Puddleducks Day Nursery

Beach School outings and duckling hatching give Puddleducks Day Nursery a character rooted in exploration. Its base is a converted Victorian-style house in residential Worthing, with preschool outings extending children's experiences beyond the nursery itself. The appeal is concrete: opportunities to investigate living things, explore outdoors and try dance sit alongside everyday play.

At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That positive overall position comes with clear work to do on curriculum planning and the organisation of outdoor learning. Both matter when judging how well an appealing activity becomes a purposeful learning experience.

Puddleducks accepts children aged 0–5, with separate holiday care for children up to age 8 and up to and including Year 2. The holiday club is currently unable to offer new holiday-club places. It opens on weekdays, from 8am to 6pm, for 51 weeks each year. An hour-long settling session with a parent or carer and an assigned key person gives families a structured starting point.

Rooms and Ages

The room stages are BABIES, TODDLERS and PRE-SCHOOL. They distinguish the nursery's provision for younger children from its preschool offer, where outings add experiences beyond the house.

In December 2024, babies explored sensory materials while adults supplied words connected with their play. That links an immediate experience with language, rather than treating talking as a separate activity. Older children's curiosity also drove learning: a garden insect hunt led to adults helping them identify their discoveries and compare insect features using reference books.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the required framework for children's learning, development and care: here, play, conversation, stories and practical exploration contribute to that learning. Puddleducks combines child-chosen play with activities initiated by adults, giving children opportunities both to pursue an interest and to try something introduced by staff.

Diddi Dance sessions introduce different forms of dance. Duckling hatching provides a first-hand way to explore life cycles, giving children something living to observe as it develops. These are tangible additions to the nursery day, rather than an unexplained curriculum label.

In December 2024, children used a basket of song props, taking turns to choose an item before joining songs and rhymes. Stories, songs and conversations also supplied words that children then used in play. The practical value lies in connecting language with something children are doing, hearing or investigating.

Planning needed greater precision at that date. Staff were not consistently translating the curriculum into sufficiently broad learning experiences or identifying exactly what children should learn. The improvement task was to make the educational purpose clearer, rather than simply assemble activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

Beach School involves preschool outings with staff trained to deliver that experience. Preschool children also visit the local library and children and family centre. Those destinations broaden the settings in which children explore and participate; the outings belong to the preschool offer, rather than being a promise for every age group.

The garden supplied substantial physical challenges in December 2024. Children rode balance bikes downhill and steered around obstacles, while a group counting game combined movement with listening and cooperation. However, staff sometimes set out too many activities and children became overwhelmed. Senior leaders intervened, but more consistent planning of purposeful outdoor learning remained an improvement priority.

Relationships and Communication

The Pre-Start session lasts an hour, with a parent or carer staying alongside their child. Staff aim to arrange a convenient time in the week before attendance begins. A key person uses that time to learn about the child from the family, making the first contact an exchange of useful information as well as an introduction.

That key person remains an initial contact for parents and keeps a developmental record called a Learning journey. Monthly sharing through a secure online app gives families a regular view of their child's progress. It also creates a continuing link between the first settling conversation and later learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff knew their key children well, worked with families and other professionals, and arranged timely intervention for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is a dated finding about how support worked, with information-sharing helping staff respond to individual needs.

Respect also appeared in small care routines in December 2024: adults sought children's cooperation before wiping their noses. Such moments give children a part in their own care, rather than making personal routines something simply done to them.

Families can discuss allergies, dietary requirements and food preferences with management so meals can be adapted. Holiday-club meals are home-cooked and included in its fee; meals during funded nursery hours attract a separate charge.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 5 Chaucer Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 4PB. Nursery opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year.

Holiday care runs in the PRE-SCHOOL space and follows WSCC term dates, catering for children up to and including Year 2. The club is currently unable to offer new holiday-club places. Existing provision includes all-day sessions from 8am to 6pm, mornings from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1.30pm to 6pm; flexible arrangements may also be accommodated. Holiday-club children spend part of their day with preschool children, so this is shared provision rather than a wholly separate club setting.

A viewing can be requested through the booking form, with the team confirming the appointment. After visiting, families can register their child on the waiting list.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered. The funded entitlement itself is free at delivery, while additional hours, meals and consumables during funded hours are charged separately. There is no daily limit on the number of funded hours used, but that does not establish a particular entitlement or booking arrangement for an individual child.

Fees are invoiced by email and paid monthly, with Direct Debit managed through Famly. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and booking page explains the charging structure.

• Learning beyond the activity. December 2024 brought improvement priorities for curriculum breadth, precise learning aims and garden organisation. At a viewing, ask how staff now turn a child's chosen activity into a clear next step in learning.
• Funded-hours extras. Meals and consumables are charged separately during funded hours, alongside any additional private hours. A written quotation should distinguish these categories so families can assess the complete arrangement.
• The first separation. The Pre-Start session is an hour with a parent or carer present, which staff aim to arrange in the week before attendance begins. Ask how the settling plan would respond if your child needed more support after that introduction.

Puddleducks suits families drawn to preschool outings, dance and hands-on experiences such as duckling hatching, alongside a key-person relationship and monthly learning updates. Its Good judgement in December 2024 provides a positive inspection position, tempered by specific questions about planning and outdoor organisation.

For existing holiday-club users up to and including Year 2, provision includes all-day attendance, mornings and afternoons; the club is currently unable to offer new holiday-club places. For nursery-age children, the strongest reasons to consider Puddleducks are the concrete experiences and structured family contact, with the quality of current planning an important part of the decision.