Tudor House Day Nursery, Altom

Dough for babies, soil-and-water mixing for older children, and learning shaped around family experiences: Tudor House Day Nursery, Altom has a practical, sensory character in its February 2024 account. The strongest impression is of children learning by doing, with familiar adults alongside them.

At its 14 February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities positively. There were also clear priorities for improvement: more consistent language teaching and interactions that extend thinking and help quieter children stay involved.

The nursery has capacity for 76 children and accepts ages from 3 to 60 months. Its address is 22-24 Altom Street, Blackburn, BB1 7ER. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, that brings play, communication, physical development and relationships into the same nursery day, rather than treating learning as a separate lesson.

In February 2024, the curriculum built on skills children already had as they progressed through the nursery. Family experiences also supplied ideas for activities: forthcoming holidays and journeys prompted learning about travel and the wider world. That gave staff a connection between children's lives at home and the experiences they offered during nursery time.

Babies explored dough with their hands and utensils, while older children combined water with soil. These were hands-on opportunities to investigate materials. Movement mattered too: babies practised crawling, moving along furniture and using a spoon independently. Older children took part in swimming, music with movement, and neighbourhood walks. These examples describe the nursery day in February 2024.

Language teaching was less consistent. During that same period, adults introduced simple action words to babies and encouraged older children to sing familiar songs and remember experiences, including a zoo visit. Conversations about animals sometimes developed into discussion of their size. However, pronunciation was occasionally inaccurate, and adults did not always use a child's response to introduce more vocabulary or develop the conversation.

The second improvement priority concerned the depth of play. In February 2024, staff sometimes missed the point at which a child needed a harder question or an extra prompt. Quieter children could also need more help to participate. For parents, the useful distinction is between providing an appealing activity and helping each child remain engaged with it.

Relationships and Communication

In February 2024, staff made time for conversations with parents and used information about home life in their planning. Communication also included a parent app and stay-and-play sessions. These offered different ways for families to follow learning: everyday conversation for immediate details, alongside opportunities to see activities and receive updates.

Babies sought comfort from adults during reading and singing, and older children invited staff into their play. The February 2024 account also describes adults helping children practise sharing, taking turns and respecting another child's wishes. Gentle reminders supported those everyday social habits.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In February 2024, a bilingual staff team helped children learning English as an additional language. Staff also worked with parents and other professionals involved in the care and learning of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These are concrete support mechanisms, rather than a general promise that every child's needs will be identical.

The practical question for a family is how those relationships translate into their own child's day. Language, participation and communication between home and nursery deserve attention together, especially given the February 2024 priorities around vocabulary and encouraging less-confident children.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm. It operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas. That opening window gives families the outer limits of the nursery day; the holiday closures still need to fit their working arrangements.

Getting There

The address is 22-24 Altom Street, Blackburn, BB1 7ER. Altom is the branch identified here, which matters when arranging a visit within a nursery group with several locations.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2024, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. During that period, leaders worked with parents to arrange funded attendance flexibly around changing family needs. This is a dated description of the funding arrangements, rather than a promise of a particular attendance pattern now.

• Language teaching. The February 2024 improvement priorities included more consistent pronunciation and richer conversations. During a visit, ask how staff now develop vocabulary through play and respond to children's questions.
• Quieter children's participation. In February 2024, some children needed more encouragement to remain involved. Ask how practitioners recognise a child who needs support to join in, as well as one ready for greater challenge.
• Attendance and costs. The nursery operates across the year with bank holiday and Christmas closures. Ask which booking patterns and funded arrangements fit your week, and request a written quotation covering meals, consumables and any additional charges.

Tudor House Day Nursery, Altom suits families seeking weekday, year-round care and a nursery day built around practical play. Its February 2024 account gives substance to that character: sensory exploration, physical activities and learning connected to family experiences.

The Good judgement sits alongside specific work to do on language and adult interactions. Families should give those priorities real weight when visiting, especially if their child is quiet or needs encouragement to sustain play. The decision turns on both the care relationships and how effectively adults extend each child's learning.