Banana Moon Day Nursery Catterick Garrison

Sergeant Catterick, a bear that goes home with children whose military family members are deployed or about to relocate, gives this nursery a recognisable connection to the families it serves. Alongside that practical touch are vegetable growing, a weekly football club and Woodwork classes. The character is hands-on, with family life woven into the activities rather than kept separate from them.

Banana Moon Day Nursery Catterick Garrison cares for children from 3 months to 5 years at Colburn Business Park. At its November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good, judged safeguarding effective and found effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), while identifying weaknesses in group activities and the precision of individual learning targets. Those teaching points matter alongside the positive judgement.

Full-day and half-day attendance are both offered. A dedicated sleep room, outdoor space used throughout the year and an app covering routines and learning give families concrete features to weigh, whether they are choosing care for a baby or preparing an older child for school.

Rooms and Ages

Four stages organise the nursery day: Baby Moons, Teenie Moons, Mini Moons and Full Moons. Movement between the youngest stages depends on mobility, rather than an age cut-off alone. That makes the transition a developmental step, with the child's growing confidence relevant to the room they join.

Baby Moons starts at three months and continues until children move confidently, with sensory exploration through textures, shapes and colours; Teenie Moons takes mobile children up to two and includes painting, singing and messy play. The group-wide Baby Moons guidance specifies a maximum of three children per member of staff.

Mini Moons covers ages two to three, encouraging children to choose activities and practise independence alongside toilet training; Full Moons covers three to five, combining play chosen by children with learning followed by their key person.

The branch's room projects add useful physical detail to those stages. Baby Moons has had a home corner and cosy areas created for reading and rest. In Full Moons, a table for loose parts and a comfortable reading area offer different ways to use the room: making and exploring in one place, slowing down in another. These are more useful details than a general promise of stimulating surroundings.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS is the statutory foundation for learning and care: children's play develops communication, physical skills, relationships and understanding of the world. Alongside it sits the group-wide Banana Moon Early Learning & Development Programme, which uses children's interests to guide playful teaching and the resources around them. Its curriculum description explains that approach through observation, communication with families and open-ended experiences.

Woodwork classes bring that approach into a tangible activity. The nursery arranged weekly visits from Veterans Woodcraft Richmond so children could make their own wooden creations. Handling a material and working towards something they have made provides a practical context for coordination, communication and mathematical ideas. Dance classes are another part of the indoor activity offer.

Home learning bags extend activities into family time. Examples include ingredients and a recipe for play dough, sunflower seeds with compost and a pot, and a nature-wand project using objects gathered on a family walk. These are manageable activities with a clear task, giving parents something concrete to share rather than a broad instruction to continue learning at home.

In November 2024, stories, songs and access to books were regular parts of children's experience. However, some children disengaged from a letter-and-number hunt because the task was beyond them, and planning did not consistently identify sufficiently specific next steps. The lesson for families is clear: an interesting activity still needs to match what their child can do.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play happens daily across the year. The playground and natural adventure area sit alongside a mud kitchen and opportunities to grow flowers, fruit and vegetables. Children can take part in a weekly football club, adding an organised physical activity to their outdoor play.

Environmental responsibility also has a practical form. A Sustainability Committee includes some Full Moons children, with light monitors and recycling bins introduced in every room. Switching off lights and sorting waste turn a large topic into actions children can take themselves. It gives older children responsibility within the nursery, rather than leaving sustainability as an adult project.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is flexible, with parents involved in sessions before their child starts. For babies, staff work with families to follow familiar home routines. That gives the conversation a practical purpose: sleep, care and individual needs can shape the early days, rather than expecting every baby to adapt to one routine.

The Parent App combines everyday care information with learning records. Families can follow snacks, sleep and activities, see pictures, comment from home and give named relatives access. Personal learning journals also track development and help plan subsequent learning. For a parent spending part of the day away from their child, routine information and developmental observations answer different questions; both have a place here.

Monthly Stay and Play events bring families into activities, while newsletters, parents' evenings and workshops provide other opportunities for communication. A Grandparents Cream Tea is one example of that family involvement. The offer is broader than an app alone, with opportunities for relatives to share time at nursery as well as receive updates.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Sergeant Catterick is especially relevant to military families. Children whose military family members are deployed or about to relocate can take the bear home over a weekend and add their experiences to a scrapbook. It gives families a shared activity during a period of change, with the child's experience of family life carried back into nursery.

The sensory room is equipped for children with additional or sensory needs and is also used for stories and small-group activities. In November 2024, children could use this quieter space when they needed help managing their feelings, and staff supported children to put emotions into words. The room has a defined purpose beyond being another play space.

Babies have a separate sleep room containing wooden cots and gentle lighting, with individual bedding washed on site. Staff aim to follow established sleep patterns. Keeping rest in its own room gives families a concrete arrangement to consider alongside the activities of the main nursery day.

A toothbrushing programme was introduced with resources and staff training from the Harrogate NHS Oral Health Team. Food is cooked in the nursery's kitchen, with two hot meals each day, a separate weaning menu and a three-week menu rotation. The nursery's dietary policy accommodates allergies and other individual requirements, and older children are encouraged to serve themselves.

School preparation includes family discussions about readiness and paperwork from the development programme. The nursery hosted a Supporting the journey to school workshop offering practical transition guidance and held a Passing Out Parade where families watched children sing and parade. These events brought families into the preparation and celebration of moving on from nursery.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Units 3 and 4 Battalion Court, Colburn Business Park, Catterick Garrison, DL9 4QN. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, with care across the year apart from bank holidays and a week at Christmas.

Full days and half days are attendance options. The recommended weekly pattern is either one full day or two half days; this is a recommendation, rather than a stated compulsory minimum. That distinction matters for families arranging a regular routine around work or other care.

Fees are payable over 51 weeks, including bank holidays, and booked care remains chargeable during sickness or holidays. Families budgeting for attendance should account for the booking commitment as well as the days their child actually attends.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01748 876653 or through the contact form, and a callback can be requested. These provide a direct route to arranging the start of care.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare opportunities and paid childcare are offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page provides the starting point for discussing the funded and paid elements of a booking.

• Matching activities to your child. In November 2024, some group tasks were too difficult for the children taking part, and individual learning targets needed greater precision. During a visit, ask how staff adapt a shared activity for children at different stages and demonstrate the next step for your child.
• The weekly commitment. One full day or two half days per week is the recommended pattern, with fees continuing during sickness and holidays. Consider which pattern gives your child a regular routine and fits the attendance you can sustain.
• Funding and the total booking cost. Funded opportunities sit alongside paid care. Which entitlement and attendance arrangement would apply to your booking, and how would meals, nappies, wipes and any activity charges be treated in the quotation?
• Dietary needs. An individual dietary policy and a separate baby weaning menu are part of the food arrangements. If your child has an allergy, confirm the current preparation and serving procedures before agreeing their care plan.

This nursery suits families seeking either full days or half-day attendance, with practical activities and family participation central to its character. Sergeant Catterick makes the connection to military family life unusually concrete, while Woodwork, growing activities and home learning bags give children things to make, handle and share.

The teaching caveat is equally concrete: activities need to meet each child's stage, and planning needs to identify the next achievable step. Parents who value the family links, separate baby sleep provision and hands-on learning have clear reasons to consider it, with the quality of individual planning a useful subject for their visit.