what they must do if a child does not attend a short time after their expected time of arrival. Leaders record the action they take, such as calling children's parents and carers or other professionals.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Some children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Pre-school children keenly engage in role play in the home area. They chat with their peers, sharing their ideas about the roles of 'mummy', 'daddy' and 'big sister' that they are acting out. Children aged 2- to 3-years-old enjoy making models with play dough. They talk about what they have made, and leaders suggest what else they could make from the dough.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children are cared for in a safe environment. Their wellbeing is promoted as staff take steps to ensure that all children feel secure in their environment. Staff who work with the youngest children are gentle and caring. All children are welcomed by staff they know, and this supports their sense of belonging and emotional security.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Generally, children learn about healthy lifestyles. Some staff talk with the children about the benefits of healthy eating. They explain that eating good food can help them to grow big and strong. Children really enjoy the fresh food that is provided and most have second helpings. They readily tuck into freshly prepared noodles with chicken and vegetables. Staff are aware of children with food intolerances and allergies. This information is shared with the chef in a timely way, who provides meals accordingly to meet the children's needs. The serving of food is well managed with a system that ensures children only access foods that they should.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children of all ages learn about the importance of good hygiene practices. Bedding supplied for babies and young children who sleep is freshly laundered and only used by one child. Babies and children who require a sleep are monitored by staff with frequent checks. Staff have suitable understanding of safer-sleeping guidance and the associated risks.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Overall, leaders and staff develop relationships with parents and carers and other professionals involved in the children's care. Staff find out from parents about their children's care needs and current stage of development.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff caring for the most vulnerable children have a real passion for ensuring they are provided with the best possible outcomes, in relation to their starting points. Settling-in arrangements are tailored to support each child and their family, with additional time being afforded to those with additional needs. Staff work collaboratively with parents and other professionals to support these children.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff know how to adapt resources and the environment to support all of the children. In the pre-school room, a sensory area has been designated specifically to support children with additional needs. This ensures they are surrounded by the resources that will help them to self-regulate and to also support their interests.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders, the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and staff supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, have experience in this area and access training in a timely way. The manager's oversight of the role of the SENCo and staff is effective in promoting inclusive practice for all children who attend.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have effective oversight of the nursery. A full review of all aspects of the nursery has been undertaken, and an action plan is in place. Changes have been made to the environment and high-quality resources have been obtained. The leadership team have a secure understanding of the nursery's strengths and areas for improvement, to increase outcomes for the children who attend. Some steps have been taken to improve the curriculum on offer and support staff's understanding of using what they know children can do, to plan for their learning. Leaders are also introducing in-the-moment planning, to ensure children's learning is based on their interests. However, this is not currently embedded well enough for some children.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders are aware of the different barriers to learning that children may face at different times in their lives. Leaders actively engage with other professionals, and they are aware of the benefits of working with other providers when children transition from one provider to another.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Partnership working with other providers in the main is successful. Parents and carers are extremely pleased with the care their children receive. They comment that the change of ownership was smooth and that there have been noticeable positive changes in relation to communication and security of the premises.

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Achievement Needs attention

Some children are progressing generally well in relation to their starting points across the 7 areas of learning. Staff use their knowledge of the children's development and plan to support their next steps in learning. However, this is variable across the age groups and impacts on the achievements that some children make.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pre-school children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are developing skills in becoming independent learners. They are developing at a positive rate. This is because throughout their day at nursery, they frequently make choices for themselves, play quietly alone, or join in activities with their friends. This supports them in readiness for school.

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Achievement Needs attention

Rising 3-year-olds are developing a range of language and vocabulary. They learn new words, such as 'stomp', as they pretend to be dinosaurs. Children aged 2- to 3-years-old are confident in communicating their needs with staff through their actions and words.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Under the new ownership, leaders have been observing and evaluating the quality of the curriculum and teaching. They have identified some of the areas that need to be improved and have created action plans to help staff improve their understanding of in-the-moment planning and responding to children's emerging interests.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Some improvements are beginning to take effect for some age groups of children, supporting the progress they make. However, this still requires more attention to be fully effective for all ages of children, and most specifically, the children aged 2- to 3-years-old. For this age group, although staff are familiar with some of what the children know and can already do, their desired next steps are too generic and not individual for each child, which means that the curriculum for these children lacks ambition.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff caring for babies adapt activities for those who are less keen on messy play, or who may be new to this experience. This means that all the children have opportunities to make marks and develop their core physical skills.

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

Children's safety is assured as leaders and staff consider all potential risks in their environment and take action to address potential risks as they arrive. For example, they swiftly remove plastic carrier bags that are left in the cloakroom area. Leaders have effective oversight of safeguarding, and they ensure that all staff know what they must do in the event of a concern about a child in their care. Arrangements regarding the procedure to follow in relation to non-attendance have recently been reviewed, which has enhanced the effectiveness of records and, in turn, the sharing of information with other professionals.

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

Overall, children benefit from the relationships between the nursery and other providers. Children arrive happy most of the time and readily separate from their parents and carers and siblings. Staff find out about children's wellbeing on arrival, and this helps them to understand the needs of the child for the day ahead. For example, for the younger children, staff ask parents about the quality of their sleep. Children who are less settled on arrival are greeted by staff they know well. They enjoy a cuddle and words of comfort as they go and join their friends to play. Children share positive relationships with their peers and with the staff who care for them. Children welcome adults into the games they create, such as pretending to be dinosaurs, roaring, stomping and chasing one another.

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

Some of the learning, both indoors and outside, supports children's next steps in their learning and builds on what they already know and can do, but this is not consistent across all age groups, specifically for the children aged 2- to 3-years-old.

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

Pre-school children are provided with activities with clear learning intentions, such as beginning to understand how they are unique to others and learning about their similarities and differences. Using a mirror, they talk about their individual characteristics, such as the colour of their eyes. However, at times, the quality of teaching does not extend children's progress to support the learning intentions or follow their emerging interests, such as when they talk about compost and worms and become animated as they tell a member of staff about a puncture in a car tyre.

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Next steps

To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:

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Action Completion Date

ensure that the curriculum for all children is ambitious to help them make as much progress as they can 29/09/2026

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Action Completion Date

make sure that staff follow children's interests and use what they know about their current stage of development to plan for their next steps in their learning 29/09/2026

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Address:

Ducklings Day Nursery 170 Attleborough Road Nuneaton CV11 4JW

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 17:30

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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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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator, parents and children 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 for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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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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