Acklam Children's Day Nursery

Twigs pressed into play dough, treasure maps and towers counted block by block give Acklam Children's Day Nursery's April 2022 nursery day a recognisable character: learning grew out of things children wanted to make and discuss. At its 21 April 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found that an ambitious curriculum covered the areas of learning and was delivered consistently.

On Acklam Road in Middlesbrough, the nursery has 59 places in total and accepts children aged 6 to 60 months. That whole-setting capacity should not be read as the size of any child's daily group. Its opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In parent language, that means play, conversation and everyday care belong together: exploring materials, practising communication and developing early writing skills are parts of the same nursery day.

In April 2022, babies explored porridge oats with spoons and whisks, while practitioners introduced words during their play. The materials gave the youngest children something concrete to investigate; the accompanying conversation connected those discoveries with language. Songs and hand-clapping gave babies another way to join in with practitioners.

Older children used natural materials to make impressions in dough. Leaves, daisies and twigs brought different shapes into an activity they could control for themselves. Elsewhere, pencils, chalk and paint gave children opportunities to experiment with marks. These opportunities to make marks helped children develop early writing skills.

Building offered a different kind of challenge that April. Children counted blocks as their towers grew and estimated what they would need to reach higher. Comparing height and quantity made mathematical language useful within the game. Treasure-map making combined imagination with explanation: children described their drawings and told others where their treasure was hidden.

Books also had a practical place in the April 2022 day. A home lending library extended reading beyond nursery, and comfortable reading spaces allowed children to look through books independently as well as listen to stories. For families who enjoy sharing books, the lending arrangement connected home reading with nursery experiences. Children were also practising handling books carefully, an everyday skill alongside listening and mark-making.

At the April 2022 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding, secure relationships with key people and generally good SEND support, while identifying a need for planning to follow individual professional targets more precisely. Those findings matter together: warm relationships supported children's participation, but additional support needed sharper links between agreed goals and daily learning.

In April 2022, babies and toddlers turned to familiar practitioners for comfort, and older children approached adults to share what they had made. Staff listened to children's accounts of past experiences and used questions to extend conversations. That interaction gave children space to explain their ideas, rather than simply answer an adult's instructions.

Support arrangements that April included work with speech and language therapists. Practitioners also used languages other than English, including Urdu, when supporting children learning English. For a family whose child needs communication support, these are relevant examples of how adults connected with children and outside professionals at that time.

Parents received spoken and electronic updates in April 2022. That combination allowed information to pass between home and nursery through more than one channel. School preparation also came through ordinary experiences: listening to stories, choosing books and experimenting with marks helped children practise skills they would use in their next stage of learning.

The address is Acklam Road, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 4EB. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, with year-round opening and bank-holiday closures.

In April 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That is a dated participation statement, separate from the nursery's current opening hours and accepted ages.

• Individual SEND targets. In April 2022, planning needed to connect more precisely with goals agreed by other professionals. Families with an existing support plan should discuss how its targets become activities and how progress towards them is reviewed.
• Explaining safety rules. In April 2022, adults sometimes told children to stop climbing furniture or to walk, but did not consistently explain the reason. On a visit, ask how practitioners help children understand risks as well as follow instructions.
• Attendance and the total bill. The nursery opens from 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays. Before joining, ask which booking pattern and funded-hours arrangement would fit your child, and request a current written quotation separating childcare, food and consumables.

Acklam suits families seeking weekday childcare for children aged 6 to 60 months, especially those who value learning through conversation, making and books. Its April 2022 day offered concrete examples of children exploring materials and explaining their ideas. The decision points are equally concrete: how individual support targets guide learning, and how adults explain the reasons behind safety rules.