Northumberland Day Nursery

A Victorian house, a whole upstairs floor for the youngest children and a covered garden play area give Northumberland Day Nursery a clear physical character. Age groups have different spaces, and rest has a room of its own. For parents choosing baby care, that separation is more useful than a general promise of a homely atmosphere.

Northumberland has capacity for 55 children aged 3 months to 60 months, at 14 Northumberland Avenue, Reading, RG2 7PW. At its 11 May 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received good support. Those judgements belong to that visit.

The current offer combines interconnected rooms for older children, outdoor play in covered and open areas, and online updates about development and everyday care. Attendance choices include Standard Day and Full Day bookings, alongside shorter funded sessions.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the statutory basis for children's learning, development and care; here, activities are planned around children's next developmental steps. Development Matters, guidance used to plan that progression, sits alongside it. The practical question is what a child is ready to try next, rather than simply which activity comes next on a timetable.

Boogie Mites is a group-wide programme providing regular music and movement activities. These music and movement activities complement learning planned through the EYFS. Phonics activities also form part of the learning offer.

In May 2023, older children worked on short words during phonics sessions and practised writing their names on a whiteboard with adult help. Children also served themselves at lunchtime. These were concrete opportunities to practise early literacy and everyday independence, rather than school preparation confined to a formal activity.

Rooms and Ages

The youngest children occupy the upper floor, with several spaces to explore and a sleep room away from their play. Older children move downstairs into connected rooms. That arrangement gives different stages their own territory while allowing older children to move between activities that interest them.

Resources are positioned within children's reach, indoors and outside. The emphasis is on children being able to choose and use materials themselves. In May 2023, changes to the baby room had created more opportunities for indoor movement, while the room used by younger toddlers had been reorganised to make resources easier to reach.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden combines a covered area for free-flow play with an open garden containing a playhouse, sand pit and ride-on toys. Climbing and balancing opportunities add physical challenge. The covered space matters practically: outdoor activity does not depend entirely on dry weather.

In May 2023, children collected rain in pots during a shower and explored what happened when ice warmed in their hands. Staff used these discoveries as starting points for conversation. Weather became something to investigate, with children explaining their observations rather than only hearing an adult's explanation.

Relationships and Communication

Settling support includes comfort, shared books and time spent building familiarity with staff. Children can spend quiet time sitting with an adult as well as joining play. For a child adjusting to nursery, the offer includes both reassurance and opportunities to explore.

Famly, the group-wide online communication system, carries observations alongside information about meals and sleep. Regular progress meetings provide another opportunity for discussion. Parents therefore have everyday care information and a separate conversation about development, rather than having to extract both from a brief daily exchange.

A Learning Journey containing photographs and observations is supplied when a child leaves for primary school. It gives families a record of their child's time at nursery. This is a transition resource, rather than a claim about admission to a particular school.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In May 2023, staff began individual action plans before referrals to outside agencies. Simple signing was also used with children who had limited spoken language or were learning English as an additional language. These examples show the mechanisms used at that time: adapting communication and beginning support before an external referral.

Training in safer sleep had led staff caring for babies to change their nap-time practice by May 2023. Today's physical provision includes the upstairs sleep room, giving rest a dedicated space. The room arrangement and the dated account of staff practice are separate considerations for parents weighing baby care.

Cooks prepare snacks and meals at the nursery each day. The dietary policy allows adjustments to dishes for most allergies and dietary requirements.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Standard Day runs from 8am to 4pm and Full Day from 8am to 5.30pm, with bookings for three, four or five days a week. Separately charged Early Start and Late Finish options extend attendance from 7.30am or until 6pm.

Funded session choices include 9am to 3pm, 9am to 1pm and 1pm to 4pm, during the 38 funded weeks. These shorter patterns deserve attention alongside the longer bookings: opening hours describe the operating window, while the session choices determine the child's attendance.

The nursery operates across the year, closing for Bank Holidays and Christmas. Its address is 14 Northumberland Avenue, Reading, RG2 7PW, and the branch can be contacted at northumberland@completechildcare.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements are accommodated, subject to individual entitlement. Funding is applied during 38 weeks, with a maximum of six funded hours a day between 9am and 3pm; for the 15-hour entitlement, the daily allocation is between three and six hours. The chosen session and entitlement therefore need to be read together.

Funded entitlement itself carries no charge, while a voluntary contribution is requested for lunch and snacks. Paid hours beyond the entitlement are charged as wrap-around care, with catering, consumables and activities included in that charge. During non-funded weeks, the full session charge applies. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

An averaging payment plan spreads annual charges across the remaining months of the year. Invoices retain the actual monthly charges, and differences are reconciled when the plan ends or a child leaves early. It smooths payments rather than changing the underlying charge structure.

There is no administration fee, and payments can be made by Direct Debit. The deposit wording promises no large financial deposit, which should not be read as a promise that every deposit is waived.

• Conversation pace and staff support. In May 2023, some adult commentary left children too little time to absorb language and answer, and less confident staff needed more help during play. At a visit, ask how practitioners now balance talking with listening and receive support while working with children.
• The upstairs baby spaces. The youngest children use the top floor and a separate sleep room. Ask how your child's settling visits, rest routine and move downstairs would work in this particular layout.
• Funding and the chosen day. Funding is concentrated within the daytime window, while longer attendance brings paid wrap-around hours. Request a written quotation for the exact pattern you intend to use, separating funded time, paid time and the voluntary food contribution.
• Dietary adjustments. Most allergies and dietary requirements can be accommodated through changes to dishes. Confirm the current arrangements for your child's allergy, including how their meals will be prepared and served.

Northumberland suits families using funded mornings, afternoons or term-time days, as well as Standard Day and Full Day bookings, subject to individual entitlement. Its strongest practical assets are tangible: upstairs baby spaces with a sleep room, connected rooms for older children, and covered outdoor play.

The May 2023 findings give useful examples of learning through investigation and everyday independence, alongside specific weaknesses in adult communication and support for less confident staff. The decision is best made around the child's stage, the house's layout and the cost structure of the chosen attendance pattern.