Ducklings Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settle quickly into play when they arrive at the nursery. Children build close relationships with staff, who know them well and are nurturing and kind towards them. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care.

Children are confident to access the resources that interest them. For example, babies stand to play with sand. They enjoy digging with scoops and filling and emptying various-sized pots with sand.

Older children choose to play in the imaginative role-play area, making and serving each other tea.Children develop increasing independence as they learn to complete tasks for thems...elves. For example, babies feed themselves using appropriate cutlery, while the oldest children use their knives and forks competently.

Children put on their shoes in preparation for playing outdoors. They learn to look after their belongings and put them away in their own drawers. Children behave well.

Staff use effective methods that help children to identify different emotions. Older children learn how their behaviour can affect the feelings of others. This contributes to their ability to make and sustain friendships with their peers.

Children gain the skills and knowledge they need to prepare them well for their next stages in learning, and the eventual move on to school.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The curriculum is well developed and is understood and implemented effectively by staff. Staff use information gathered from parents at the start, together with their observations, to make plans to incorporate the learning that children need and build further on what children already know and can do.

Staff know the interests of each child and use this knowledge to arrange the environment and resources. This helps children to engage in purposeful play and learning.Staff provide new experiences for children to engage in so that they continue to develop their interests and build on their knowledge and skills, such as when learning about other cultures and special celebrations.

Babies explore their interest in animals and show what they know. For example, children name 'horse' and 'pig'. They give lots of smiles when staff make the sounds of these animals and they attempt to copy them.

Children thoroughly enjoy singing and rhyme time. For example, toddlers smile as they follow the actions of familiar songs and sing the words that they know. This includes children who require additional support.

Staff skilfully include and engage all children and provide individual praise for their efforts. This helps to raise children's self-esteem.Staff promote communication and language well.

They use additional programmes with all children to help them focus closely on the support that children need to develop effective speaking and listening skills. Children who are not yet verbal are supported well. For example, staff use simple signing, pictures and simple sentence structures that help children to communicate their needs and understand others.

Staff liaise effectively with parents and other agencies to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the support they need. Consequently, children with SEND make the most progress they are capable of.All children have great fun in the nursery garden while they explore the resources and develop their physical skills.

For instance, babies paint with water, using a range of brushes. They smile proudly while practising their developing walking skills. Older children ride a range of wheeled toys, grinning as they pass each other.

They have fun mixing mud and adding other resources with various utensils in their pots. Managers have identified the need to ensure that staff deploy themselves across the areas outdoors so that children are supervised effectively at all times.Managers use a range of methods to ensure parents, staff and children contribute to the evaluation of the effectiveness of the nursery.

This helps to identify enhancements to the provision and further training that is then provided for staff. However, there is scope to revisit areas of this training to ensure that staff are confident and their knowledge remains current.Parents are very happy with the nursery and say their children are happy and look forward to attending.

They value the detailed information they receive at collection times, and the information they access online about their child's care and learning progress.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff know their responsibilities to protect the welfare of children.

They can identify signs and symptoms of a range of child protection concerns that indicate a child may be at risk of harm. They know the local safeguarding procedures to report concerns about the safety and well-being of a child, including if an allegation is made against a colleague. Recruitment procedures are robust and effective.

These include the background checks that must be carried out to check that staff are suitable to work in the nursery. Routine checks are made to ensure the premises are safe for children to attend.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: monitor the arrangements for the deployment of staff outdoors to ensure that children are supervised effectively at all times build on the support provided for staff to further strengthen their knowledge gained from training and increase their confidence to help to keep this knowledge current.