URN 2565951 · Inspected 2026-09-23 · Published 2026-10-22 · Inspector: Juliette Freeman
Puddleducks Day Nursery Unique reference number (URN): 2565951 Address: 246 Walsall Road, Great Wyrley, Walsall, Staffordshire, WS6 6DL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 11/11/2019 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Puddleducks Day Nurseries Partnership Inspection report: 23 September 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. Expected standard Achievement Expected standard Children are generally making typical progress from their starting points. They play alongside their friends and are interested and motivated to explore the learning opportunities on offer to them. Children are confident learners and enjoy their play and learning at this nursery. Children listen carefully and with interest to instructions, for example as they have a go at drawing nature objects during an Autumn related activity. They chat with their friends, negotiate as they play alongside each other and share resources well. Babies are involved as they explore and investigate with their senses and develop their confidence with the dedicated support of their key person. Children hear staff singing songs and telling stories, and they listen with fascination. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning, are prepared for their next stage of learning. Children's transitions between rooms are thoughtfully considered, depending on the needs and personalities of individual children. This means children are happy and content. Older children enjoy activities that prepare them well for their move to school. However, they do not always have enough opportunity to fully develop their independence, particularly during mealtimes and with their personal hygiene. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face barriers to learning, know and understand routines and expectations. Staff adapt routines very well when children need flexibility in the environment. Leaders and staff successfully nurture a happy and caring nursery. This supports positive behaviour and strong relationships, and children behave extremely well. Even the youngest children show care and consideration for others and play alongside each other harmoniously. This helps prepare them for school. However, children do not consistently have enough opportunities to become increasingly independent in personal care tasks and at mealtimes, for example. This means some children do not develop confidence in undertaking tasks for themselves. Staff are positive role models as they help children to understand their feelings and emotions. Staff skilfully recognise when children need their own space or a change of activity to help self-regulation, and they quickly provide these opportunities. Children, including those with SEND and barriers to learning, typically join in with activities and enjoy their play. Leaders promote the importance of attending nursery regularly and punctuality to parents and carers. They know children and their family circumstances very well and are flexible in accommodating individual needs. This supports children's good attendance. Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard Babies and children are nurtured in this nursery. Staff build caring and secure relationships with them and support their individual needs well. This helps children feel secure, safe and ready to learn. Those caring for babies liaise closely with parents and carers to follow personalised care and sleep routines. This promotes consistency, even at this very young age. Babies are nurtured as they confidently explore the interesting and exciting baby room. They reach for favourite toys and resources and look to their key person for reassurance. They snuggle in with staff for a story. Children choose from a range of activities, but they do not always have the wide range of opportunities to do things for themselves. This is particularly evident at mealtimes and during personal care routines, which means some children do not develop their independence. Children's physical health is supported as they run around in the fresh air in the garden. They notice how they get out of breath when they run from one end of the garden to the other as fast as they can. Babies confidently crawl from space to space or use furniture and soft play to pull themselves up to standing. They know the importance of washing their hands when they return inside and get ready for lunchtime. Children thoroughly enjoy freshly prepared, home-cooked and nutritious meals. They understand about being healthy as they chat with staff about healthy vegetables and good things to eat. Staff sit with children during mealtimes to ensure their safety as they eat. Children sleep soundly because staff are attentive and follow the nursery safer sleep procedures. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders and staff establish and embed a positive, focused and ambitious curriculum that covers all areas of learning. They skilfully adapt the everyday learning opportunities and routines to meet the needs of the group of children attending at any given time. Leaders and staff make sure that the curriculum is structured to help children build on their skills and knowledge. Staff use ongoing observations and assessments well to identify children's progress and highlight relevant next steps. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are supported well. Leaders and staff make sensitive and appropriate adaptations to support individual children well. They use sharply focused intervention strategies very well to help all children make progress from their starting points. Leaders and staff provide rich and meaningful learning opportunities indoors, and children are motivated, keen and interested to explore and investigate. The provision for outdoor learning does not offer the same richness in learning opportunities, and this limits children's interest and motivation when outside. While children enjoy climbing and running around, they do not consistently have enough opportunity to fully explore and play actively or develop their critical thinking. Staff's interactions typically support children's learning. They encourage children's language development, for example, as they tell stories with enthusiasm and excitement. They provide opportunities for children to explore mathematical ideas as they fill the containers with sand. However, children do not consistently hear enough mathematical language or a wide range of vocabulary as they play. This means that children do not consistently build upon what they already know. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders and staff typically ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or where there are barriers to learning, are fully included in the nursery. Thoughtful and generally well-considered adaptations are made and sympathetically accommodated so that children's individual needs are supported. Staff recognise the different ways young children learn and adapt their teaching to suit. Leaders and staff are generally thorough in their monitoring of children's ongoing development. This means that they promptly highlight where additional help is needed. They quickly put in place plans to support progress. They liaise closely with parents and carers, as well as other professionals, to ensure the individual needs of all children are met. Leaders understand about the range of funding available to them. Through their prompt recognition of individual needs, they typically access funding in a timely way. This is used carefully to help support the individual progress of children with SEND. For example, intervention resources such as an 'attention bucket' have been put together for use to help with communication and interaction. Those children with barriers to learning are supported to attend regularly, and this helps to ensure that their ongoing development is nurtured. Leadership and governance Expected standard Leaders have a secure and knowledgeable oversight of the provision for children. They are passionate and reflective about ensuring a consistent and caring environment for them. They typically embed a curriculum that is appropriate and meaningful for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and where there are barriers to learning. This means that, overall, all children build on their knowledge and skills. Leaders support staff well, and this helps to ensure their wellbeing. There is an open and honest culture of support, and all staff work very well together as a team. Overall, leaders provide a range of training and professional development opportunities for staff. This typically helps them develop their knowledge and understanding of their role and how to effectively support all children. New staff are supported in their role because leaders follow a comprehensive induction to ensure they understand their responsibilities from the start. Staff say they feel supported by leaders and value the open communication, which encourages discussion. Leaders develop and maintain effective partnerships with parents and carers. Leaders and staff communicate with parents every day, so they know what their children enjoy doing and what their development and progress looks like. Parents say that they are happy with the provision and say that the support they receive is excellent. They say their children are happy and their individual personalities and needs are recognised and valued. Compulsory Childcare Register requirements This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met Voluntary Childcare Register requirements This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met What it's like to be a child at this setting Children are happy, safe and confident at this warm and welcoming nursery. They settle quickly because thoughtful, nurturing and attentive staff carefully consider transitions and settling-in procedures. As a result, children separate from parents with ease and are keen to explore and play. Children benefit from the close and caring relationships staff build with them. Babies play and explore with the support of their key person and enjoy cuddles and snuggles. Young children play alongside other children and begin to understand about sharing. Older children successfully negotiate and solve problems. Leaders and staff recognise the importance of attendance in supporting children's learning and work closely with families to promote this. Children are typically motivated and enthusiastic as they make choices in an environment that values the importance of play. Staff supervise children well and join in with their play to help them make progress. Babies persevere with challenging activities, for example as they try and build a small tower of 2 bricks, one on top of the other. They fill up containers with sand. However, they do not always hear enough mathematical words as they play. Children's physical development is progressing appropriately as they practise their climbing skills or crawl with pace across the floor. Their small physical skills are fostered as they squeeze dough and grab items on a tray with large tweezers or use chalks to make marks on the fence panels in the garden. Children's communication and language development is generally well supported. Babies happily listen to nursery rhymes and favourite stories. Storytelling is enthusiastic and enhances children's enjoyment. However, children do not always hear a wide range of vocabulary and new words to fully enhance their progress. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning receive targeted, sensitive support. For example, children access a range of sensory activities and intervention activities, such as the 'attention bucket' of resources. Next steps Leaders should ensure that staff's teaching is consistently of high quality so that all children make even better progress, particularly in relation to using mathematical language in interactions and ensuring children hear a rich vocabulary and a wider range of new words. Leaders should extend and enhance the curriculum for outdoors to provide children with meaningful experiences and to fully support their play, exploration, active learning and critical thinking. Leaders should strengthen opportunities for children to develop independence in personal care and routines consistently across the setting. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, including those responsible for special educational needs, 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. Inspector: Juliette Freeman About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2565951 Address: 246 Walsall Road Great Wyrley Walsall Staffordshire WS6 6DL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 11/11/2019 Registered person: Puddleducks Day Nurseries Partnership Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Staffordshire Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 23 September 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 60 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. 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