Puddleduck Ascot at St Martin’s

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children and parents receive a warm welcome from staff as they arrive at the nursery.

Staff support children's emotional well-being effectively. For example, they provide cuddles and praise to children frequently. Children enter eager to play and explore.

Babies are motivated and engaged. Staff have created a well-planned environment, which is calm and nurturing. Babies delight in exploring the tunnel where they practise crawling and rolling balls through.

This helps to support their physical skills well. Singing can be heard throughout the nursery. Toddlers know the actions to familiar rhymes and request thei...r favourite songs and rhymes by name.

Children benefit from staff who celebrate their achievements and encourage their confidence. For example, babies smile and point when they do things for the first time, such as using chalks to create marks outside.

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

The dedicated manager is passionate and enthusiastic about providing new opportunities and experiences for the children.

Staff report that they are happy and supported. Regular staff supervisions help to identify learning needs and check staff's well-being.Children's love of books and stories is evident.

Staff are good storytellers who make books exciting. Babies and toddlers sit and listen with attention as staff read books with animation. Children know what happens next in the stories that are familiar to them.

Toddlers join in with repeated lines from the story.The manager and staff are committed to working with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They put plans in place to help children to reach their full potential.

Parents speak fondly about the staff who care for their children. They comment that they 'trust staff explicitly' and that their children are happy and enjoy attending the nursery. Staff work closely with parents to keep them updated about their child's development and help them understand how to support their child's learning at home.

Overall, staff support children's communication and language well. Staff introduce babies to new sounds. For example, while exploring with bubbles, staff make 'pop, pop' noises as they catch the bubbles.

Babies then copy this action and make the same noise. Staff encourage younger children to build sentences and introduce them to new words.Staff have a good understanding of what they want children to learn.

They follow children's interests and plan exciting activities that children are eager to be involved in. However, occasionally, staff do not successfully carry out what they have identified they want children to learn next. This means that some children do not always benefit from being able to learn as much as possible.

Overall, children behave well and learn to share, take turns and respect others, with support. However, at times, staff do not give children the explanation they need to fully understand the behavioural expectations.The manager and staff understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children.

The manager completes robust recruitment checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Regular risk assessments are completed to ensure that the premises and equipment are safe and suitable.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to strengthen the implementation of the curriculum to reflect the identified learning intention for the children taking part and to further support their next steps in learning support staff to help children understand behaviour expectations and the impact of behaviour on themselves and others.