Tiny Tinkers Nursery

China tea-sets, vintage handbags and a garden shaped by children's ideas give Tiny Tinkers Nursery a recognisable character. Everyday objects become materials for imaginative play, while children have room to choose, investigate and try things for themselves. This is a nursery for families who like learning to grow from children's interests, with practitioners joining in to extend the play.

Based at Fencehouses & District Community Centre in Woodstone Village, Houghton Le Spring, the nursery has 36 places in total. Its June 2025 Ofsted inspection judged it Good overall. Children at that visit were aged 0 to 4; the current room arrangements distinguish younger babies, mobile under-twos and children over two rather than treating them as one group.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions give families different ways to use the nursery. The strongest practical detail for babies is the attention to home routines; for older children, it is the combination of real objects, open-ended materials and opportunities to manage everyday tasks independently.

Rooms and Ages

Lullaby Lane serves younger babies under two, combining soft furnishings, dens and lights with sleeping equipment chosen to accommodate individual routines. Curiosity Cabin, also for under-twos, is geared towards babies who are moving around: a sensory pit, construction materials and opportunities for creative and imaginative play support exploration and physical independence.

The Baby Unit occupies the upper floor, and its rooms connect through free movement between them, shared mealtimes and access to the Baby Garden. That arrangement lets the youngest children spend time together while retaining rooms with different emphases. Sleep and activity both have a place in the design.

For children over two, Tinkers cottage uses china tea-sets, ornaments, mirrors and vintage accessories to prompt role play drawn from familiar experiences. Tinkers Hollow, also for over-twos, has abundant natural light and play invitations based on children's interests or ideas from the natural world, encouraging investigation, construction and imaginative exploration.

Independence also extends beyond play. Older children practise managing drinks, shoes, belongings, cutlery and toileting, with small toilets and sinks at child height supporting those everyday tasks. These are useful steps towards doing more for themselves, rather than independence being confined to choosing an activity.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning and development: children practise communication through play and conversation, develop physical skills through exploration and creative activities, and build independence through everyday tasks such as managing drinks, shoes and cutlery. Here, an initial period of observation creates a starting point for each child, followed by updates shared with families. The practical purpose is to connect what children do in their play with the next steps staff help them take.

Alongside that framework, the Curiosity Approach influences the use of real objects and environments that invite children to explore. Tiny Tinkers also uses In the Moment Planning: practitioners watch children's chosen play and respond with language, questions, demonstrations or equipment while the interest is still active. A child's idea can therefore become a teaching opportunity straight away.

Loose Parts means movable, open-ended materials such as shells, reels, tubes and boxes that children can arrange, join or transform. There is no single finished product to copy. Authentic resources add a different kind of challenge: delicate objects are introduced with risk assessment, adult modelling and guidance about careful handling. Families should be comfortable with that deliberate use of real materials.

In June 2025, a book chosen for concentrated exploration changed every two weeks, with its ideas carried into imaginative play and planting activities. Families could borrow books to enjoy together at home. Reading therefore reached beyond a single story session, linking nursery experiences with shared time at home.

Outdoor and Community Life

In June 2025, children had helped shape an outdoor garden-centre area, where they planted, watered and dug in soil. Blackboards, easels and water painting on an outside wall gave them different ways to make marks and exercise the hand movements used in early writing.

The clothing guidance makes outdoor and messy play a practical expectation: wellies, weather-appropriate layers and spare clothes are part of the kit, including wet-weather clothing for woodland trips. Families who prefer clothes to stay clean should take that seriously. Water and creative materials are part of the experience.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with the child and key person getting to know one another, while parents share routines and preferences. Up to five hours of introductory visits are free, with a parent staying for the first visit and subsequent sessions adapted to the child. The All About Me form gives staff a structured way to learn about home life before everyday attendance begins.

For babies, routines discussed during settling guide how nursery staff try to match sleep and other familiar patterns. This matters where a child's day depends on a particular rhythm. The aim is continuity between home and nursery, rather than expecting every baby to adjust to the same timetable.

Tapestry is the online journal used for photographs, observations, development information and nursery news. Parents can comment and contribute their own pictures or videos, giving the key person information about interests and skills seen at home. Access comes with a personal-use agreement: nursery photographs and videos must stay off social networking sites.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including collaboration with families and professionals, individual support when needed and resources matched to children's needs. That is a dated assessment of practice, supported by concrete examples rather than a general promise of inclusion.

In June 2025, sleep mats and bedding allocated to individual children were in use, alongside mealtime chairs that supported secure seating. The nursery also has SEND and medicine policies. Families managing a care requirement can use settling to explain it through the relevant care or dietary form.

Food is prepared freshly on site using a two-week menu rotation, with weaning meals tailored individually. Breakfast and snacks are included in fees, lunch and tea carry separate charges, and families may send a healthy packed lunch; specialised breakfast food for dietary needs comes from home.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Fencehouses & District Community Centre, Woodstone Village, Houghton Le Spring, DH4 6DS. Daycare opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, with an online contact form, telephone and email enquiry routes.

Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm, Morning Session from 8am to 1pm and Afternoon Session from 1pm to 6pm. Additional hours can be booked if the nursery has room to accommodate them. That condition matters when planning occasional extensions to a regular session.

Bank holidays and a week at Christmas are usual closures. Staff training brings an earlier 4pm finish once each term, three times a year, so families need a collection arrangement for those days. For children on set weekly shifts, fees are payable monthly in advance, with invoices emailed before payment is due. Leaving requires four weeks' notice.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children. The nursery's funding information covers universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, extended entitlement of up to 30 hours for eligible working families with children of those ages, and 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds, with potential extended funding bringing the latter to 30 hours. Eligibility conditions apply; these are entitlements rather than promises of a particular attendance arrangement.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees page sets out private sessions and payment arrangements, while additional terms cover food and notice. Families balancing paid sessions and funding should consider the whole attendance pattern, including meals, rather than the childcare hours alone.

Parents supply nappies, creams, labelled sun cream and, where applicable, bottles and formula or breast milk; sensitive wipes and Sudocrem are supplied by the nursery. Spare clothing and sleep comforters also come from home, helping children manage changes of clothes and familiar sleep routines.

• Language and emotions. In June 2025, some language risked making children feel judged, and staff missed opportunities to explore feelings such as sadness. Ask how practitioners now respond when children are upset and how staff discuss respectful language.
• Real objects in play. Delicate and potentially breakable resources are used with risk assessment and adult guidance. During a visit, discuss how staff select and supervise these materials for your child's stage of development.
• The collection timetable. Training days finish at 4pm rather than 6pm, once each term. Families using afternoon or full-day sessions need an alternative collection plan for those dates.
• Starting nursery. Visits can be arranged by phone or email, and settling includes up to five free hours. Use that conversation to explore your baby's routine or a dietary requirement and agree how the introductory sessions will work.

Tiny Tinkers suits families seeking either morning or afternoon attendance as well as full-day sessions, especially those drawn to imaginative play with real objects and teaching that responds to children's interests. Its separate baby environments, adaptable settling arrangements and two-way journals give parents concrete ways to understand the day.

The June 2025 assessment supports a positive view, while the concerns about language and emotional conversations deserve a direct discussion. This is a choice centred on children's curiosity and increasing independence, with practical collection and extra-charge arrangements to weigh alongside the rooms.