Lyndhurst Early Years

Paint, percussion and practical independence give Lyndhurst Early Years its character. At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, found safeguarding effective and noted that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefited from staff development. The strongest detail is everyday learning: making conversation, managing small tasks and exploring materials.

Based at Cleveland Hall Community Association in Gateshead, Lyndhurst has capacity for 30 children, with a current age range of two to five. A baby room opened in September 2025, after the graded assessment. That expansion deserves attention from families considering care for a younger child.

Morning sessions and full days form part of the attendance options. The practical offer now extends across the year, making this a different proposition from a nursery tied solely to term time.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the educational foundation: children learn through play, building communication, physical skills and relationships alongside early mathematics, literacy and creative work. Adult-guided activities sit alongside choices children make themselves. Resources are arranged so children can select what interests them, giving independence a practical place in the day.

Compare Bears turn early mathematics into something children can handle: sorting by colour or size, counting and testing solutions. Drawing materials include pens, chalk and crayons, while playdough helps strengthen hand muscles in preparation for writing. These are concrete routes towards the control needed for writing.

In September 2024, communication was a clear priority. Staff used percussion alongside familiar songs, giving children opportunities to hear rhythms and repeated language. Adults responded to gestures as well as speech. However, quieter children needed more help to contribute their own choices during group activities. Listening to a song and having a voice in the session are different experiences.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Mud Kitchen area combines imaginative play with natural materials, digging equipment and water from a hose. Outdoor construction uses tyres, crates and bricks, allowing children to invent vehicles and other structures together. Both give conversation a purpose: deciding what to make, sharing materials and explaining an idea.

Water play introduces comparisons, measurement and words for quantities. Indoors, wooden blocks and smaller construction pieces provide another way to build and experiment. This is a hands-on nursery day, with materials that can be rearranged rather than used in just one prescribed way.

In September 2024, children also used tricycles and climbing and sliding equipment outside. Before outdoor play, staff gave them time to attempt their own weather clothing, helping when necessary. Physical play and self-care were connected through ordinary routines.

Relationships and Communication

Each child's key person handles observations, assessment and planning. A baseline assessment takes place after about six weeks, providing a starting point for the next steps in learning. A longer narrative observation follows once each half term, alongside shorter observations and photographs.

The online Learning Journal gives parents password-protected access and lets them contribute photographs, observations and comments. EExat is used to assess development and plan what comes next. Together, these mechanisms give families a way to contribute what a child does at home, rather than receiving information in only one direction.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A Special Needs Co-ordinator role sits within the team. Practitioners plan individual care and learning, including additional provision where a child needs it, and the curriculum addresses children learning English as an additional language. These are specific arrangements for responding to different needs, rather than a blanket assurance about the support every child will receive.

In September 2024, children practised spreading their toast, pouring drinks and cleaning their crockery afterwards. Such tasks made independence tangible. The same visit identified a need for more opportunities to select and use tools independently, developing finer control as well as enthusiasm for messy play.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Cleveland Hall Community Association, Beacon Lough Road, Gateshead, NE9 6TA. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm, throughout the year. Families can telephone 0191 4876797 or use the contact form for enquiries.

Morning attendance runs from 8.30am to 11.30am. Other patterns include two-and-a-half-day attendance using 8.30am to 2.30pm plus an additional morning, two days from 7.30am to 3pm, and full days from 7.30am to 6pm. Paid morning and afternoon sessions are also offered, alongside Breakfast Club from 7.30am to 8.30am. The choice therefore extends beyond one uniform day length.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered from nine months, with 15- and 30-hour options subject to eligibility. The funding arrangements also include eligible two-year-olds' 15 hours starting the term after their second birthday, universal 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds starting the term after their third birthday, and the extended 30 hours for eligible working parents of three- and four-year-olds. Additional private hours can be purchased; when topping up funding, the whole session must be paid for.

Full-day children bring a healthy packed lunch, including those using the full-day funded attendance pattern; breakfast is included in the Breakfast Club charge. Current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure outlined on its fees page.

• Younger children and the expansion. The baby room opened in September 2025, while the current age range is two to five. At a visit, ask how the baby provision fits your child's age and intended start.
• Participation and hand skills. The September 2024 improvement points concerned quieter children's contributions during group activities and independent use of tools. Ask to see how activities now make space for non-verbal choices and practising precise movements.
• Funding and the whole session. Paid top-ups cover complete sessions. Ask for a written attendance quotation showing the funded hours, private time and what you need to bring from home for your chosen pattern.

Lyndhurst suits families choosing between morning attendance, shorter daytime patterns and full days, with year-round opening adding practical flexibility. Compare Bears, construction materials and the Mud Kitchen area give its play-based curriculum concrete substance; the key-person system and shared Learning Journal make individual planning accessible to parents.

The September 2024 Good judgement provides the quality reference point. Its two improvement priorities remain useful questions for a visit, while families considering the newer baby provision should give that arrangement separate attention.