Side By Side

Yellow and ORANGE serve babies and toddlers; Lilac and Indigo provide rooms for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). That combination gives Side By Side in Silverdale a clear identity: early-years care with dedicated SEND provision on the same site. The building occupies a single ground floor, and its garden was designed with children who have mobility difficulties in mind. Accessibility extends beyond the entrance.

Side By Side has capacity for 42 children aged three months to five years. At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Outstanding overall, with communication, individualised care and relationships with families central to the findings. That judgement is a dated assessment, rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision.

The current opening window is 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year except bank holidays. For families weighing this nursery, the combination of age-based rooms, dedicated SEND rooms and accessible premises deserves attention alongside the inspection judgement.

Rooms and Ages

Yellow is the baby room, covering the birth-to-two age band; the nursery's overall intake starts at three months. ORANGE serves two-year-olds, while Green is for preschool children aged three to four. Lilac and Indigo accommodate children aged two and above who have SEND. These are different room arrangements within one nursery, so the practical decision involves both a child's age and the provision appropriate to their needs.

The Silverdale premises have access for disabled people throughout the ground-floor building. Outdoors, the garden design also takes mobility difficulties into account. For a child who needs an accessible environment, both parts of the day matter: indoor care and outdoor participation.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, education and care belong together, rather than learning being confined to a separate lesson. The November 2022 account illustrates that connection through activities shaped around children's interests and developmental needs.

In November 2022, music and dance influenced the planning because children were interested in them. Children chose music during play, and the outdoor area contained materials for making instruments. A stage gave them somewhere to perform. The same interest could therefore lead to listening, making and performing, rather than ending with a single activity.

Communication also shaped the day in November 2022. Picture cards and visual schedules helped children understand familiar routines, with staff choosing strategies according to children's starting points. Those tools made the sequence of daily events more explicit. They are useful examples of how communication support can sit within ordinary nursery routines.

Relationships and Communication

In November 2022, settling arrangements were adapted to individual children, and staff learnt about family backgrounds, preferences and needs. An interest drawer gathered material connected to what a child enjoyed. That is a concrete example of personalisation: something familiar could become part of settling, rather than every child receiving an identical introduction.

Key-person relationships were part of that approach in November 2022. Staff used their knowledge of children to decide how to respond to them, linking the settling process with their continuing care. For parents, the relevant detail is the connection between knowing a child and adapting the day around them.

Families received updates through conversations and online communication in November 2022. Coffee mornings gave parents opportunities to exchange experiences and build connections with other families. Support therefore extended beyond information about an individual child's progress to contact between parents themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support highly inclusive, with individual teaching interventions contributing to children's progress. These findings give substance to the nursery's dedicated SEND rooms, while remaining tied to that assessment date.

Daily relaxation therapies formed part of children's experience in November 2022, alongside routines that could be adjusted to their needs. School transition support included working with other professionals and helping parents of children with SEND prepare paperwork. This was practical preparation for a change of setting, rather than a claim to preferential school admission.

The current room structure includes Lilac and Indigo for children with SEND. Combined with the accessible ground-floor premises, that gives families concrete arrangements to discuss, rather than relying solely on a broad statement about inclusion.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Silverdale Court, Silverdale Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 6EH. Opening hours run from 7am until 6pm on weekdays. The nursery operates throughout the year and closes on bank holidays. That opening window is useful for planning work and travel, but the attendance arrangement still needs to fit the individual family.

For Silverdale enquiries, the telephone number is 01782 960877. This is the contact for the Silverdale setting, whose rooms and premises are described here.

Funding and Paid Extras

In November 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That establishes participation at the inspection date; families considering a funded arrangement now should make the funding discussion part of choosing their attendance pattern. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Getting There

The building is on one ground floor, with disabled access throughout. The garden was also planned for children with mobility difficulties, making outdoor access part of the practical discussion for families whose children use mobility support.

• The room arrangement. Yellow, ORANGE and Green sit alongside Lilac and Indigo SEND provision. During a visit, discuss which room would suit your child and how their care would be organised across the day.
• An older quality assessment. The Outstanding judgement dates to November 2022. Ask how the communication strategies, individual settling arrangements and parent support described then work in current practice.
• Attendance and the written quotation. The nursery opens from 7am to 6pm on weekdays, and funded education was documented in November 2022. Request a quotation covering your intended attendance, current funded entitlement, meals and non-food consumables so the whole arrangement can be assessed together.

Side By Side merits consideration for families seeking age-based early-years care alongside dedicated provision for children with SEND. Its ground-floor layout and mobility-conscious garden give that proposition a physical form. The November 2022 assessment adds weight, especially through its detail about communication and individual care.

It suits parents who value this combination of rooms and accessibility, with a weekday opening window that accommodates different working schedules. The final choice should turn on the child's room arrangement and the agreed attendance and funding terms.