Tudor House Day Nursery, Shear Brow

A baby section capped at three children gives Tudor House Day Nursery, Shear Brow its clearest practical distinction. Home routines guide babies’ care, while preschool brings uniform, monthly home activities and swimming lessons from age three. Those are different experiences for different stages, rather than one nursery routine applied to everyone.

At its May 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, identified mathematics and literacy as strengths and judged safeguarding effective. There were also clear improvements to make: staff needed stronger support to develop their teaching, and activities needed to involve and challenge children more consistently.

The nursery is at 22a Shear Brow, Blackburn, BB1 7EU, accepts children from three to 60 months and has capacity for 37 children in total. It opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas.

Rooms and Ages

Rainbows Room is the name used for both the baby and toddler sections. The baby section takes no more than three babies at once and follows routines brought from home, giving families a concrete limit on the number of babies sharing that part of the nursery. Its planning board sets out activities, and regular outings extend the day beyond the room.

At two, children move into the toddler section, also called Rainbows Room, where they adopt a different daily routine and take part in regular trips. Parents can see the routine in the room, which makes this change something they can prepare for rather than simply a new room name.

Sunshines Room is the preschool stage, beginning at three, with monthly home activities and access to swimming lessons. Uniform is required for preschool children. This makes the older children’s experience more structured and adds responsibilities for families as well as opportunities for children.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care. In everyday terms, learning connects play with language, early mathematics, physical development and growing independence. The nursery’s May 2022 activities show how those areas can meet in a single experience.

In May 2022, a farm visit had prompted shop play with fruit and vegetables. Children practised waiting for a turn, heard adults name produce and explored money through counting pennies. Crown-making also brought counting into creative work, with staff introducing comparisons between quantities. These examples give parents a clearer picture of early learning than a list of subjects would.

Home Link Activities adds a monthly task for preschool families to complete with their child. Swimming is a further activity for children aged three onwards. The former carries learning into home life; the latter gives older children access to lessons alongside their nursery day.

Outdoor and Community Life

In May 2022, children could climb, plant and play circle games outdoors. Weekly forest school activities involved exploring nature and selecting items for creative work, including making crowns. This linked outdoor experiences with small-hand movements and making choices about materials.

Regular outings remain part of the baby and toddler arrangements. Baby families are asked to bring a coat, with advance notice if a pushchair is needed; toddlers need a coat and suitable outdoor footwear. These are practical expectations worth building into the everyday nursery bag.

Continuity is the starting point for baby care. Staff use each child’s home routine before gradually helping them adjust to nursery routines and the later move into the toddler section. For families with an established pattern at home, this offers a specific basis for discussing how care will fit their baby.

Weaning arrangements are equally concrete: the nursery supplies fresh milk and can blend its daily food for weaning babies, while parents are advised to bring formula measured for each feed and must provide any boxed baby food their child uses. Parents also bring nappies for babies and toddlers, replenishing them when staff flag that supplies are running low.

In May 2022, a key-person system supported children’s relationships with staff, and themed packs took learning home. Children chose resources for their own activities and were encouraged to manage cutlery themselves. Those details connect care with growing independence, rather than treating learning and daily routines as separate parts of the day.

The May 2022 inspection identified uneven participation in some activities and insufficient challenge for some children, alongside a need for more effective staff development. Less confident children sometimes had fewer opportunities during sensory play. That concern matters because access to an activity is only useful if each child can take part and build on what they already know.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, with year-round operation except bank holidays and Christmas. In May 2022, the nursery’s session window ran from 7.30am to 6pm. That dated session window should be kept separate from the current opening hours when planning attendance.

The contact route is the nursery at 22a Shear Brow, Blackburn, BB1 7EU, by telephone on 01254 485 531 or email at info@tudorhousedaynursery.co.uk. Preschool families also need to account for the required uniform and the monthly home activity when organising their child’s nursery routine.

Funding and Paid Extras

In May 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. For baby care, parents must supply boxed baby food where used and are advised to bring formula measured for each feed; parents of babies and toddlers supply nappies. These are separate practical responsibilities to include when considering the overall arrangement.

• Teaching and participation. The May 2022 priorities concerned staff development and activities that involved and challenged every child. During a visit, ask how staff now adapt a shared activity for children with different confidence levels and starting points.
• A small baby section. The three-baby cap and use of home routines are concrete attractions for infant care. Discuss how your baby’s existing routine would fit the gradual move towards nursery and toddler routines.
• Preschool expectations. Sunshines Room requires uniform and a completed monthly home activity. Families should be comfortable with that structured home contribution as well as the option of swimming from age three.
• Funding and the overall bill. Funded provision was recorded in May 2022, while parents must supply boxed baby food where used and nappies, and are advised to bring formula measured for each feed. Ask for the current funded attendance arrangement and a written quotation showing how food, supplies and additional activities are treated.

Tudor House suits families who value a small baby section, continuity with home routines and a more structured preschool stage. Its strongest practical details are the three-baby limit, regular outings and Sunshines Room’s monthly home activities and swimming lessons.

The Good judgement dates to May 2022, and the teaching concerns from that visit deserve attention alongside the strengths. The useful decision is whether the nursery’s approach to individual routines and older children’s participation fits your child, with the preschool expectations fitting family life too.