The Duckling Nursery

Balance bikes, story retelling and practical independence give The Duckling Nursery its character. Based at Writtle Infant School in Writtle, it has capacity for 28 children aged one to five. The school setting matters to the experience: in December 2024, children used the school playground as well as the nursery’s outdoor space to develop their movement skills.

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. Two improvements were required: staff needed to stretch children’s learning more consistently and establish better handwashing habits after nose wiping. Those are useful details behind the overall judgement, with implications for both teaching and everyday care.

Term-time provision is the practical starting point for families. Funded hours and additional privately paid hours are offered, with voluntary extras handled through an agreement with parents.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children’s learning and care, with play opportunities adapted to what each child understands and can do. A key person observes development and plans the next steps. The framework is the foundation; signing tuition, sports tuition and practical activities are additions to it.

The funding policy includes talk to the hands signing and superstar sports among optional specialist activities. It also identifies gardening, sewing, cooking and craft activities. Participation in voluntary activities depends on parental choice and agreement to the charges, so these additions should be considered separately from the funded nursery hours.

In December 2024, stories and action songs gave children opportunities to practise language. Adults left gaps for children to complete, while older children retold stories themselves. That moves story time beyond listening: children contribute words, remember sequences and have opportunities to speak.

Practical learning also included using scissors and exploring differences such as hard and soft. Children chose their activities and sustained their attention. The limitation was in the adult response: opportunities to take an idea further were sometimes missed, leaving the level of challenge uneven. For a child who readily masters an activity, the next question or task matters as much as the initial choice.

Outdoor and Community Life

In December 2024, children could use the outdoor area throughout the day. Balance bikes and a climbing frame supported coordination, with adults helping children think about how to balance. Use of the school playground added room to practise movement rather than restricting physical learning to the nursery’s own space.

An annual family trip is part of the funding policy, with a farm or country park given as possible destinations. The nursery closes for that trip, and participation charges are voluntary for funded children. This is a family event as well as an outing, so it affects the usual childcare arrangement for that day.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person responsible for tailoring care and planning learning. Parent meetings provide opportunities to exchange information, while communication can be written, spoken or translated according to families’ needs. That gives parents more than one way to contribute information about their child.

Tapestry is the learning journal included among the policy’s additional services. Parent mornings and a leavers lunch also feature in that policy, bringing families into nursery life and marking the move beyond nursery.

In December 2024, staff supported children with practical self-care: managing coats and shoes, tidying before meals and washing hands before eating. Families also received help with potty training. These are everyday skills with immediate value at home, although the handwashing concern after nose wiping remains an important part of that dated picture.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that cooperation with other professionals and use of additional funding supported good progress, including for children with special educational needs or disabilities. The current support mechanisms include an inclusion partner at Essex County Council and applications, where eligible, for SENIF funding to enhance individual support and Disability Access Funding (DAF).

Reasonable adjustments are part of the inclusion policy. Parents of children with known additional needs discuss possible support with the nursery before deciding whether the provision fits their child. This makes the individual arrangement, rather than a general promise, the useful basis for a decision.

Visitor arrangements require identification and staff supervision, with concerns directed to a safeguarding lead or deputy. These procedures set expectations for visitors and provide a route for reporting concerns.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Writtle Infant School, Lodge Road, Writtle, CM1 3HZ. Enquiries can be made by email to enquiries@ducklingnursery.co.uk. The admissions process includes a visit, discussion of session requirements and registration forms; a welcome pack follows in the term before a child starts, with induction information and the parent contract. A waiting list operates, with offers dependent on availability.

The 2025–2026 fee schedule offered mornings from 8.45am to 12.45pm and afternoons starting at 1pm, finishing at 3pm, 4.30pm or 5.30pm. All-day patterns began at 8.45am with the same three finishing choices. Breakfast Club ran from 7.30am to 8.45am; after-school patterns ran from 3.15pm to either 4.30pm or 5.30pm. This schedule illustrates several different attendance lengths rather than a single all-day booking.

The funding policy describes term-time provision, closure on bank holidays and two INSET days annually. An extra week beyond the funded calendar may require a term-specific funding adjustment, private payment or opting out of that week.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use 15 or 30 funded hours, normally delivered during term time over 38 weeks. Additional private hours are offered, but buying them is not a condition of a funded place. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Families provide packed lunches for the morning and all-day patterns in the 2025–2026 schedule; food supplied during funded sessions is separately charged through voluntary extras where applicable. Non-food consumables, including wipes and nappies, also attract voluntary separate charges for funded sessions, except for means-tested two-year-old funding, which covers the nursery’s offer.

Parents can opt out of the additional charge and agree a personalised alternative. Choosing not to pay for voluntary activities means the child does not take part in those activities, while continuing to receive EYFS provision. The distinction matters: funded hours, extra private hours and optional additions are separate decisions.

• Age at entry. The overall age range is one to five, while the admissions policy describes care for children aged two to four. Which intake arrangement applies to your child’s age?
• Teaching and hygiene. December 2024 brought improvement requirements on extending learning and handwashing after nose wiping. At a visit, ask how staff now build these into daily practice.
• Your attendance agreement. The detailed session schedule is for 2025–2026, and provision is term time. Ask which morning, afternoon or all-day pattern can be agreed for your intended start.
• Optional additions. Funded-session extras require parental agreement, with a personalised alternative for families who opt out and an exception for means-tested two-year-old funding. Settle the food, consumables and activity arrangements together before signing.

The Duckling Nursery suits families seeking term-time provision, whether a morning, afternoon or all-day attendance pattern fits their routine. Its December 2024 picture combines active outdoor play, opportunities to use language and practical self-care, alongside clear areas requiring attention. The key-person arrangement and individual funding agreements add useful structure. The strongest decision will connect those features to the child’s age, support needs and agreed attendance pattern.