Rosedene Easterside

An Outdoor Educational Tipi gives Rosedene Easterside a recognisable centrepiece for learning outside. Added in 2025, it extends the outdoor provision at this Middlesbrough nursery, which sits in the grounds of St Thomas More School. Natural materials and play directed by children shape its character. There is room for exploration here.

At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, with activities ranging from babies exploring musical instruments to older children investigating insects. Those examples give the judgement substance: learning involved listening, experimenting and explaining discoveries, rather than simply taking part in an activity.

The nursery has 45 places in total, with its current age range running from two months to 60 months. Flexible childcare and wraparound provision sit alongside private and funded childcare, giving families different ways to use the setting.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, children encounter it through play, exploration and interaction with adults. Alongside that framework, Easterside uses the group-wide Curiosity Approach, with natural resources and learning led by children's interests. Its practical appeal is the opportunity to investigate materials and make choices about play.

Forest School sessions bring an outdoor learning approach alongside the nursery's other activities, complementing the Outdoor Educational Tipi for children who enjoy exploring outside.

In July 2024, babies watched adults demonstrate instruments before trying them themselves, while sensory activities held their attention. Older children searched for insects, using pictures, reference books and magnifiers to investigate their finds. These were different experiences for different stages of development: imitation and sensory exploration for the youngest children, investigation and discussion for older ones.

Everyday objects also became opportunities to experiment. In July 2024, children tackled bottle and jar lids while making imaginary potions, and adults encouraged stories to develop from the play. The activity combined practical problem-solving with imagination. It gave children something to work out for themselves.

Mathematics entered ordinary play too. In July 2024, adults introduced number language while babies stacked towers; preschool children explored the order of wooden numerals through questions about neighbouring numbers. Books were placed beside related activities, including construction play, so children could connect what they were doing with pictures and stories.

Outdoor and Community Life

In July 2024, the outdoor space included an allotment where children grew vegetables. There was also a sandpit, and toddlers experimented with riding tricycles down a slope under supervision. These details show the variety of physical experiences available at that visit, from growing food to testing movement.

Community experiences extended beyond the nursery. In July 2024, children visited a local care home and attended library sessions, creating opportunities to spend time with people and resources outside their usual nursery group. Families were included in celebrations too: national picnic day involved recipes, materials and activity ideas sent home. This connected an experience at nursery with something parents and children could share.

Relationships and Communication

In July 2024, settling visits were planned to help children build relationships with staff before becoming familiar with nursery life. Adults recognised when a child needed comfort and balanced that support with opportunities to attempt things independently. For a parent weighing the first separation, that combination matters: reassurance and increasing independence can develop together.

Practical independence was visible in small tasks. In July 2024, younger children were allowed to attempt climbing out of the sandpit, while older children practised preparing fruit themselves. Adults supported the attempts rather than taking over immediately, giving children time to use developing physical skills.

Communication with families included conversations at collection and updates through a nursery app in July 2024. This offered more than one route for sharing a child's day. Easterside's current offer also includes Parent Events and a Wellbeing Programme, adding opportunities for family involvement alongside childcare.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised support for children with additional needs, including early identification, strategies agreed with parents and close work with other professionals and local school staff. The useful detail is the connection between nursery and home: adults worked together on approaches to a child's development.

In July 2024, staff also worked with parents on oral health, reminded children to drink water and supervised attempts to apply sun cream independently. These examples placed health within daily routines. Children had opportunities to practise looking after themselves with adult guidance.

Sessions and Attendance

Easterside opens on weekdays from 7.30am until 6pm and operates for 51 weeks each year. Flexible childcare is offered, together with school collection, drop-off and wraparound care for St Thomas More School and Easterside Academy. Holiday Club and Out of School Club provision extend to children aged 11.

Getting There

The address is St. Thomas More School, Erith Grove, Easterside, Middlesbrough, TS4 3QH. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by calling the nursery on 01642 686044.

Sharing school grounds does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still need to apply through the local authority admissions process, treating nursery attendance and school admission as separate decisions.

Funding and Paid Extras

Private childcare and 30 hour government funded places are offered. Funded hours can be stretched across the year, which allows families to spread their entitlement beyond a term-time pattern rather than concentrating it into fewer weeks. Eligibility remains a condition of accessing funded childcare.

Meals and snacks are freshly made each day. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, allowing families to assess the cost of their chosen childcare arrangement alongside their funding entitlement.

• Outdoor learning. The Outdoor Educational Tipi and Forest School sessions make outdoor provision a substantial part of the offer. During a visit, ask how your child's age group uses these experiences through the year.
• Flexible attendance. Easterside offers flexible childcare as well as school wraparound provision. Discuss the pattern you need alongside your child's settling visits so the proposed routine is clear before joining.
• School admission. The nursery occupies St Thomas More School's grounds and provides wraparound care for that school and Easterside Academy. Reception admission is a separate decision, and families must apply through the local authority.

Rosedene Easterside suits families seeking flexible nursery attendance or wraparound care linked to St Thomas More School and Easterside Academy. The tipi, natural materials and Forest School sessions give its current offer a clear outdoor emphasis, while the July 2024 examples add substance through sensory exploration, practical independence and community experiences.