A Monmouthshire nursery had a pat on the back from Shadow Minister Asghar after it received a clean sweep of excellent in all areas with no recommendations for improvement in their last joint Estyn/ CIW inspection.

Puddle Ducks Day Nursery, Pre School and Holiday Club in Raglan, has just released its November 2024 report which stated that there were no specific recommendations relating to the inspection and the setting should continue to implement the highly effective practice to support children’s development, well-being and learning!

The report which rates the setting excellent in the areas of well-being, learning, care and development, teaching and assessment, environment, and leadership and management goes on to say, “nearly all children, including those with additional learning needs make excellent progress from their individual starting points. Nearly all children make very strong progress in developing their communication and independent skills during their time at the setting”. It speaks of, “practitioners having high expectations of themselves and a good understanding of child development and how children learn”.

The report describes the environment as welcoming and celebrates children’s uniqueness, creativity, and successes. It also describes the building, which is purpose built by the owners as, “exceptional quality”, and how, “the leaders ensure that the layout and arrangement of the premises meets children’s needs exceptionally well”.

Puddle Ducks, which stands in 5 acres of its own secure grounds had the outdoor environment describes as “highly enabling” in the report and with having a variety of stimulating spaces for play, learning and exploration. It mentions how “ leaders have recently developed a forest cabin area and woodland walk where children have the opportunities to experience nature. They grow their own plants and vegetables to enhance their learning and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the world”.

It talks of leaders having high expectations of themselves, practitioners and children and having high aspirations for practitioners which empowers them to take on leadership roles across the setting. The clear vision and ethos lead to excellent teamwork and successful co-operation among practitioners.

A feature of the setting is how it uses Welsh language throughout and that a few children use Welsh independently, the setting also encourages children to embrace Welsh culture. This is strengthened by the settings strong links to the community and the local area to enrich children’s learning. For example, they join the Harvest Festival in the local church and bring the fruit and vegetables they have grown to donate to the local foodbank.

Puddle Ducks which was designed and built by local man, Rob Rennie and run by his wife Jennifer and managed by their daughter Lydia has been running in its current location since 2005 and provides day care for up to 150 children per day from surrounding areas.

Jennifer said that they were “all over the moon with our latest report.

“We have all worked incredibly hard to provide the best quality childcare and education to our little ones and to have this recognised and appreciated by the inspectors has been amazing. To receive further congratulations from Natash Asghar, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education has been the icing on the cake!.

“Ms Asghar said that the report is a true testament to the work that you and your staff undertake in providing a great start to pupils education. Jennifer goes on to say, “ It was hard to recover from the effects of Covid and to have the restrictions lifted to find that we all had to learn and deliver a new curriculum, the new curriculum for non-maintained settings for Wales was initially a struggle but now we are seeing the benefits of an holistic, child centred approach to learning and our whole team has grasped the curriculum and are passionate about planning activities based on their interests.

“We have an incredible team at Puddle Ducks, more of a family than just work colleagues and our family ethos has made Puddle Ducks a very special place to be”.