Parkway Day Nursery

Three garden zones give Parkway Day Nursery a clear outdoor character: the Nature Garden, Growing Garden and All-Purpose Play Area serve different kinds of exploration, with daily free-flow outdoor access from the childcare rooms. Indoors, quiet reading spaces sit alongside paint, water, playdough and music. Children have room to change pace.

On Cropton Way in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, the nursery accepts children from two months to five years and has 88 places in total. Ofsted rated it Good at its 22 April 2024 inspection, with improvements required in group activities and mathematical challenge for the most able children. Those are useful points to weigh alongside the outdoor provision and the inspection's detailed account of care.

Full days, morning and afternoon sessions, a School Day pattern and conditional hourly bookings give families several ways to organise attendance.

Rooms and Ages

Five rooms mark the progression through nursery: Tinies runs from six weeks to 16 months, Tweenies from 16 to 22 months, Toddlers from 22 months to two and a half years, Kindergarten from two and a half to three years, and Pre School from three to five years. The nursery's overall accepted age range begins at two months; the Tinies room band describes its room structure rather than changing that starting age.

Each room connects to the secure garden. Within the childcare spaces, quieter areas support reading and circle time, while messy play corners offer paint, water and playdough; musical instruments and music for movement provide another way to join in. This gives children contrasting activities within their surroundings, rather than making the day depend on one shared type of play. Pre School emphasises independence, confidence, social skills and creativity through structured play.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) shapes activities across areas of learning, with play supporting communication, physical development and relationships alongside early mathematical and creative experiences. This is the common early-years framework. Parkway plans activities around children's interests, giving staff a starting point for making learning relevant to the child.

In April 2024, preschool children used photographs brought from home to talk about holidays and outings. Questions from staff helped them recall experiences and tell their own stories. Babies practised tummy time, explored natural materials and investigated their reflections in a mirror, with adults encouraging them at eye level. These examples show how very different stages of development shaped the activities.

Repeated practice also had a place in the April 2024 nursery day: children returned to cutting activities to become more confident with scissors. There were limits to the teaching, too. Some younger children lost engagement during group activities, and opportunities to deepen older children's mathematical understanding were sometimes missed. The practical issue is how staff organise shared learning while still stretching children who are ready for more.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Nature Garden supports discovery, the Growing Garden gives children opportunities to explore growing, and the All-Purpose Play Area has impact-absorbent surfacing for active play. Daily access means outdoor time forms part of the routine. The different zones also give the garden more than one purpose: exploration and growing sit alongside movement.

In April 2024, staff took time to learn what helped individual children settle. Their knowledge of children's interests and development informed activities and the next steps they planned. For a child moving through nursery, that attention links emotional familiarity with the learning offered, rather than treating settling and education as separate tasks.

At the April 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities as a strength, including agency meetings, shared targets, use of support funding and a designated quiet room for children who became overwhelmed. The room gave children a calmer alternative when they needed it. The wider support involved exchanging information about progress with other professionals, so the provision extended beyond adjusting an activity inside nursery.

Daily conversations and an online app carried updates about children's care and learning in April 2024. This gave parents more than one way to follow their child's day and helped connect experiences at home with those in nursery. Consistent reminders about listening and considerate behaviour also formed part of that month's practice, making expectations familiar to children.

All nursery staff are paediatric first aid trained. That is a concrete care arrangement; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the basis for assessing safeguarding effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

Private full days run from 7.30am to 5.45pm. Morning sessions are 7.30am to 12.30pm, afternoons 1pm to 5.45pm, and the School Day pattern is 9am to 3.15pm. Monday-to-Friday full-time arrangements cover either full days or morning or afternoon attendance. Hourly care is also offered, subject to strict terms and conditions.

Funded booking patterns have their own timings: full days run from 7.30am to 5.30pm or 8am to 6pm; another day option runs from 9am to 4.30pm. Funded mornings are 7.30am to 12.30pm and funded afternoons 1pm to 6pm. The difference between private and funded afternoon finish times matters when planning collection.

Attendance runs across the year, with bank holidays closed. School wraparound care includes taking children to school and collecting them from most schools within a four-mile radius of the nursery, then returning them for activities and play.

Getting There

The address is Cropton Way, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, TS8 0TL. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email at info@parkwaydaynursery.co.uk or by calling 01642 577316.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and private paid hours are both offered, with a separate charge structure for funded attendance. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families comparing the options should use the attendance pattern they actually need, since a private afternoon and a funded afternoon end at different times.

• Shared learning and mathematical challenge. The April 2024 improvement priorities concerned access to group learning and extending the most able children's mathematics. During a visit, ask how activities now keep younger children involved and challenge children who are further ahead.
• Different session endings. Private afternoons finish at 5.45pm, while funded afternoons finish at 6pm. Choose the relevant pattern when matching care to work and collection arrangements; hourly bookings carry strict conditions.
• The full funded quotation. Funded attendance has a separate charging structure. Ask for a written breakdown covering the entitlement, its delivery across the year, meals and non-food supplies such as nappies and wipes.

Parkway suits families choosing between full days, morning or afternoon sessions and a shorter School Day pattern, with outdoor access an appealing part of its offer. The themed gardens and varied indoor play spaces give the setting a recognisable character. The April 2024 account also provides concrete examples of individual support and parent communication. Its two teaching priorities deserve attention: participation in group learning and sufficient mathematical challenge should be part of the decision, alongside the timetable and care arrangements.