Puddleducks Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming and homely nursery. Staff know the children well and develop close bonds, helping children feel safe and secure. Children leave their parents with ease and settle quickly into their day. Staff create a calm environment. They use daily routines, to help children to understand what is coming next. For example, in the morning children know they have a welcome song and before lunch they join in with yoga or dance. Children show high levels of confidence in their interactions with adults and have a positive attitude to learning.

Children thrive in the exciting outdoor learning environment that inspires their curiosity. Staff show toddlers how to squeeze and roll dough to strengthen their hand muscles. They promote children's sensory exploration, encouraging them to smell the lemon scent and pick flowers to add to their dough. Staff encourage babies to become inquisitive and confident learners and promote their physical development. For example, babies use their whole bodies and various tools to create marks with paint.

Children behave well. Staff are positive role models and are consistent with expected behaviours. For example, staff support children to take turns as they share the baby bath to wash the dolls. This supports all children to understand how to cooperate with others.

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

• Leaders have devised a curriculum that offers children a wide set of experiences that prepare them for their next stage of learning. Staff plan many opportunities for children to develop their confidence and independence well. For example, they encourage children from a young age to serve themselves during mealtimes, pour their own drinks and put on their shoes before going outside.
• Staff use their in-depth knowledge of what children know and can do to adapt their planning to focus on children's changing interests. For example, they follow children's interest in farm animals, using books, model animals and visits to the local farm. However, when carrying out some planned activities not all staff are clear on what they want children to learn. Therefore, on these occasions, children lose interest and are not fully supported by staff to help them make the best possible progress.
• Staff provide high levels of support for children's communication and language development. They use various methods to support children, such as sign language and objects of reference alongside spoken words. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well. Staff gather key words in their home language to support communication in the nursery. They often introduce new words to children during their play and take every opportunity to sing songs, rhymes and read books.
• Children's physical development is well supported. Staff create an environment that is well planned to allow young children to move freely. Children access equipment to support pulling themselves up, taking steps and climbing. All children have further opportunities to practise their larger physical skills and engage within the community as they go on walks to the local parks, farm and around the village.
• Staff encourage children to keep trying and to explore all that is on offer. For example, children chop and peel different types of fruit and explore the smells, tastes and feel of each one. Staff introduce new words, such as 'sweet and sour' or 'rough and smooth'. They encourage children to repeat these words to embed understanding.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are full of praise for the nursery, saying their children have 'thrived' since attending. Staff invite parents to events hosted at the nursery. They use these opportunities well to help parents understand what their children are learning. Staff encourage parents to borrow books to read with their children. They share ideas on how parents can continue children's learning at home.
• Leaders reflect on practice and strive for continuous improvement for children's overall experiences. They have recently changed the way staff assess children's learning. This has reduced staff workload, allowing the children to benefit from more quality interactions with staff. Staff say their well-being is well supported and they feel valued at the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to focus more precisely on the intent for children's learning during adult-led activities.