Castle Nurseries at Dunstanburgh Road

A forestry area, outdoor access from each play space and a shared dining area give Castle Nurseries at Dunstanburgh Road a clear identity: there is room here for exploration and for children to spend time together beyond their own play rooms. The nursery occupies its own grounds in Newcastle upon Tyne and accepts children from three months to five years. It has capacity for 55 children in total.

At its 17 April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found that staff interactions, carefully planned learning and support for children's emotional development contributed to the quality of its provision. That is a dated judgement. The current physical offer includes three play rooms, a large communal space and a forestry area, with different play environments for younger and older children.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm during term time. That term-time pattern is a central consideration for families organising childcare around work.

Rooms and Ages

Three play rooms sit alongside the communal play space and dining area. Children under two have play environments designed to feel homelike, with opportunities for social interaction and exploration; two-year-olds and preschool children have more challenging play and learning experiences intended to develop independence, confidence and social skills. Each play space connects with the outdoors. Outdoor exploration can therefore sit alongside indoor play rather than being confined to a separate part of the building.

These are age-related environments within one nursery. The shared space adds another setting for play, while the dining area gives meals a place within the wider nursery day.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care. In parent language, this brings learning and everyday care together: play, conversation, physical activity and growing independence all contribute to a child's development.

In April 2023, children investigated which objects travelled fastest down a slope in the garden, experimenting with pipes, balls and toy vehicles. Staff encouraged predictions and helped children think through problems. It was a concrete example of learning through testing an idea, rather than simply being given an answer.

Language also ran through the day in April 2023. Puppets and other props supported engagement, while conversations and stories introduced vocabulary. Staff assessed learning and planned subsequent activities around what individual children needed next. The practical value was a connection between what a child could already do and the next challenge offered.

Outdoor and Community Life

The forestry area is part of the current outdoor offer, giving children a place to explore alongside the nursery's other outdoor play spaces. Direct access from each play space makes the outdoors relevant across the age groups.

In April 2023, outdoor activities included building obstacle routes with tyres and crates, looking beneath logs and wooden stumps for insects, and climbing trees. Those examples show the variety of physical and investigative play taking place at that time. Children also discussed differences between people and participated in festivals and celebrations, connecting their own experiences with those of others.

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described individual support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including work towards targets agreed with external professionals. Additional funding supported activities such as movement, music, dance, yoga and groups concentrating on communication and language.

In April 2023, staff helped children put feelings into words, recognise other people's emotions and deal with small disagreements. This brought emotional learning into ordinary interactions between children, rather than treating it as a separate activity.

Parents received detailed feedback about development and assessment in April 2023. A designated lending library space allowed families to choose books together to take home, giving shared reading a practical bridge between nursery and home. Staff also arranged support sessions for parents during holidays and offered guidance towards external organisations.

Everyday independence had tangible examples in April 2023. Children helped distribute tableware and serve others at meals; a handwashing experiment used glitter to demonstrate how germs spread and why soap mattered. These were opportunities to practise care for themselves and consideration for others.

The April 2023 team included 16 staff working directly with children, all holding an early-years qualification at level 3 or above. Staff also shared expertise through additional lead responsibilities, and managers supported development through training and performance reviews. These staffing details describe that inspection period.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 1 Bywell Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2QN. Opening hours run from 8am to 6pm, with attendance during term time. For a family whose working year extends through school holidays, that calendar needs to be part of the childcare plan from the outset.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0191 2654546. The term-time arrangement is the practical fact to weigh alongside the age-related environments and outdoor provision.

Funding and Paid Extras

In April 2023, the nursery received funding for free early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. That describes participation at the time of the inspection rather than a current entitlement or charging arrangement. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Term-time attendance. The nursery opens during term time, from 8am to 6pm. Families needing childcare through the holidays should account for that calendar before choosing it.
• An older inspection judgement. The Outstanding judgement dates to April 2023. At a visit, ask how the garden investigations, individual learning plans and family book-lending arrangements operate now.
• Funding and everyday costs. When discussing a place at Dunstanburgh Road, ask which funded attendance patterns apply and how meals, snacks and parent-supplied consumables are handled in the written quotation.

Castle Nurseries at Dunstanburgh Road suits families seeking term-time childcare with outdoor access built into the physical layout, age-related play environments and a communal space beyond the three play rooms. The forestry area is a useful part of that offer. It gives the setting a recognisable outdoor character.

Its April 2023 assessment adds a strong historical quality judgement, supported by concrete examples of investigative play, emotional learning and communication with families. The decision today rests on the fit between that term-time calendar, the current environments and the care a family wants for its child.