Ducklings Opportunity Group

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children flourish in the welcoming nursery.

They happily leave their parents to play with their friends and explore the environment. Children are safe and feel secure because kind, nurturing staff know them very well. Children select from a range of resources that capture their interests, such as cars and feeding their baby dolls.

They love listening to stories about dinosaurs. They remember what they have learned by skilfully using their imagination to roar like a dinosaur as they play outdoors. Children behave very well.

They are proud to be a 'special helper' for the day. They wear their 'special helper' ba...dge and know they are responsible for ringing a bell to alert their friends to changes in the daily routine. Children show strong levels of confidence and self-esteem.

They communicate with a visitor by talking to them or waving to them. During adult-led activities, children wait their turn to handle shiny eggs which they know are 'oval' shaped. Children are keen and eager learners.

Staff pace their questions to allow good time for children to think and answer. For example, when children talk about dinosaur teeth being triangle shaped, staff prompt them to think about the shape of their own teeth. The most able children know their teeth are 'oblong'.

Children are supported to develop the skills they need for future learning, including their move to school.

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

Children learn through a curriculum that captures their individual interests. Staff use children's prompts to build on what they need to learn next.

For example, boys who prefer to play outdoors are supported to learn about mathematics through shapes and numbers on traffic signs. Children who explore using their senses make marks in soft powdery flour with brushes.Staff place a strong focus on promoting children's communication and language development.

During story time, staff reinforce complex words such as 'tyrannosaurus rex'. They introduce new words, such as 'spiky' and 'bumpy'. Staff promote children's understanding further by encouraging them to feel the spikes on a dinosaur.

They challenge children to think how they might wake a dinosaur who has gone to sleep. They introduce different words that have the same meaning, such as 'lunch' and 'dinner'.Staff challenge children to show their can-do attitude, for example when learning to manoeuvre a scooter outdoors.

Children learn to take risks safely as they ride around on tricycles. However, there are less opportunities for children to develop their physical skills, such as balancing and climbing.Staff provide activity bags and books in different languages to support children's individual learning at home.

A recent request from parents to receive more positive comments about their child has led to staff sharing 'wow' moments with parents about their child's achievements. Staff offer tips to parents on how to discourage the use of a dummy, for example by swapping it for an Easter bunny. They use social media to advise parents about recent health alerts, such as the choking risk of small Easter eggs.

Parents comment positively on the stay-and-play sessions they attend. They say that they 'had a fabulous time' and they love coming to watch their child playing with friends.Staff assess children's listening, understanding and speech effectively.

They observe and assess all aspects of children's progress. This helps to identify where children need targeted support and further intervention to help close any gaps in their progress. Staff encourage the use of individual daily diaries for exchanging comments between home and nursery and which detail children's next steps.

That said, communication arrangements are not robustly effective in reaching all parents.Staff plan a wide range of experiences that recognise children's family backgrounds and positively support their awareness of the community and the wider world. For example, staff invite storytellers into the setting who are male, so that children can experience different role models.

The manager successfully monitors the impact of any additional funding used to ensure that children are achieving to their full potential.Leadership is good. The manager and staff work well together as a small team.

They have strong links with local schools that children move to. They regularly access training opportunities to help build further on their knowledge and skills, to better support all children and to raise the quality of teaching further.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of how to keep children safe through regular safeguarding training to keep their knowledge up to date. They know the procedures in the event of an allegation being made against them. The manager uses her good knowledge of multi-agency working to secure early intervention and extra support for families in order to promote children's good health and well-being.

The manager implements a robust recruitment procedure to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. The manager and staff vigilantly carry out risk assessments to ensure that hazards to children are minimised.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide children with further opportunities to develop their climbing and balancing skills nenhance the good partnerships with parents further so that all parents consistently receive ideas and suggestions to support their child's individual next steps in learning at home.