Puddle Ducks Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The growth in children's confidence and independence is accelerated through their access to the outdoors, where they are supported by attentive staff to take risks, develop secure physical skills and learn about the world around them. Each day, older children sensibly walk through a working farm and churchyard to arrive at the setting's forest school. Children quickly immerse themselves in well-thought-out activities, which staff have planned to develop their skills and knowledge ready for school. For example, children use a glue stick with precision as they carefully decorate a 'leaf man' with the leaves they have found. Through this activity, children develop the hand dexterity and control that they will need for later writing.

Younger children who have just started to walk build their stamina and strength as they toddle around the farm. They explore how their bodies work as they splash in puddles, holding the hand of a member of staff for reassurance and support. Staff encourage children's listening and attention skills as they identify pigs oinking from the nearby barn. They remove babies' dummies, which have appropriately been used for comfort, to encourage children's early communication skills. Babies pause and then make noises in response to the animal sounds they hear.

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

• The management team has developed a curriculum that promotes children's individual development. Staff adapt the implementation of this curriculum so that all children make progress in their learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from a tailored approach. For instance, staff spend time one-to-one with some children with SEND during welcome time because these children find group social time too overwhelming.
• The management team and staff want children to understand what makes themselves and their community unique. The setting is situated on a working farm. Children experience farming life, for example they watch lambs being born. This helps children to understand the agricultural heritage of where they live.
• Staff and children take care of a pet ferret. Staff teach children that they must be kind to the ferret and look after him. This supports children's personal, social and emotional development because they develop skills such as love, compassion and respect towards another living being.
• Staff use effective strategies to ensure children's safety and shape their positive behaviour. For example, when children hear the whistle blow three times, they quickly follow instruction and congregate in a designated area of the forest school. Staff prompt children to remember the forest school rules, for instance children must only play with sticks that are as long as their arm to minimise the risk of accidents occurring. Children happily oblige.
• Staff quickly build secure relationships with new children. They use information provided by parents to make sure a child's routine at nursery is similar to home. Because of this, new children settle quickly. However, at times, staff's primary focus is on meeting the needs of new children. The other children remain content throughout all that they do, but occasionally, they do not receive the attention they require from staff to sustain involvement in meaningful activity.
• The management team follows safe recruitment processes to confirm that all staff working with children are suitable to do so. They encourage new staff to complete important training during their inductions and coach them to understand their roles and responsibilities. However, the management team does not always check staff's understanding of what they have learned in their induction frequently enough. This means that, occasionally, new staff are unsure about some aspects of their job.
• Parents views about this nursery are overwhelmingly positive. They comment that the staff team is an integral part of the nursery's success. Parents confirm that their children have made progress in their learning and development since attending. Some parents, who have received extra support from the management team and staff, have described how this has had a significantly positive impact on their lives.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the induction process for new staff so that they swiftly gain secure knowledge of all aspects of their role
• review and reorganise the deployment of staff who are caring for groups of children, including those who are new to the setting, so that all children receive the support they require to remain engaged in meaningful activity throughout their day.