Coundon and Leeholme Early Years Centre

Sensory play for babies and child-led exploration for older children give Coundon and Leeholme Early Years Centre its character. Based at The Eden Centre on Victoria Lane in Coundon, it takes children from three months to five years and has 73 places in total. Separate learning areas give children different ways to explore, while a key person provides a familiar point of contact for care.

At its December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and praised the coordination of support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement sits alongside two practical improvement points: communicating changes of key person and planning staff development more precisely.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings give families different attendance options. The detail matters, because booked sessions and the overall opening window have different finishing times.

Rooms and Ages

The baby room combines physical exploration with creative and sensory experiences: objects to grasp and move, messy play, and resources that invite children to use their senses. Its learning emphasis includes language, movement and relationships, making play the means through which younger children develop everyday skills.

The pre-school rooms serve children aged two to five, with organised learning areas and resources for exploring number, early literacy, the world and creative expression. Children can direct their own play, alongside activities led by adults. This gives preparation for school a practical shape rather than reducing it to formal tasks.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the common framework for learning through play, with attention to communication, physical development and social relationships as well as later learning. Here, the balance between children's choices and adult-led activities is explicit. Practitioners monitor development, and parents can request a detailed account of their child's progress.

In December 2022, everyday activities connected several kinds of learning. Children working in a pretend Santa's workshop compared wrapping materials, cut paper and built a robot from packages. An imaginative game became an opportunity to discuss shapes, size and counting. The activity gave mathematical language a purpose children could understand.

Other examples from December 2022 were equally hands-on. Dough play exercised the muscles needed for early writing, while toy dinosaurs prompted new vocabulary. Babies explored books through their textures and pictures; older children heard animated storytelling. Mark making also extended outdoors, where children used brushes to draw shapes in snow. These are examples from that winter visit, rather than a fixed activity timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

In December 2022, babies practised moving around furniture and negotiating small steps leading to a slide. That physical arrangement offered a manageable challenge as they developed confidence in movement.

Community outings were also part of the day at that time. A visit to the war memorial after Remembrance Day opened discussion about poppies and their meaning. The value was in connecting something children could see locally with a conversation about other people and the wider community.

A key person takes responsibility for each group of children, giving care a recognisable relationship rather than a succession of unfamiliar contacts. Current arrangements also include paediatric first-aid training, with annual refresher courses. These are concrete care arrangements; the quality judgement remains the dated inspection finding.

The December 2022 inspection identified that some parents were uncertain about their child's key person after staffing changes, affecting the precision of handovers, and asked for staff development to be planned more closely. Both points concern consistency: families need to know who holds the detailed picture of their child, and practitioners need purposeful opportunities to extend their knowledge.

In December 2022, staff used an online system to help parents continue learning at home. Children also practised useful routines, including washing their hands, dealing with tissues, arranging the lunch table and using cutlery. Such tasks made independence part of ordinary care rather than a separate lesson.

An experienced cook has training in food safety, handling and young children's nutritional needs, and the nursery provides nutritious meals during the day. Food is therefore part of the daily offer, alongside care and learning.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm; afternoons run from 12.30pm to 5.30pm; a full day runs from 8am to 5.30pm. The overlapping morning and afternoon windows allow families to choose different parts of the nursery day.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with weekends closed. The centre operates throughout the year. The distinction between the 6pm opening time and the 5.30pm session finish is worth addressing when discussing a booking, rather than assuming that the later time belongs to a full-day place.

Getting There

The address is The Eden Centre, Victoria Lane, Coundon, DL14 8NP. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone on 01388 663130.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds and 15 or 30 hours for three- and four-year-olds. Private paid sessions are also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The funded entitlement and the chosen attendance pattern are separate decisions. A family considering a morning place, for example, needs the funded arrangement to work with that session, rather than assuming that entitlement alone determines the booking.

• Key-person continuity. In December 2022, staffing changes left some parents unsure who their child's key person was. At a visit, ask how a change is communicated and how detailed handovers are maintained.
• Practitioner development. More precise planning of professional development was an improvement point in December 2022. Ask how current training priorities relate to the children and rooms staff support.
• Collection times. Full-day sessions finish at 5.30pm, while opening hours extend to 6pm. Establish which collection arrangement would form part of your booking.
• The funded booking. The funding offer includes age-specific entitlements, alongside paid sessions and meals. Ask how funding would apply to your child's age and chosen pattern, including its annual delivery and the treatment of meals and non-food consumables.

Coundon and Leeholme Early Years Centre suits families considering morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance. Its baby-room sensory resources and older children's organised learning areas give the day a concrete structure, with space for children to make choices.

The December 2022 picture combined imaginative play, practical independence and coordinated additional support with specific weaknesses in parent communication and staff-development planning. Those improvement points deserve attention alongside the Good judgement. For parents, the strongest decision is one that brings the learning offer, key-person arrangements and actual booking times together.