22 Street Lane Nursery

A Victorian building beside Roundhay Park gives 22 Street Lane Nursery a clear identity: natural furnishings, a garden for exploration and rooms arranged across four floors. This is a setting where the physical surroundings matter to the day. Older children can move between their ground-floor rooms and the garden, while younger children have spaces designed around their stage of development.

At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and praised an ambitious curriculum that connected learning with practical experiences and the surrounding community. Visits, growing vegetables and learning about animals gave children concrete subjects to explore. The strength lay in what children actually did, rather than a curriculum label alone.

The nursery has capacity for 91 children aged three months to five years, across five rooms. Attendance starts at two days, with priority for full-time bookings and multiple sibling places.

Rooms and Ages

Chicklets Room takes babies from three months; Ducklings Room and Goslings Room serve children aged one to two; Cygnets Room is for two- to three-year-olds; and Swans Room takes children aged three to five. The progression gives parents a clear picture of the stages their child may move through. Rooms for older children are on the ground floor, with direct access to the garden.

Ducklings Room has the most detailed toddler arrangements: a cosy space for books and stories, light and sound features, natural wooden furniture, low tables for independent eating, and its own kitchenette and changing area. Treasure baskets, mirrors and outdoor encounters with nature add sensory exploration to the day. These are practical resources for children beginning to investigate their surroundings and do more for themselves.

A fourth-floor sensory room adds another space to explore. On the lower ground floor, folding glass doors connect indoor activity with the garden, making movement between environments part of the building’s design.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the educational foundation: children develop communication, physical and social skills through play, alongside early literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding their world. Here, activities are planned around individual interests and needs. Creativity and nature shape the nursery’s approach, with children able to choose activities as well as join experiences organised by staff.

In February 2024, songs, stories and instruments were woven into learning. Children recognised tunes played on the piano, joined in singing and could borrow books to take home. Staff also shared words from different languages and played guitar. This made language something children could hear, practise and enjoy in several forms, with books extending the connection into home life.

Practical work gave learning a purpose. In February 2024, children baked regularly, concentrated on hammering nails into wood and used drawing and painting tools to make their own marks. Staff encouraged children to write their names on pictures. Numbers and patterns also emerged during play, including counting while moving through puddles. Everyday experiences supplied opportunities to practise skills, rather than separating learning from activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

Beside Roundhay Park, the nursery garden supports children’s own exploration. Their preferences inform indoor and outdoor activities; direct garden access from older children’s rooms makes outdoor play part of the room arrangements.

In February 2024, children explored outside in wet weather with suitable clothing, grew vegetables and made trips to a park, a local shop and a care home. These experiences linked nursery learning with living things and people beyond the setting. Community visits were part of the curriculum at that point; they were not just destinations named for their own sake.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who responds to their feelings and helps them settle. A home visit begins that relationship with the child and family before regular attendance starts.

Babies’ and young children’s feeding, changing and sleep follow familiar home routines, with the key person accommodating individual needs. This gives families continuity alongside opportunities for exploration and child-led play.

In February 2024, app updates, conversations and meetings kept parents informed about learning and development. Home-learning packs extended nursery activities into family life.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children with SEND excellent, with individual plans, additional funding and cooperation between staff, parents and outside agencies supporting children’s needs. The concrete mechanisms matter: shared targets gave the adults working with a child a common direction.

Current terms require a meeting before a place is confirmed for a child with a severe medical condition, so that a risk assessment and training plan can establish whether suitable care can be provided. Families in that position need to allow for this step within their arrangements.

Independence was visible in small tasks in February 2024. Babies practised using cups and spoons, while older children served food and used cutlery. Staff also helped children manage disagreements and take turns. These observations show how care and learning met in ordinary parts of the day, including meals and play with friends.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Wingfield House, 22 Street Lane, Roundhay, Leeds, LS8 2ET. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing on bank holidays, between Christmas and New Year, and for three staff training days. Christmas Eve has a lunchtime finish.

A minimum two-day attendance applies. Full-time places are offered, and five-day bookings and multiple sibling places receive waiting-list priority. The list changes with attendance requests and priorities, so families are not given a fixed numbered position. This is a booking rule with practical consequences for choosing a start date and pattern.

An enquiry form begins the application conversation: families receive an introductory email and brochure, followed by contact from management to discuss their requirements. The nursery also has a car park; disabled bays are reserved for badge holders.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including 15 hours of nursery education for 38 weeks from the term after a child’s third birthday and 30 hours childcare funding for eligible families. Funding for eligible working families from nine months is also identified. Funding is apportioned across 51 weeks, with additional funded hours offered where possible and hours stepped according to attendance.

Meals and nappies are included in the private fee. Funded attendance has service charges for food, consumables, activities, trips and celebrations; these are included within the monthly totals. Families therefore need to distinguish the funded childcare hours from the other elements of their bill. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, alongside the fees and funding information.

Fees are averaged into equal monthly payments. A non-refundable holding charge applies to the waiting-list application, and a deposit is required to secure agreed days and a start date. Its return depends on fees being paid and the required notice being given. Contract termination normally requires six weeks’ written notice, increasing to twelve weeks before a child has started.

• Attendance and priority. The two-day minimum sits alongside priority for five-day bookings and multiple sibling places. At a viewing, discuss how your intended pattern fits those rules and the settling arrangements for your child.
• Funding delivery. Funding is stretched across 51 weeks, with additional hours offered where possible and dependent on attendance. Request a written breakdown separating funded hours, private hours and service charges before committing.
• Uniform from Cygnets. Children attending Cygnets Room and Swans Room must wear nursery uniform, purchased by parents. This adds a practical requirement when a child starts in, or moves into, those rooms.
• Changing plans. Ending a contract requires six weeks’ written notice once attendance has begun and twelve weeks beforehand. Reducing attendance also has notice requirements, so a change in work or family arrangements needs planning ahead.

22 Street Lane Nursery suits families seeking play shaped by nature, a home visit before starting and care routines linked to life at home. The room progression and garden access give that approach a practical setting, while the February 2024 findings provide a strong basis for assessing the education and care.

It serves two-day and five-day attendance, with priority favouring five-day bookings. Families should weigh funding, uniform and notice terms alongside the building and activities.