Ducklings Childcare

A converted Georgian townhouse, fruit trees and a walled garden give Ducklings Childcare a clear identity: childcare organised around a house and its grounds, with a separate preschool across the garden. The outdoor space is a substantial part of the setting's character. Lawns provide room to move, while younger children have separate spaces for play, meals and sleep inside the main house.

At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Ducklings Outstanding and found safeguarding effective. That is a strong dated judgement, rather than a description of an inspection carried out this year. The detail beneath it is useful: children experimented with plants, practised practical skills and used indoor and outdoor reading spaces.

Ducklings has capacity for 60 children, with a current age range of 4 months to 5 years. It offers full-time care and limited term-time care options, alongside an opening window running from early morning into the evening.

Rooms and Ages

Children aged 4 months to 3 years use the main house, where eating, sleeping and playing take place in separate rooms; children aged 3 to 4 move to the pre-school building across the garden. This gives the older group a separate base while keeping the garden part of the setting's shared geography.

The distinction between spaces matters for younger children. Sleep has its own room rather than sharing the play area, and meals have a separate setting too. For preschool children, the move across the garden marks a change of environment as well as a change of stage.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday routines become opportunities to practise language, movement and independence. Ducklings combines planned play with opportunities for children to investigate their surroundings indoors and outside.

In March 2022, learning often started with something tangible. During potion-making, children compared the stems of daffodils and hyacinths, bringing early ideas about length into an activity they could handle and explore. Stories were accompanied by objects children could touch or shake, connecting spoken language with sensory experience.

Reading also had a physical place in the day. In March 2022, softly furnished reading areas were used both inside and outdoors, and babies as well as older children heard stories during the day. Familiar phrases then reappeared in children's play. Books were part of ordinary activity rather than confined to a single group session.

Outdoor and Community Life

The walled garden, lawns and fruit trees are the clearest current physical features. They give outdoor play space within the grounds of the townhouse, rather than making it dependent on an outing elsewhere.

In March 2022, children climbed trees and rope ladders, rode scooters and bikes around obstacles, and dug with gardening tools in the sand. The mud kitchen supported imaginative play, including birthday tea parties made with herbs, grass and water. These examples show the different demands of the outdoor day: balancing and climbing, handling tools, inventing games and playing alongside other children.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2022, a key person helped children settle, and staff used knowledge of individual interests to shape their interactions. Babies could find family photographs on the walls. That small physical detail connected the childcare space with familiar people at home.

Communication extended beyond a daily account. In March 2022, online updates kept parents informed, while key persons discussed development and offered ideas for continuing learning at home. The useful distinction is between knowing what a child has done and understanding what they are practising.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Everyday independence was a recurring theme in March 2022. Before moving to the toddler room, babies practised drinking from open cups and feeding themselves with cutlery. Children used pictures and name labels to identify their own belongings. These were practical preparations for managing more of their day themselves.

Health routines were taught through participation. In March 2022, children helped with safety checklists, learnt to cut fruit carefully, and practised handwashing and toothbrushing. The emphasis was on doing the task, with support, rather than only hearing instructions.

Ducklings employs its own full-time chef. Within the main house, separate eating and sleeping rooms give these routines their own spaces.

Preparation for school also has concrete examples. In March 2022, children rehearsed changing into PE kits and teachers were invited to visit the setting; Ducklings also works with local state and independent schools to support transition. This is preparation for a new routine, with opportunities to become familiar with the people involved.

Sessions and Attendance

Ducklings opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, throughout the year, closing for bank holidays and the Christmas break. Ducklings offers full-time care and limited term-time care options. The opening hours describe the nursery's operating window, rather than the clock times of an individually named booking pattern.

The distinction is useful for families comparing care across the year with attendance organised around school terms. The limited term-time care options deserve attention when discussing a child's proposed routine, especially if siblings already follow a school calendar.

Getting There

The address is 14 The Causeway, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, PE29 2HA, with views towards the River Great Ouse. The A14, A1 and Huntingdon railway station are within easy reach, making those named routes relevant when planning a regular journey.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Term-time attendance. Ducklings offers full-time care and limited term-time care options. On a visit, ask how those options would fit the attendance pattern your family needs.
• A move across the garden. Younger children use the main house, while the 3-to-4-year-old group has a separate pre-school building. Discuss how your child would be supported through that change of base.
• The age of the judgement. The Outstanding judgement dates from March 2022. Treat the detailed examples from that month as a useful picture of practice at the time, alongside the current house, garden and attendance arrangements.

Ducklings suits families seeking full-time childcare or its limited term-time care options, with a house-based setting for younger children and a separate preschool across the garden. Its strongest current physical assets are easy to identify: separate rooms for daily routines and generous outdoor grounds with lawns and fruit trees.

The March 2022 Outstanding judgement adds weight, while the practical examples give it substance. Reading outdoors, comparing plant stems and learning to manage cups, cutlery and clothing describe an early-years day built around exploration and growing independence.