Tilly-Mints Cherubs Day Nursery

Mud mark-making, visits to community allotments and a weekly visiting yoga teacher give Tilly-Mints Cherubs Day Nursery a day that reaches beyond its rooms. Forest School, its child-directed outdoor learning approach, uses weather and natural materials to shape activities. For children who enjoy investigating rather than simply watching, there is plenty to get involved in.

Based in Blackhill, Consett, the nursery accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has 75 places in total. Its premises have their own grounds and an outdoor play area, giving outdoor learning a base at nursery as well as destinations further afield.

At its July 2021 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall and found safeguarding effective, while identifying a need for clearer individual learning aims during some adult-led activities and fuller responses to older children's speech. That is a positive dated assessment with specific teaching improvements attached. A term-time-only funded attendance option also serves families whose childcare needs follow the nursery education calendar.

Rooms and Ages

The rooms include Baby Room, Pre-School Room and Sensory / Sleep Room, alongside an area labelled 18 – 36 Months. The overall age range extends from young babies to children preparing for school. The Sensory / Sleep Room gives sleep and sensory experiences an explicitly named space, although the room name alone should not be read as a description of its equipment or routines.

Preschool learning combines play started by children with activities introduced by adults. Imaginative play gives children opportunities to practise sharing and independence; physical play involves balance, movement and working with others. Songs and stories bring communication into the same day. These are connected experiences, rather than a timetable of separate lessons.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play across communication, physical development, personal and social development, literacy and numeracy. Planning begins with observing children's interests and development, so activities can respond to the child rather than simply follow a fixed sequence. Photographs, observations and examples of work build a learning journey that families receive when their child leaves preschool.

Yoga Sessions add a weekly visit from a yoga teacher, with children learning stretches. This introduces another form of physical activity alongside active outdoor play. The useful distinction is the recurring visiting session, rather than a broad promise about confidence or future wellbeing.

In July 2021, children explored patterns by shaping play dough and making marks. Counting and comparison also appeared within everyday activities, including a matching game. Repeated stories and rhymes allowed children to become familiar with words and retell a story using its pictures. These examples show how practical play, conversation and books contributed to the learning day at that time.

Nursery Rhyme Week in November 2023 extended singing into making instruments from household materials and inventing and acting out rhymes. Makaton signs, used alongside songs to make participation more accessible, were part of that event. This was a dated example of language work taking several forms, rather than evidence of a permanent specialist programme.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School involves regular visits to a local park area and community allotments. Activities respond to conditions: rain can prompt making marks with mud, while wind supplies material for experiments. Sensory walks, looking for minibeasts and creating art from natural materials give children reasons to observe closely and make choices. The approach adds practical outdoor exploration alongside the everyday learning framework.

Community Visits include regular time at a local care home, taking books, drawing materials and memory cards. Children also visit shops, the library, parks and rivers, collecting natural materials to use back at nursery. These outings bring conversation with other people into the day and connect nursery activities with the surrounding community.

Environmental work has concrete examples behind it. In June 2024, the nursery achieved the Bronze Award through the Woodland Trust following work that included recycling activities, tree planting and gardening. Battery and mobile-phone recycling collections were also described in February 2024. For families who value learning about nature, this gives the outdoor offer substance beyond occasional fresh air.

Local celebrations have drawn children into making things for a wider audience. In December 2024, decorations made from natural materials formed the nursery's contribution to the Christmas Tree Festival at Christ Church in Consett. Babies also attended a Christmas party at Spotty Giraffe Soft Play that month. An annual Santa Claus visit brings another recurring event into nursery life; the festival and party are examples from that particular year.

Relationships and Communication

A key worker gives each child and family a named professional contact. That makes the relationship useful for parents as well as children: there is someone responsible for knowing the child's experiences and discussing their development. Regular stay and play dates welcome carers and grandparents, and parents can contribute activities such as baking or reading.

In July 2021, babies and toddlers sought comfort from familiar staff, and routines took account of individual needs and patterns at home. Younger children practised feeding themselves, while older children helped clear their plates and cups. Those small daily tasks gave independence a practical form rather than treating it as something reserved for school preparation.

Learning journeys provide a further connection between nursery and home. They contain photographs, written observations and children's work, and families are encouraged to share them with the Reception teacher. This is a way to pass on knowledge about a child's interests and development when they move on, rather than an admissions advantage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SEN co-ordinator works with colleagues, key workers and families to organise support around individual children. This identifies a mechanism for discussing additional needs and coordinating provision, rather than making a blanket claim that every need can be met in the same way.

In April 2025, the nursery supported Durham County Council's WellComm Early Language Screening initiative for children aged 2–4. The screening checks communication development and helps identify areas needing attention. It is a concrete example of attention to speech and language, with a clear purpose that parents can understand.

Staff undertake training each month through internal and external opportunities, and all staff hold paediatric first aid qualifications. Food is prepared fresh each day in the nursery kitchen, with an autumn/winter menu organised across three weeks. Breakfast, snacks and lunch sit within that cycle, giving eating a regular place in the day.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 10 Queens Road, Blackhill, Consett, DH8 0BH, just off the A691. The nursery operates throughout the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas. A term-time-only option applies to funded places, offering a different attendance calendar from the nursery's year-round operation.

Weekday opening begins at 7.15am. The finishing time needs particular attention because two current descriptions give different closing hours; the practical implication is set out below. Opening hours should be treated as the operating window, rather than a promise about the precise hours of an individual booking.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01207 655454, by email at info@tillymintscherubs.co.uk or through the contact form. The same contact routes support arranging a nursery visit.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15-hour provision for eligible two-year-olds and children from 9 months. For children aged three and over, the Nursery Education Grant covers up to 15 hours a week during term time from the term after their third birthday. Eligibility remains a condition of the younger children's funded provision, rather than an automatic consequence of attending nursery.

Before each term, parents confirm how many hours the nursery should claim on their behalf. Children who do not qualify for the grant use paid childcare at the nursery's current rates. Fees are reviewed annually; families should obtain a current written quotation for their chosen arrangement. The fees and grants page explains the grant and claiming process.

• Closing time. The contact information gives a 6pm weekday finish, while the nursery's general description gives 6.15pm. Resolve that difference against the intended collection time before agreeing an attendance arrangement.
• Teaching precision. In July 2021, some adult-led activities needed clearer aims for individual children, and staff sometimes missed opportunities to extend older children's vocabulary. During a visit, ask for an example of how an activity is adapted to a child's next learning step.
• The whole childcare bill. Funded provision and paid care both form part of the offer. Request a written quotation separating attendance, meals and snacks, non-food consumables and any activity charges so the arrangement can be assessed as a whole.
• Baby routines. Baby Room and Sensory / Sleep Room are relevant spaces for the youngest children. Use a visit to discuss settling, sleep routines and the usual size of the baby's group in relation to care at home.

Tilly-Mints Cherubs suits families who want outdoor investigation, community contact and an identifiable key worker relationship. Regular allotment and care-home visits, weekly yoga and documented learning journeys make those priorities tangible. Term-time funded attendance serves families following that calendar, while year-round weekday operation is relevant to those needing care beyond school terms.

The July 2021 Good judgement provides a dated quality benchmark. Its teaching improvements deserve attention alongside the appealing activity offer, and the closing-time difference has a direct bearing on working parents' plans. The strongest fit is a family that values practical learning and wants to understand how those experiences connect to their own child's development.