Childsplay Claremont Nursery Cooperative

An allotment where children help grow and cook their food, outdoor projects at Pathhead Watermill and a cooperative that gives parents a voice: Childsplay Claremont Nursery Cooperative has a clear character. This Newcastle upon Tyne setting puts children's ideas to work. Choosing a gardening task, helping shape an outdoor kitchen or deciding how to use materials are practical expressions of its Reggio Emilia inspiration, an approach here built around children's questions and interests.

At its 22 August 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found safeguarding effective. The current age range is 4 to 60 months, with 101 places in total. Those are whole-nursery places, rather than the size of an individual group.

Parents also have a part in how the nursery operates. As a non-profit cooperative, Childsplay offers involvement through its Executive Committee or practical contributions such as gardening and reading poetry with children. That makes it a strong prospect for families who want a relationship with the setting that extends beyond their own child's daily care. Full days, mornings and afternoons provide different attendance options.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: staff support development across its areas through play and observation. Childsplay's Reggio Emilia-inspired approach adds a particular way of working within that framework. Practitioners watch what interests children, then respond with resources, time and opportunities to explore further. Children's choices help shape planned activities rather than simply filling gaps between adult instructions.

The distinction matters in everyday play. In August 2025, children chose to make paint using blackberry juice, while staff extended conversations with more demanding vocabulary and allowed children space to pursue their ideas. Another garden activity involved children working out how to move leaves and berries together. These are concrete examples of learning through experimentation: materials become something to investigate, and a shared task gives children a reason to explain and negotiate.

Five separate units organise the nursery around children's development. Resources and furniture are adapted to the children using each space, with changes informed by their interests and staff training. For a parent, the useful distinction is the relationship between the environment and the child's stage, rather than simply the number of rooms.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School brings learning outdoors through practical projects, wildlife observation and imaginative play. At Pathhead Watermill, children have helped develop their learning site with volunteers, contributing to growing beds and the design of a mud kitchen. By July 2026, that kitchen was in use, alongside den building, a treasure digging area and watering vegetables. Children help make the space they subsequently play in. That gives their decisions a visible result.

The allotment takes this involvement further. An orchard, growing beds, a greenhouse, ponds and an outdoor kitchen around a fire pit support planting, tending, harvesting and cooking. Children choose jobs after discussing what needs doing and select the tools for their task. The sequence connects food on a plate with the work and waiting that produced it, rather than treating gardening as an isolated activity.

In 2025, allotment projects included learning about composting and repairing a polytunnel door, with children helping fasten hinges after a discussion about tools. These experiences introduce practical problems with tangible purposes. A repair needs to work; a plant needs care.

Community relationships also have substance. By September 2025, Childsplay was part of the Gen-All network and had participated in the Creating Intergenerational Communities pilot, which used a toolkit to examine and develop work between generations. It also collaborated with Newcastle University on research into its intergenerational project. These links give the cooperative's emphasis on relationships a wider setting than the nursery alone.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is given time. A complimentary two-week introduction takes place before the booked start date, with arrangements shaped around the child's routine and intended attendance days. Conversations cover feeding, sleep, comforters and interests, so families can share the details that make care personal. In August 2025, new families also joined a weekly baby social before their first nursery session, building familiarity before regular attendance began.

A key carer takes responsibility for a child's care and development within their unit, supported by a buddy who also knows the child. This gives families a principal relationship while allowing another familiar adult to help when shifts or absence mean the key carer is away. The arrangement is useful for children who need continuity, and for parents who want to know who holds the day-to-day picture of their child's needs.

Development is documented in a Learning Journey containing photographs, evaluations and examples of children's work. Reviews take place each term, and parents participate when their child moves between units. Home contributions can join the nursery file, bringing the child's experiences in both places into the same conversation.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that early assessment and individual learning plans, supported by work with other professionals where needed, helped children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make excellent progress. Childsplay's procedure for developmental concerns involves parents in decisions about extra support and contact with external agencies. The useful mechanism is the sequence from an identified concern to a shared plan, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

In August 2025, the nursery employed 37 childcare staff, and professional development was used to refine teaching practice. The current approach for two-year-olds includes one adult for four children, better than the minimum of one for five. This is a staffing distinction, not a statement about the number of children in a group.

The catering team cooks fresh food daily using seasonal and organic ingredients, with a four-week menu cycle; babies' weaning arrangements are discussed with parents and key carers. The nursery's allergy procedures include individual healthcare plans and colour-coded crockery, with menus and ingredients shared with parents and a policy requiring children to try foods at home before they are offered at nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

Childsplay operates at 17 Claremont Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4AA. It opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks each year. Full days run from 8.30am to 5.30pm; morning sessions finish at 1pm after an 8.30am start, and afternoons run from 1pm to 5.30pm. This gives families a choice between a complete nursery day and either part of it.

The recommended booking is four sessions per week, equivalent to two full days, rather than an unconditional minimum. A request for one day is considered individually with the child's needs in mind. Waiting lists are used to allocate places, but joining one does not guarantee an offer.

Closures include public bank holidays and two annual staff training days, with a calendar supplied to parents. Changes to confirmed sessions require three months' notice and remain subject to the manager's discretion. Fees continue during holidays or other absences, so the regular booking carries an ongoing payment commitment.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including 30 hours of childcare for eligible working families from the term after a child reaches nine months until school age. Parents must reconfirm eligibility every three months. Funding and private hours sit alongside one another, and fees are spread across the year through a stretched arrangement.

Food and activities carry additional charges under the nursery's current fee structure, including alongside funded childcare. Families seeking the funded hours without the additional educational and care provisions can request up to 2.5 days, subject to occupancy across the week. The practical task is to distinguish the funded hours from the extras and any private attendance in a current written quotation, using the fees and funding page as the starting point.

A booking requires a completed application and a deposit. Its return when the child leaves depends on three months' written notice. This makes the notice terms relevant both to changing attendance and to ending the arrangement.

Getting There

A short-stay arrangement uses the local authority car park opposite on Claremont Place: parents sign a contract and display a nursery parking disc for a 15-minute collection or drop-off period, which is not a parking permit. A lockable building also provides daily pram and buggy storage, with folding required unless special permission is given.

• Joining and visiting. A visit invitation follows confirmation of an offer, and tours usually take approximately two hours. Use that time to discuss the intended unit, the key carer and buddy arrangement, and how the settling fortnight will fit your child's routine.
• Funding and extras. Food and activities are charged separately, while a request for funded hours without additional provision has its own occupancy condition. Before accepting a booking, ask how nappies, formula and other non-food consumables will be treated in your written quotation.
• Attendance commitments. Four weekly sessions are recommended, and changing confirmed attendance requires three months' notice plus managerial agreement. Weigh that commitment against the morning, afternoon and full-day patterns your family needs.
• Allergy arrangements. Individual healthcare plans and colour-coded crockery are part of the nursery's procedures. Families managing allergies should confirm the current menu, substitutions and handling arrangements for their child.

Childsplay suits families drawn to child-led exploration and willing to participate in a cooperative. The allotment and Pathhead Watermill projects give that approach practical depth: children help cultivate, construct and cook, rather than only watch adults demonstrate. Key carers, buddies and the settling fortnight add a clear relationship structure around those experiences.

The attendance offer serves both full-day families and those seeking morning or afternoon sessions. Its conditions deserve equal attention: recommended regular attendance, notice requirements and separate charges affect the arrangement a family ultimately buys. For parents comfortable with those commitments, the combination of an Outstanding 2025 judgement, substantial outdoor projects and opportunities for parental involvement makes a compelling choice.