Puddleducks Daycare Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children who attend this welcoming, home-from-home setting benefit from consistently high-quality care and learning experiences that enable them to thrive. Staff plan a curriculum that encompasses all aspects of children's learning. They provide exciting, innovative activities that motivate children to want to take part and learn.

Children have fun. The setting is filled with laughter and the sound of children enjoying themselves as they learn and play. Consequently, all children make exceptional progress from their initial starting points.

Children and their families are greeted warmly as they arrive. Staff are... friendly and genuinely interested in the information that children and parents share about what children have been doing at home. They are fully aware of children's interests and skilfully weave these into activities.

Children build positive relationships with staff and their friends and invite them to join in their play. Babies receive wonderful interactions from staff. They snuggle into them when they are tired and when they look at books.

Staff are highly attuned to children's individual routines and preferences. Older children are confident to express their feelings and recognise the feelings of others. Behaviour is exemplary.

Staff adeptly support children to manage their emotions. They have implemented areas, such as cosy corners and light dens, where children can go for calm time should they need to.

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

The highly motivated leadership and management team have worked closely with local authority advisors and staff to implement significant changes since the last inspection.

Leaders and staff have attended copious amounts of training, some of which was bespoke to the setting. Staff benefit from extensive support from leaders. They say that their well-being is given the utmost priority.

Children's safety is assured. Leaders' and staff's knowledge of local safeguarding issues and how to raise concerns is superb. The premises are exceptionally safe and secure.

Staff implement additional precautions to ensure children's safety. For example, they check the ultraviolet light levels before children go outdoors to ensure that they are not too high.Leaders and staff have an excellent overview of the curriculum, and this is fully embedded into practice.

They have exceptionally high expectations for what children need to learn at each stage of their development. They plan an inspiring range of activities that captivate children's curiosity and enhance all aspects of their learning.Leaders and staff work closely with local schools that children will be moving on to.

They have devised a working document entitled 'I am ready for school because I can,' which sets out the schools expectations for what they want children to achieve before starting school. It includes tasks, such as being able to open lunch boxes and to listen to and follow instructions. The list is shared with parents and integrated into the curriculum to help children to be confident and ready for school.

Children become animated and enthusiastic as they join in with the wide variety of activities on offer. Older children explore wheat. Staff explain that we need wheat to make flour.

They encourage children to think of different uses for flour, such as bread and cake. Children patiently wait their turn to crush the wheat to make flour, and staff enhance children's learning as they introduce new words, such as pestle and mortar.Children's communication throughout the setting is given top priority.

Staff engage children in conversation and provide time for them to think of answers and respond to questions. Younger children delight as they listen to stories which are read with intonation and expression. They recognise and join in with familiar phrases and laugh as they imitate animal sounds and familiar characteristics as they pretend to be a monkey.

The use of a communication screening tool helps staff to swiftly recognise any gaps in children's communication and enables them to promptly seek early intervention if needed.Children relish the time they spend outside, where they take part in purposeful activities to enhance their good health and physical well-being. They proudly talk about the fruit and vegetables they grow in the garden.

They pick carrots to make carrot cake, and apples and blackberries to make pies. Children demonstrate awe and wonder as they confidently talk about growing pumpkins from seeds and the experiment they have undertaken to see if the whole pumpkin they planted will grow in the same way that the seeds have.The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is superb.

Staff are passionate about providing the very best support for these children. They work closely with other professionals and parents to obtain additional support and funding that will enhance their learning experiences. Resources, such as objects of reference and now and next pictures, enable children to understand the routines of the day.

These are also initially used for children who speak English as an additional language to enhance their learning experiences and help them to settle.Parents are fully involved in their child's learning. They are invited to attend workshops and activity days.

Staff go over and above to introduce ways to encourage parents to support their child's learning at home. They ask parents to go on walks with their children and collect nature items to share. A recently introduced library system explains to parents the importance of reading to children and sharing books.

Parents are overjoyed with the care and learning their children receive and the support they have as a family.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.