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Muddy Puddles Childcare

At Muddy Puddles you will find a home away from home. We are a small childcare setting with a maximum of 15 children per day, so you can rest assured that your child will get the care and attention they deserve. We accept children from 9 months to 5 years.

The nursery is set in 100 acres of countryside so fresh air is always on the menu and our single storey converted barn offers the perfect environment for your child to learn and play, with free flow access to our outdoor facilities at all times.

We utilise our space inside by having 2 set rooms- a baby and toddler room, then a preschool room. However we do have days where spend the day together which we find beneficial for both the younger children and older children. 

We ensure the children spend as much time outside as possible in either our front play area or our back garden. The children have access to a number of outside resources via the 2 sheds which are always accessible to them. We have access to a separate garden which will be made into a vegetable garden for the children to help plant and take care of veg patches. 

The children are taken out daily for exploratory walks around the farm and to see the animals. We are trying to be a no waste nursery so we encourage the children the save their food waste to feed to the animals. Any food the animals can not eat we put into a compost bin. 

Who to contact

Contact name
Heather Black / Zoe Stidwell
Contact position
Manager/Deputy Manager
Telephone
07961 053117
E-mail
muddypuddleschildcare99@gmail.com
Website
https://muddypuddleschildcare.co.uk/

Where to go

Name
Muddy Puddles Childcare
Address
Garlidna Farm
Porkellis
Helston
Cornwall
Postcode
TR13 0JX
Notes

Although there are no pets in the setting there are guinea pigs, horses, dogs, cats, chickens, sheep and pigs on site !

Other details

Costs

Table of costs
Table of costs
AmountCost Type
£53.50 over 2 years Per Full Day
£58 under 2 years Per Full Day
£38.50 over 2 years Short Day
£42 under 2 years Short Day
£7.70 Per additional hour
£48 Friday session 8-4.30 N/A
£52.00 Friday session 8-4.30 N/A
Do you offer a free or reduced rate to carers?
No
Please enter details including what proof is required for the free or reduced rate
For all children receiving Funded hours we need to see proof of DOB from a passport or birth certificate.

Inclusion within our setting

Dietary needs

Has provision
Yes

Cultural provisions

Languages spoken

English

Pet provisions

Are there any pets at the setting?
No

Childcare information

Vacancies

Immediate vacancies
No
Details
Vacancies available on some days - please enquire
Date updated
01/11/2021

Funded places

3 & 4 year old funding
Yes
2 year old funding
Yes

Opening times & facilities

Opening times
Opening times
DayOpening timeClosing time
Monday 7.30am 5.30pm
Tuesday 7.30am 5.30pm
Wednesday 7.30am 5.30pm
Thursday 7.30am 5.30pm
Friday 7.30am 4.30pm

Ofsted information

Ofsted URN
EY562296
Link to latest ofsted inspection report 
Inspection history
Inspection History
Inspection DateInspection typeInspection Outcome
14/06/2022Inspection (Early Years Register)Good

Inclusion details

Saint Piran's Flag
SENCo name
Zoe Stidwell

Early Years Local Offer response

Learning and development

Systems and strategies we have in place to identify children that may require additional support

We use Tapestry to upload photos of our activities during the time the children spend with us at Muddy Puddles, as it is not compulsory we do not link anything up to the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework however if we feel a child may need some additional support we will begin by doing some observations to link up to the  framework to see where the child displays within their development.


We also do ECAT (Every Child A Talker) checklist which helps up to understand the support we may need to put in place for any child who may be needing the additional support around their Communication and Language.

How we identify and support children's learning and development needs

As we are a small setting, we know all of our children well and can identify through play if they need additional support. Following on from the previous statement, we have different checklists in place we fill out for all children and will support any children who are not quite meeting the correct targets.

Links we have to other agencies

Within our setting, we have access to all outside agencies and work closely with our Locality SENDCO, Communication and Autism Worker and a Speech and Language Therapist. We have regular visits from these agencies to support children in our care who have an ILP (Individual Learning Plan) and may have an ECHP (Education Health Care Plane).

How we support children transferring to school

When any child transfers to school, we have visits from most schools to our setting to meet the child within their education setting so they can speak with a keyworker to understand their learning and development and where any further support maybe needed. We also write up a 'Going to School' report for every child who is transiting to school. 


With regards to children who may have an ILP or EHCP in place, we will do more intermediate support and will do some visits to the school the child will be attending.

Welfare

Specialist skills or training our staff have

All of our staff have Paediatric First Aid training and basic Safe Guarding training. We feel these are compulsory within our setting and make sure all staff have these basic training skills as we are a small setting. Heather our Manager and Zoe our Deputy Manager have full level 3 training is Safe Guarding and are our Designated Safe Guarding leads in the setting. Zoe, who is also our settings SENCO has full training in SENCO and often goes on training to keep up to date with all areas of the role. 

Support we offer regarding children's health and well-being

As we do not provide lunches within our setting, we ask that children bring a healthy lunch with them. We ask that they do not bring any chocolate or sweets in their lunchboxes, if this was the case we would remove them from the lunchbox before the child began their lunch, although we are happy if the children bring a sweet treat such as a biscuit. We encourage all children to eat their savoury first before moving onto the rest of their lunch box contents.


We offer a snack of fruit and a crack or a breadstick, where we encourage the children to eat their fruit before moving on.

Ways we inform parents about how their child is being supported

We speak to our parents during their collection from nursery. We have previously done parents evenings, however do not feel these are necessary within our setting as we find that speaking to parents more beneficial and can address any concerns or queries that are fresh from both parents and staff during this time. Parents are always open to chatting to staff and ask to have a 1 on 1 chat with Heather, Zoe or their child's keyworker when they feel they have a concern.

Our complaints policy

If a parent or career does not feel our care and practice is up to standard then we hope that they would be able to confide in our management and discuss this further during a time that suits them, this could be an evening or during a weekend. As it is a requirement by OFSTED, all complaints are logged along with the outcome and any further actions taken. These records must be available to show to OFSTED  if required and we will retain in a designated complaints folder for at least 3 years. We will also ensure we respond to any complaint within 28 days.


If it is felt that we have not resolved the complaint or you are unable to confide in the management, you will be able to set up a meeting with the owner (Victoria Shaw).

Access

Alterations we have made to make our building accessible

We are a single story building from the front door to the main room and bathroom, therefore we do not need to make adaptions for anyone who would require a wheelchair. However, we do have 2 steps that lead from one room to another therefore we would provide a ramp to support the transition of rooms if required.

Facilities we have for personal care

We have 2 bathrooms in the building, 1 that the children have access too and 1 that is upstairs for the staff to use. The children do not use the stairs. In the bathroom we have a toilet, sink and a bath however we do not use the bath and the taps are turned off tight so the children cannot turn them on.


In the bathroom we also have a changing station for children who require nappy changes. As the bathroom is opposite the main entrance there is a door on the bathroom, which we can pull to if there is a parent at the door during personal care, however at all other times this remains open to ensure the safety of our children and staff.

Specialist resources we have

We have a sensory area in between our baby/toddler room and pre-school room. This, at the moment is a specific area for a child who requires additional support, however when they are not in we allow the other children to use this area to relax.

How we include all children in activities, such as trips

We do not go on trips outside of the setting, this is due to being very fortunate with our surroundings with being based on a farm which has 100 acres of land. We do our utmost to ensure that we utilise our environment and see the animals and go on nature walks as much as we can. As we also accommodate for babies, we have prams in which we put the younger children in so they can also enjoy their environment. The farm has a cross country field for the horses which has lots of jumps in which we are allowed to go and un around on when it is not in use, we allow all the children to make use of this whether they are in a pram or walking.


If a child needed a walking aid or wheelchair, we would ensure that they had same opportunities all all other children to use this facility too.

Last updated: 17/10/2023

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