Little Ducklings Nursery Devon Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy attending. They arrive happily and have close relationships with staff, which help them to feel safe and secure. For example, babies benefit from cuddles and interactions with the caring and nurturing staff.

Children make choices about their play and explore independently. Outside, they draw robots that are made from shapes and ride in small cars, negotiating pathways successfully. Inside, they share stories and make dinosaur prints from play dough.

Children have a wide variety of opportunities to learn about nature and the world. They go in search of insects and bugs to identify, and they examine and ex...plore the local environment. Children are well behaved.

Staff support them successfully to learn about taking turns and sharing.Staff know the children well and have high expectations for their learning. They provide a broad and varied curriculum, and they have a good understanding of each child's level of development and individual interests.

This enables staff to carefully tailor activities and focus teaching to support each child effectively. Children make excellent progress in their communication and language development. Staff help children to build a wide vocabulary, supporting their understanding well and using sign language.

This has been particularly beneficial for those children who are learning to speak English as an additional language.

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

Babies and toddlers excitedly explore using their senses. They fill different containers with water, feeling the water as it runs through their fingers.

They watch with interest as they explore and investigate, pouring water into holes and shoots to make a water wheel turn round. Staff support them well by engaging them in conversation to extend their vocabulary and learning.The staff are very engaging with the children, and there are many spontaneous learning opportunities, which children enjoy.

Staff introduce colours as they play with the children. Children name dinosaurs, and staff encourage children to count and sort them by colour. This supports children's mathematical development well.

Staff sound out the initial letter of the colours, such as 'p' for purple. Occasionally, staff do not plan adult-led activities as well as they could to ensure that they support all children consistently to meet their next steps in learning.There is a particularly strong focus on communication and language.

Children show an interest in sea creatures, and staff introduce new words such as 'whale' and 'starfish'. Children identify crabs and a seahorse from pictures. They practise words such as 'octopus', and staff extend children's learning successfully as staff read stories while children identify characters and objects correctly.

Older children are beginning to recognise written numerals.Children's behaviour is good. From a young age, staff successfully support children to help them develop the skills to negotiate and to gain a secure understanding of behavioural expectations.

Older children look out for younger ones. They place an arm around their shoulder and actively seek them out if they think their younger peers need a little support or help.Children learn the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

They follow good hygiene routines and enjoy trying different fruit, such as watermelon, at snack time as they learn about a healthy diet. They have good opportunities to be physically active and develop a wide range of physical skills.There are good partnerships with parents.

Staff gather detailed information about children's individual needs and preferences. Parents comment that their children are making good progress and that staff support them well. Parents appreciate the knowledgeable staff team and seek their advice about any issues that arise.

There are good links with the nearby pre-school, where most children go on to when they turn three years old. However, staff do not know what children are doing at all other early years settings that children attend.Leadership is strong.

There are effective systems in place to monitor staff performance, such as ongoing discussions, coaching and monitoring meetings. The provider uses these effectively to identify training needs and ensures that staff can access meaningful professional development opportunities. As a result, staff's practice is consistently good.

There have been some staff changes since registration. However, the provider has worked diligently to ensure that this has not impacted on the good quality of practice at the nursery or children's happiness and well-being. Staff morale is good, and they are positive about the ongoing support from the provider to help them develop their knowledge and broaden the experiences for children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of their role and responsibilities to keep children safe. They can identify the signs or symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm.

They know the process to follow in response to a concern about a child's welfare. The provider has a thorough recruitment and vetting process in place. She ensures that staff complete an induction and monitors their ongoing suitability effectively.

Staff carry out thorough risk assessments and provide a well organised and secure environment for children to play safely.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen curriculum planning of adult-led activities to ensure that learning opportunities consistently promote all children's next steps in learning.develop further strategies to work with all other early years settings that children attend to ensure consistency in their learning and development.

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