Tynemouth Nursery

Storybook houses, a tricycle repair and an outdoor tree swing give Tynemouth Nursery’s October 2022 nursery day a practical, playful character. Children experimented with real objects and acted out stories, making learning something they could try for themselves. This is the Preston Avenue setting in North Shields, with capacity for 75 children aged from two months to five years.

At its 11 October 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, highlighting communication and language, positive relationships and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and finding safeguarding effective. Those findings provide a dated assessment of care and learning rather than a description of every aspect of today’s provision.

Current opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Funded childcare is offered for eligible children, while the group-wide Nursery in a Box app connects families with their child’s activities and development.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play supports their communication, physical skills and relationships alongside their wider learning. It is the common foundation for early years provision. Here, the current learning offer combines structured activities with free play, with communication, movement and social skills among its emphases.

In October 2022, staff used children’s interests to plan what they would learn next. A tricycle became a practical problem to solve, with children trying spanners and screwdrivers to repair it. That example matters because it gives children a reason to investigate how objects work, rather than simply watch an adult demonstrate.

Language also had a hands-on dimension in October 2022. The Three Little Pigs became a story activity in which toddlers made houses using twigs and straw, then tried blowing them down. Staff responded to children’s play with questions and modelled language, linking conversation to something children were already absorbed in. Stories, singing and rhymes supplied further opportunities to hear and use words.

At that visit, babies explored pineapple texture, while preschool children encountered okra when learning about African food. Everyday objects introduced sensory exploration and discussion about the wider world.

Outdoor and Community Life

Reading corners and outdoor play areas are part of the current group-wide environment offer at Preston Avenue. Creative activities, sensory exploration and physical games give children different ways to participate, rather than relying on a single type of activity.

In October 2022, outdoor experiences included running, wheeled toys and a tree swing that exercised children’s upper bodies. Visits to a local park and library took learning beyond the nursery. Visitors also supported physical activities, including children moving a football around cones. The combination gave children opportunities to practise movement both through free play and through a particular task.

Relationships and Communication

In October 2022, the key-person arrangement helped staff understand individual children and plan their next steps. Babies received reassurance and cuddles, and staff followed their individual routines. For a family starting nursery, that individual attention is a more useful detail than a general description of friendliness: familiar routines can remain part of a baby’s day.

At the same visit, children practised independence through everyday tasks. Younger children used cutlery, older children communicated their toileting needs, and children served themselves food with staff nearby. Preschool children also chose a story through voting. These small decisions gave them opportunities to take responsibility and express a preference.

Nursery in a Box, the group-wide parent app used here, shares information about meals, naps, activities and developmental milestones. Families can communicate with staff through it, and photographs and observations are shared regularly. This gives parents concrete material for conversations about their child’s day and progress.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In October 2022, staff planned individual support with information from parents and specialists. Children were also taught words for emotions such as sadness and anger, helping them explain what was troubling them. This connects emotional expression with the practical work of understanding a child’s needs.

There are qualifications to the positive inspection picture. In October 2022, leaders needed to examine whether training was changing staff practice and identify where further help was necessary. Handwashing arrangements in Bumblebees also required attention.

Following a regulatory visit on 8 April 2025, Ofsted required accessible toilet tissue and suitable materials for drying hands, then recorded satisfaction with the action taken. This later hygiene finding makes everyday bathroom routines a relevant point for families to explore, even though that action was completed.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 2 Preston Avenue, North Shields, NE30 2BS. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, and the nursery operates across the year except for bank holidays. That opening window is useful for judging how the setting fits around work and other family commitments.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0191 258 1662 or by email at tn@tynemouthnursery.com. Preston Avenue has its own visit-booking and child-registration routes.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children aged from nine months to four years. Eligibility remains a condition of that offer; a child’s age alone does not establish entitlement. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Meals are freshly prepared, and dietary requirements are catered for. Food is also treated as a social part of the day, with children encouraged to try foods and develop eating habits.

• Bathroom routines. Handwashing in Bumblebees needed attention in October 2022, and the April 2025 action concerned toilet tissue and hand-drying materials. Although the later action was completed, ask how children now manage these routines and receive help when needed.
• Training in practice. In October 2022, leaders needed to assess the effect of staff training more closely. A useful visit question is how managers now identify a practitioner who needs further support and assess the resulting change in day-to-day care.
• Starting with a baby. Individual routines were followed in October 2022. During a visit, discuss how your child’s feeding, sleep and settling arrangements would be agreed with their key person.

Tynemouth Nursery suits families seeking care from babyhood through the preschool years, weekday opening hours and regular digital communication about their child. Its strongest dated examples are practical: story-based construction, real tools, outdoor movement and everyday independence.

The Good judgement from October 2022 provides a positive foundation, with training evaluation and hygiene deserving closer attention. For parents who value learning through conversation and experimentation, this Preston Avenue setting merits consideration on those concrete strengths.