Ladybird Children's Nursery, Gosforth

A separate sleep room for babies and a Learning Journey that parents can contribute to give Ladybird Children's Nursery, Gosforth a clear emphasis: keeping nursery life connected to home. Caterpillars provides the youngest children with familiar care routines, while older children move towards greater independence and the practical skills they will need at school.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. That judgement is a dated assessment, and the detail matters: physical development, child-led play and individual planning featured in the nursery day, alongside an improvement point about the confidence of less-experienced staff.

Children are accepted from 3 months at 4-6 Harley Terrace in Gosforth. Full days, mornings and afternoons have all-year and term-time options.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillars caters for babies up to about 15 months, combining a separate sleep room with efforts to maintain familiar home routines, so rest and everyday care have their own place in the arrangement.

Butterflies emphasises toddlers' communication, movement and social development through play, with staff supporting choices and increasing independence.

The Bumble Bee room serves children approaching their third birthday, using different activity areas to develop communication, physical and social skills through exploration and doing things for themselves.

Pre School serves children in the year preceding Reception, with an emphasis on managing everyday tasks, confidence and vocabulary as they prepare for school.

Across the rooms, the emphasis moves from familiar care routines towards choices and independence.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the required areas of learning, development and care: here, that means play and experiences involving language, movement, relationships, early reading and number, creative expression and understanding the world. Ladybird's Teaching in the moment approach adds a particular way of responding to children, with adults observing an interest and extending the learning while the child is engaged.

Teaching can happen through play, conversation or adult-led activities. Parents' Learning Journey contributions help connect planning with interests at home.

In September 2023, babies used their room to practise crawling, climbing and moving while holding on to support. Older children took part in dance and yoga; during yoga, animal movements involved listening, balance and coordination. Preschool children also chose to make pirate hats, with adults helping them handle scissors. These examples show the inspection-era progression from basic movement to more controlled physical skills and children developing their own ideas.

Outdoor and Family Life

Indoor and outdoor play spaces use accessible materials that children can choose and explore independently. Real objects are part of the resources, giving imaginative play something more concrete to work with than a fixed activity with a single intended result.

Stay and Play sessions let parents join activities with their children, while the lending library provides books for home. Family, sports and graduation days include grandparents and siblings.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person, with a buddy key worker providing another familiar adult. This matters because the relationship is used for more than handovers: the key person plans next steps, oversees everyday care and receives the family's information about their child's interests and needs.

Settling is tailored to the child. Parents can spend time in the nursery, sharing care requirements and getting to know the adults involved. A settling-in booklet contains routine information and photographs of familiar nursery features, providing something to discuss together at home. Details such as a comforter or preferred sleeping routine are shared with the key person to help preserve continuity.

The Learning Journey contains photographs, observations and assessments, and parents can add their own observations online. Daily conversations sit alongside parents' evenings twice a year. That creates both an everyday exchange and a more deliberate opportunity to discuss development, interests and what staff are working on next.

Families can also contribute skills, join trips or take part in events. Information from home informs planning, and the key person can give families examples of everyday activities to support learning at home. Parents are participants in the record of their child's development, rather than simply recipients of updates.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support for additional needs begins with the key person and nursery SENCO, who can involve professionals with parental permission. These include the Area SENCO, a Speech and Language Therapist or a Health Visitor. Review meetings bring parents and any professionals involved into planning, making the support process specific to the child.

Where a Targeted Outcome Plan is used, parents share in reviewing the targets and deciding subsequent steps. The two-year progress check involves the key person, parent and Health Visitor. These mechanisms give concerns a route into discussion and planned support; they are more useful to families than a general promise of inclusion.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described the SENCO working with families and healthcare professionals to support children with additional needs. Those are inspection-time findings, distinct from the current arrangements for planning and communication.

Rest, eating and nappy changing are overseen by the child's key person and a secondary key person. Staff administer medicines with documentation, and nursery policies cover medication and sickness. The personalised settling process also allows families to share medical, dietary and care information before ordinary routines become established.

Moving on is planned through information sharing. With parental permission, the Learning Journey, a transition report and an updated support plan are passed to the next setting; contact or meetings with the receiving adults are arranged where possible. This gives a new setting a practical account of the child's development and support needs.

Sessions and Attendance

At 4-6 Harley Terrace, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 1UL, the nursery opens on weekdays from 7.30am to 6pm throughout the year. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email.

Full days run from 7.30am to 6pm, morning sessions from 7.30am to 12.30pm, and afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm. All three patterns have all-year and term-time options. Flexible arrival and departure arrangements can be agreed for an additional charge, which may help families whose working hours do not match a standard session exactly.

Term-time fees include a holiday retainer, so costs extend beyond attendance days.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the working-family entitlement from 9 months, support-based funding for eligible two-year-olds, and the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, beginning from the term after their third birthday. Eligible working families can receive 30 funded hours; eligible two-year-olds receiving specified government support can receive 15, and the universal entitlement is 15 hours.

Funding can be used over 38 term-time weeks or stretched across 51 weeks. The stretched arrangement provides 11 weekly hours for a 15-hour entitlement, or 22 for a 30-hour entitlement. This gives families a choice of funding calendars.

Private morning sessions include lunch and a mid-morning break, while private afternoon sessions include a snack and light tea; meals taken during funded sessions are charged separately. For younger children attending privately paid sessions, nappies, formula and baby food are included in the fee.

Monthly invoices itemise the booked sessions and meals taken. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the sessions and fees page explains the attendance patterns and private-session inclusions.

• Adult interaction. In September 2023, less-experienced staff needed greater confidence in extending children's learning through their interactions. On a visit, ask how mentoring now helps staff respond to children's play and conversation.
• Term-time costs. Term-time bookings include a holiday retainer, and meals during funded sessions carry separate charges. Compare a written quotation for the exact pattern you intend to use, including its holiday and meal elements.
• Baby routines. Caterpillars has a separate sleep room and seeks to continue routines from home. Discuss your baby's rest and feeding pattern during the settling conversation, including how the key person and buddy worker will share that care.
• Support planning. The SENCO can involve outside professionals with your permission, and parents help review individual targets. If your child already has support, use the visit to discuss how those arrangements would fit into the nursery's review meetings and transition planning.

Ladybird suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full days, with a choice between term-time and all-year attendance. It also gives parents several concrete ways to stay involved: daily discussion, an online Learning Journey, scheduled parents' evenings and Stay and Play.

The separate baby sleep room and older children's emphasis on independence give the rooms clear purposes. Balance the September 2023 Good judgement against its staff-development priority and the costs attached to your attendance pattern.