Country Kids Day Nursery Newark

A willow dome, a sandpit and a garden for babies give Country Kids Day Nursery Newark its countryside flavour on Lincoln Road. This is an urban nursery with a clear appetite for outdoor play: children can choose between inside and outside throughout the year, while the youngest have equipment for exploring balance and movement. The physical offer is concrete. It gives families more to weigh than a general promise of learning through play.

With capacity for 24 children, the nursery accepts children from three months to five years. At its December 2021 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and safeguarding effective, with vocabulary development, relationships and support for children learning English among the positive findings. That judgement belongs to a substantially earlier period of the nursery's life; a different manager joined in June 2023.

Morning, afternoon and all-day sessions make this a setting for different working patterns, rather than a single attendance model. The strongest current details are its separate age groups, outdoor choices, practical cooking experiences and Makaton signing across the ages.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room centres on sensory exploration, with unfamiliar textures, smells and objects encouraging babies to investigate and practise small hand movements. A separate baby garden adds equipment for climbing, balancing and exploring as children begin to walk. For a family choosing first childcare, the combination matters: indoor exploration and early physical movement each have a place.

Toddlers, aged two to three, practise cooperation through messy activities, a sandpit and imaginative play in the home corner, with staff also working alongside parents on toilet training. Their experiences extend beyond nursery: outings include picnics, the park and the train station. These are examples of places the group visits, rather than a fixed timetable of trips.

Pre-School Room, for children aged three to five, combines sharing and teamwork with sensory play, home-corner tea parties and building projects in its construction area. School preparation here centres on practical experiences and playing together. The room also uses Dough Disco, Jolly Phonics and Squiggle While you Wiggle as named programmes alongside sensory play; families should explore their content at a visit.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: language, physical development and social learning belong within the everyday nursery experience. Newark's hands-on activities give those aims a practical form, from handling objects in the baby room to collaborating on pretend towns in preschool.

Makaton adds signing to communication. Babies learn simple signs, older rooms have a sign of the week, and staff work together on signing across age groups. Cooking and baking also form part of the current offer, giving children practical involvement with food rather than making mealtimes their only contact with it.

In December 2021, staff used songs, conversation and object names to build vocabulary, including introducing maracas to younger children. Children also explored size through footprints in sand and practised using scissors with adult guidance. These examples show what learning looked like at that time: familiar play supplied opportunities for language and physical skills.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor space has three sections, including the sandpit, willow dome and baby garden. The sandpit supports imaginative play with other children; the baby garden gives early walkers equipment suited to exploration. Indoor and outdoor play remain choices across the year, with wet-weather clothing part of puddle play.

In December 2021, children practised coordination on wooden logs in the garden. Community walks were also part of their experience, although mobile children did not consistently get enough opportunities to exercise their larger muscles on those outings. That distinction matters: going outside and getting physically active are separate considerations.

Current provision includes key workers who support children's development and work with families. Within the toddler group, cooperation with parents extends to toilet training, making an important change in a child's routine a shared undertaking.

At the December 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that gradual settling sessions and key-person relationships supported children's emotional needs, that home-language words and dual-language books helped children learning English, and that frequent parent communication supported continuity between home and nursery. Younger children sought adults for comfort when tired, while older children invited staff into their play. These are dated observations, rather than promises about an individual child's experience today.

The current team includes a SENCO lead, designated safeguarding lead roles and a practitioner offering individual support to a small group of children. Staff also have training relating to babies, Makaton and paediatric first aid. These are useful mechanisms for care and inclusion; they do not establish what support any particular child will receive.

Cooking and baking give children hands-on food experiences, and lunchtime support includes encouragement with eating. In December 2021, younger children explored citrus fruit through taste, touch and smell. Food connects care routines with practical learning: current cooking and baking opportunities sit alongside support with eating.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours run from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Morning Session runs from 8am to 1pm and Afternoon Session from 1pm to 6pm; All Day is offered with a 7am or 8am start and a 6pm finish. The opening window and the named sessions are separate details, which matters when matching childcare to a working day.

The nursery operates across the year and closes on bank holidays. For enquiries, the Newark telephone number is 01636 370822. A viewing can be booked online, by telephone or by email.

Getting There

The address is Bridge Childrens Centre, Lincoln Road, Newark, NG24 2DQ. The nursery sits behind the Lincolnshire Co-op, a useful landmark for finding the site.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is accepted, with the Newark enquiry form offering two-year funding and three-year options for 15 or 30 hours. These options do not establish a family's eligibility or secure a funded session. Current prices should be obtained in the nursery's written quotation.

• The dated improvement points. In December 2021, group-time boundaries were applied unevenly, so children sometimes spoke over one another; community walks also gave mobile children insufficient opportunities for large-muscle activity. At a visit, explore how turn-taking and active outings work now.
• Preschool programme content. Dough Disco, Jolly Phonics and Squiggle While you Wiggle sit alongside practical and sensory play. Ask how each programme is used with your child's age group and how it connects with their next steps.
• The funded-hours arrangement. Newark accepts funded childcare and offers morning, afternoon and all-day patterns. Before agreeing a booking, ask for a written explanation of how funding fits the chosen sessions.

Country Kids Day Nursery Newark suits families seeking morning sessions, afternoon care or an all-day arrangement, with outdoor play and practical learning central to the current offer. The willow dome, baby garden and sandpit give that offer substance; signing, cooking and age-specific activities add further reasons to consider it.

The Good judgement provides a dated quality reference, rather than a current assessment of every practice. A visit should concentrate on the child's age group, how individual support is organised and the two improvement areas identified in December 2021. For families who value sensory exploration, cooperative play and regular access to the outdoors, Newark has a clear character.