The Puddleduck Nursery

The Puddleduck Nursery
Unique reference number (URN): 2813128
Address: St. Antony With St. Silas Community Centre, Merttins Road, London, SE15 3EB
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 09/12/2024
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Luna Nurseries Ltd
Inspection report: 15 July 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Safeguarding standards met
The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for
governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open
culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively
identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all
legal requirements are met.

Strong standard
Expected standard
Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders have high expectations for every child, including those who may face barriers to
their learning, development or wellbeing. This commitment begins well before children are
admitted to the nursery. Leaders and staff work closely with parents and carers to gain a
thorough understanding of each child's individual needs. Leaders collaborate with external
professionals and put in place bespoke packages of support from the outset. Leaders and
staff make thoughtful adaptations so that every child can succeed and thrive.
Leaders implement well-matched programmes of support, linked to carefully targeted plans,
to ensure children make strong progress from their individual starting points. Staff deliver
interventions with skill and sensitivity, enabling children to make progress alongside their
peers while maintaining high levels of inclusion. Leaders rigorously monitor the impact of
these interventions, using assessment information to review children's progress and identify
any additional support required. Leaders use additional funding streams strategically to
enhance the experiences and outcomes of disadvantaged children, ensuring a measurable
impact on children's learning and development.
Leaders and staff tailor support to meet children's specific needs. For example, children who
require further development of their fine motor skills are provided with purposeful
opportunities to strengthen these through activities in the forest school, helping to prepare
them for early writing. Staff provide children who need support with attention, concentration
and speech and language with engaging, targeted group sessions. Activities such as the
'bucket and bubbles' programme successfully develop sustained attention, social interaction
and communication skills through highly motivating experiences. As a result, children build
the confidence, skills and resilience they need to achieve well.
Achievement Expected standard
Children typically achieve well across the nursery, developing foundational knowledge and
skills across all areas of the early years foundation stage. Older children are well prepared
for their transition to school. For example, older children confidently hold pencils correctly
and give meaning to their own marks when taking orders in the 'potion café'. Younger
children develop essential physical skills, including standing, walking, crawling and
coordination, providing a solid foundation for the next stage of their development in the
nursery.
Children generally demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning and are increasingly
engaged in child-initiated play. Children are kind and considerate towards one another,
sharing resources and space cooperatively. They speak enthusiastically about their
achievements and communicate well. They enjoy sharing their successes and engaging in
meaningful conversations with the adults in the room.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make excellent progress from
their individual starting points. Adaptations are thoughtfully designed in formal learning
opportunities and when children are independently learning through play. For example,
children who need help with socialisation are supported by arranged games and activities
that promote turn-taking, interacting and making friends.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders have created and implemented a range of polices and procedures to support
children's behaviour and access to the nursery. Leaders consider the different requirements
for each child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders
promote attendance and punctuality effectively. They monitor absence and follow up with
timely wellbeing calls to ensure safeguarding procedures are followed.
Leaders and staff implement a structured timetable across the nursery and have secure
routines in place. Leaders have embedded this particularly effectively in the baby room,
where staff and children demonstrate a clear understanding of expectations, resulting in
calm and purposeful transitions throughout the day. However, leaders have not consistently
embedded routines within the toddler/pre-school room. Variability in staff practice means
that children do not always understand what is expected of them. For example, lunchtime
routines, including handwashing for the toddlers, take longer than necessary. As a result,
some children experience extended waiting times before eating, leading to frustration.
Leaders have considered routines during free-flow sessions by organising children into key
groups and age groups. However, transitions are not yet coordinated effectively. For
example, during tidy-up time, some groups finish sooner than others, and circle time begins
before everyone is ready. This means a few children cannot fully hear or join in, which
affects how well they follow instructions and engage in group learning.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Leaders and staff place children's welfare and wellbeing at the centre of their practice. They
work closely with parents and carers, providing tailored advice and support on areas such
as toileting, screen time and nutrition. Well-established partnerships with families are
prioritised from the outset, ensuring open communication and collaborative working. Parents
and carers speak positively about how well their children settle, the quality of the meals
provided and the support their children receive from the very first enquiry.
Children benefit from an established key-person system. Staff typically have a solid
understanding of each child's individual needs and care routines, enabling children to form
attachments and feel safe and valued. Children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities are well supported by staff, particularly with their emotions. For example, children
attend bespoke small-group lessons to discuss their emotions and help with socialising.
Staff are attentive to children's personal care needs throughout the day, including nappy
changing and sleep routines. Robust procedures are in place for sleeping children, with
regular checks carried out to ensure their ongoing safety.

Children enjoy daily opportunities to play outdoors. Older children demonstrate a detailed
understanding of how to keep themselves safe in hot weather, recognising the importance of
staying in the shade, drinking water and cooling down if they become too warm.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders have developed a curriculum that broadly meets the needs of all children. Skilled
and nurturing staff ensure that the youngest children focus on developing their large-and-
small muscle skills and communication and language. They also focus on building secure
attachments with their key persons and developing positive relationships with their peers.
Babies are happy, settled and calm throughout the day.
Leaders and staff prepare older children extremely well to start school. Patient and highly
skilled staff engage children in sustained, purposeful play, asking thoughtful questions that
extend learning while recognising when to step back to promote independence and assess
children's next steps. In the outdoor area, staff sensitively support older children, including
those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, as they independently create a
'potion-making café'. Staff work collaboratively and harmoniously with the children, weaving
mathematics into conversations and encouraging them to compare sizes and describe what
they are doing. They join in taking customers' orders, model mixing 'potions' and making
'food' using a range of resources, and prompt children to discuss their roles with confidence.
Staff remain nearby, offering support only when needed, which enables children to direct
and extend their own learning.
However, in the toddler room, interactions are not always as purposeful or effective as they
could be. At times, staff do not build on children's play or conversations as fully as
elsewhere in the nursery, which means children do not always receive the same level of
support to extend their learning. As a result, there is some variation in how well children
remain engaged and how effectively their learning is developed.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders have established a warm, welcoming and lively environment for the children in their
care. They are reflective and have a clear understanding of the nursery's strengths,
alongside the areas requiring further development and improvement. Leaders know their
staff team well, recognising individual strengths and identifying where further support and
development are needed. They maintain regular supervision meetings and provide staff with
opportunities to discuss their professional development, interests and wellbeing.
Leaders and staff work closely and effectively with parents and carers, external agencies
and other professionals to support children's learning and development. Leaders are
unrelenting in their commitment to creating an inclusive environment and take the time to
understand what each child needs to achieve and thrive. This journey often begins well
before children start at the setting, reflecting leaders' ethos and commitment to ensuring
every child receives the support they need from the earliest opportunity.
Leaders have established effective policies and procedures, including robust safer
recruitment practices. They have invested in staff training and professional development,
particularly in communication and language. However, the implementation of this training

and the quality of staff interactions are not yet consistently strong across the nursery. At
different points during the day, some routines are overly cumbersome, and leaders require
staff to manage multiple tasks simultaneously. This reduces opportunities for consistently
high-quality interactions with some groups of children. Leaders recognise these
inconsistencies, reflect on their impact and continue to drive improvement.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children arrive at the nursery typically happy, confident and excited to begin their day. They
are warmly welcomed by familiar staff members, helping them to settle quickly and feel
secure in the nursery environment. Effective, nurturing relationships with key persons
enable children to develop a sense of belonging and community, giving them the confidence
to explore, learn and thrive. Children are also encouraged to develop an understanding of
the wider world through visits to local places of interest, including museums and parks.
Babies enjoy listening to nursery rhymes and exploring sensory experiences such as water
and bubbles. Carefully planned activities support the development of both large-and-small
muscle skills, while calm and responsive interactions from skilled practitioners help them
feel safe, valued and supported in their learning.
Older children enthusiastically engage in outdoor learning experiences, including forest
school sessions. They play collaboratively and confidently make meaningful connections
between stories they have read and their own imaginative play. Through role play, children
recreate and extend experiences they have observed, taking on a variety of adult roles. For
example, children were observed setting up a 'café', working together to take and write
down orders, prepare food, deliver meals and use rich, appropriate language throughout
their play.
Children in the toddler room benefit from a varied curriculum where they join in with nursery
rhymes, stories and exploratory play experiences. They develop friendships, actively
engage with adults and receive comfort, reassurance and nurturing support when needed.
Children enjoy regular outdoor play opportunities and learn important social skills such as
turn-taking. They also benefit from learning Makaton, which supports communication and
language development and inclusion.
Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make strong
progress from their individual starting points and achieve well. They benefit from early
intervention and support, which in some cases begins before they start attending the
nursery. Children experience high-quality teaching and an engaging, well-planned

Inspector:
Gareth Cotterell
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2813128
Address:
St. Antony With St. Silas Community Centre
Merttins Road
London
SE15 3EB
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 09/12/2024
Registered person: Luna Nurseries Ltd
Register(s): EYR
curriculum that helps them succeed. They benefit from staff who notice any barriers to their
learning and respond quickly, offering the right support at the right time. As a result, gaps in
children's knowledge, skills and development are addressed effectively and begin to close.
Next steps
Leaders should support staff to implement daily routines consistently across all rooms of
the nursery to keep children motivated and engaged.
Leaders should ensure that staff embed the training and guidance they have received so
that high-quality interactions are delivered consistently across the nursery.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator,
parents and children during the inspection.
We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the
quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The
registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for
children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Southwark
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 15 July 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
55
Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
Expected standard
The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are
following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional
standards expected of them.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects
and regulates services that care for children and young people.
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