Castle Kindergarten Hylton Castle

In December 2024, children at Castle Kindergarten Hylton Castle used a projector for large paintings, explored a story they wanted to continue at home and developed communication through books and songs. Today, outdoor space directly beside the building gives this Sunderland nursery room for exploration. At its December 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Outstanding, finding that learning was carefully ordered to build children's skills.

Based at Cheltenham House on the Hylton Castle Primary School site, the nursery has capacity for 47 children aged 3 to 60 months. Three main rooms provide space for activities, rest and sleep, while the adjoining outdoor area gives children easy access to play outside.

Paid full-day, half-day and top-up sessions sit alongside funded childcare. Families can therefore consider different amounts of attendance rather than a single full-day arrangement.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: the day brings these together through play, conversation and practical exploration. In December 2024, activities included pouring water between containers, experimenting with painting tools and using books to prompt conversation. These examples show how ordinary materials can give children something to investigate and something to talk about.

Room on the Broom supplied a shared story in December 2024. Children explored its characters through activities and wanted to carry the story into their home lives. A familiar book became a connection between nursery and home, rather than an isolated reading session.

Painting took different forms at the same visit. Two-year-olds experimented with tools on material; older children used a projector to make a large painting and discussed the colours they mixed. Some watched before taking part. The activity allowed different starting points, including time to observe before joining others.

Mathematical experiences also changed with children's development in December 2024. Babies heard numbers in everyday conversation, preschool children counted objects, and older children started combining numbers.

Outdoor and Community Life

The very large outdoor area directly adjoins the nursery building. Children can reach it easily, making the physical connection between indoor activities and outdoor play a useful part of the layout. Mesh fencing surrounds the premises.

In December 2024, children followed the routines involved in preparing to go outside: younger children collected their wellington boots and waited for the group. Such everyday moments give children practice in managing belongings and taking account of others.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who supports them and maintains contact with their family. This gives parents a familiar practitioner with whom to discuss their child, while the SENCO and deputy SENCO provide additional support for key people when needed. The arrangement links everyday care with planning for individual needs.

In December 2024, staff began getting to know families during children's initial visits and adapted communication to individual circumstances. Parents used an electronic app and stay-and-play sessions to understand their children's experiences and ways to support them at home. These offered different forms of contact: updates about the day and opportunities to take part alongside a child.

Support for emotions was also visible in December 2024. Staff recognised recurring patterns in play and helped children extend their interests safely, while giving targeted help with managing feelings. For a child learning to cope with frustration or change, that attention to the individual situation matters as much as the activity itself.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities exceptionally strong, including collaboration with health visitors and other professionals.

Current support arrangements include meetings between families, the key person and SENCO to agree targeted plans, followed by regular reviews with parents. Where outside support is needed, the nursery seeks parental consent and involves families in the process. Speech and Language Therapists, Health Visitors and Child Psychologists are among the professionals it may work alongside.

The building occupies one floor, with double doors through the entrance and corridors, a sloping driveway and an accessible toilet. A hard gravel path runs through the outdoor area. Those concrete details help families assess access against their child's particular mobility and care needs.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, with childcare operating for 51 weeks of the year. Full-day, half-day and top-up sessions are paid attendance options. The nursery closes for bank holidays and a week at Christmas, so families using childcare across the year need to account for those breaks.

Funded childcare is offered to eligible children. Paid sessions provide a separate way to arrange attendance, including top-up care. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Getting There

The address is Cheltenham House, Cheltenham Road, Sunderland SR5 3QH. A large public car park is immediately outside the school's main gates, giving families an off-road option for collecting children.

For enquiries, contact the Hylton Castle team on 0191 548 0170 or at hylton@castlekindergarten.org.uk.

Moving on to School

The nursery occupies its own building on the Hylton Castle Primary School site. Attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The shared site is a physical connection, and families should treat the nursery choice and school application as separate decisions.

• Your attendance pattern. Full-day, half-day and top-up sessions serve different needs. At a visit, discuss how your intended pattern would work alongside your child's routines and the nursery's Christmas and bank-holiday closures.
• Individual support. The key person and SENCO agree targeted plans with families and review them regularly. Families whose child needs additional help can use a visit to discuss how these arrangements would apply to their child.
• Funded care and extras. Funded childcare and paid sessions are both offered. What would your child's funded arrangement cover, including meals and non-food consumables?
• Reception applications. Sharing the Hylton Castle Primary School site does not guarantee admission. Keep the local authority application process in your plans when considering the convenience of the setting.

Castle Kindergarten Hylton Castle suits families seeking full-day attendance, half-day care or paid top-up sessions, with easily reached outdoor space and an individual key-person arrangement. Its December 2024 examples of learning give substance to the appeal: books connected nursery with home, painting invited experimentation, and number experiences developed with children's skills.

The school site adds practical continuity of place, while the nursery's own building preserves space for early-years activities and rest. The strongest decision rests on that combination of the physical layout, flexible attendance options and specific support arrangements, alongside a separate Reception application.