St Agnes Day Nursery

A Secret Garden, children making their own books, and parents joining in as Secret Readers give St Agnes Day Nursery a recognisable character. This Crawcrook setting combines preschool education with clubs before and after school. Its emphasis is on children exploring, talking and creating together, with outdoor play woven into the day rather than reserved for an occasional outing.

At its 12 January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with teaching that followed children's interests but needed more precise learning intentions in some activities. That distinction matters: imaginative play was well established, while staff needed to be clearer about the particular knowledge and skills each experience should develop.

Nursery provision is for children from three years to school age, with capacity for 26 children. Breakfast Club, After School Club and Holiday Club extend the service to children aged three to 11.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care: in practice, this means building language, physical skills, relationships and understanding through play and everyday experiences. St Agnes places particular emphasis on emotional and social development, communication, and physical development. These are treated as foundations for later learning, with secure relationships central to how staff organise their work.

Children have concrete ways to practise those skills. Storytelling can involve puppets, role play and an adult writing down a child's ideas. Children also make books with their own pictures and stories. This gives early writing a purpose beyond practising marks: a child has something they want another person to read or hear.

Language learning runs through daily play and routines: staff introduce vocabulary and basic Makaton words and phrases, alongside listening, conversational turn-taking and expressing thoughts and feelings.

Mathematics is similarly practical. Children sort toys, count objects and measure ingredients; blocks, maps and obstacle courses provide opportunities to explore space and shape. Early phonics uses songs and games to introduce sounds and letters. Science experiments explore changes in materials, while coding robots introduce technology as something children can use to investigate and create.

In January 2023, children searched for shapes and encountered words including hexagon and oval. They also worked together on a pretend bear cave using foam bricks, tarpaulin and pegs. These examples show the appeal of linking learning to a problem children want to solve: counting, construction and cooperation can belong to the same piece of play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Secret Garden is an outdoor exploration space where children investigate the natural world and undertake creative activities. It is deliberately informal rather than neatly landscaped. Alongside the nursery garden, it supports daily outdoor play, with climbing structures, balancing, bikes and trikes giving children different ways to move.

Regular time in Secret Garden includes observing animals and plants and noticing seasonal change. Art there includes exploration of Andy Goldsworthy's work. The connection between nature and making things gives outdoor time a creative role as well as a physical one.

Indoors, a designated art area supports painting, textiles, collage, sculpture and drawing. Music and movement happen daily, with instruments, rhythm and dance; dramatic play gives children room to invent situations and characters. Threading, scissors, dough and small tools offer practice with hand control. Simple yoga and mindfulness exercises add quieter work on body awareness and relaxation.

Community experiences include library and farm visits, plus visitors from dentistry, medicine, the fire service and police. These bring unfamiliar jobs and places into children's learning. In January 2023, activities also introduced Chinese New Year and Black History Month, using discussion and resources to explore differences between people and families.

Relationships and Communication

Consistent relationships are central to the nursery's approach. In January 2023, children had close connections with their key person and showed independence in choosing play. Peer relationships mattered too: children encouraged a reluctant friend to join an activity and helped one another measure and cut materials. These are useful examples of how social learning looked in practice at that time.

Current communication includes parent consultations and the Eylog System, through which staff share photographs, videos and notes about learning. Learning journeys draw together children's experiences, interests and strengths. This gives parents material to discuss with staff rather than relying solely on a brief account of the day.

Parents can contribute through Home Learning Journals and the Google Classroom Parent Forum, share their skills in activities, or become Secret Readers, reading to children.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO coordinates additional support, with observations, progress monitoring and family input used to identify possible needs. Individual educational plans set out support for children with specific needs, and staff can seek advice from health professionals, educational psychologists and speech and language therapists. These are concrete mechanisms for discussing a child's needs and agreeing next steps.

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support successful, with the coordinator working with families and professionals on individual learning plans that helped children progress. Current assessment and specialist involvement complement that dated judgement.

The manager holds the designated safeguarding lead role, supported by a deputy lead, and has a Level 5 leadership and management qualification; the team also includes Level 3 early years practitioners. Emotional learning includes ZONES OF REGULATION, used to help children recognise, understand and manage feelings. This sits alongside opportunities to cooperate, resolve disagreements and persist with challenges.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is School House, Rosedale Road, Crawcrook, Ryton, NE40 4UN. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Nursery education is offered through nursery sessions, while Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am to 9am and After School Club starts at 3pm for nursery children and 3.20pm for school-age children, and ends at 6pm.

The clubs serve children aged three to 11. Breakfast Club includes quiet reading, construction and creative activities; nursery-age children continue playing until nursery begins. After School Club offers outdoor play, games and creative work, with opportunities for homework. Holiday Club is another attendance option.

For school-age children, the clubs serve St Agnes Primary School only: staff escort children to school in the morning and collect them afterwards. This is a practical restriction for families with siblings attending elsewhere. Enquiries and enrolment are handled by telephone on 0191 413 4822 or through the contact form.

The nursery describes its links with St Agnes Primary School as supporting transition. Attendance does not guarantee a school place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use 15 or 30 free hours per week. Funded hours themselves carry no charge, while additional hours and optional extras are itemised separately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and charges page explains the structure.

Snacks and consumables are offered as optional, separately charged extras for funded sessions, and taking them does not affect access to free hours. Optional extras, including outings, are itemised separately on invoices. Breakfast is served at Breakfast Club, and After School Club provides tea as a snack between school lunch and the evening meal.

• Learning intentions. In January 2023, some activities lacked a clear emphasis on the skills children should gain, including opportunities to extend vocabulary during group work. On a visit, ask how staff now connect child-led activities with specific learning goals.
• School-club fit. School-age club attendance is restricted to children from St Agnes Primary School. Families needing care around another school's day will need an arrangement that covers that school.
• Funded-session extras. Snacks and consumables are separately charged options, while funded hours remain free. Ask for a written quotation showing the attendance pattern and extras you choose together.
• The nursery session pattern. Nursery education and the two school-day clubs are different parts of the offer. When visiting, ask which nursery-session pattern would work with your child's routine and the club hours you need.

St Agnes suits families seeking preschool sessions with play, language and outdoor exploration, as well as those using Breakfast Club or After School Club around St Agnes Primary School. Secret Garden, child-created books and Secret Readers give the offer substance. The January 2023 findings also leave a useful question about how precisely activities target learning. For parents, the decision rests on that educational detail and whether the nursery sessions and school-specific clubs fit family life.