Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School Nursery, Tow Law

Map-making, landmarks and conversations about London give this nursery’s wider early-years setting a distinctive starting point: young children’s play becomes an opportunity to explain ideas and compare places. Language matters here. In January 2025, Ofsted judged the school’s early years provision Outstanding; that judgement covers early years within the school, rather than a separately inspected nursery.

Nursery provision forms part of Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School on Smith Street, Tow Law. The Catholic school’s age range starts at three, placing nursery education within the same institution as the next stage of schooling.

Stories, songs and nursery rhymes introduce children to reading in the early years. These give the youngest learners a starting point in spoken language and storytelling, before the demands of reading independently. The emphasis is on building foundations.

In January 2025, children maintained their attention during play, and staff developed their language through activities that invited conversation. One example involved children making their own London maps, recognising landmarks and comparing the city with their local surroundings. Drawing was connected to discussion: children could represent a place on paper and explain how it differed from somewhere familiar. For parents, this is a concrete example of learning through an activity rather than simply completing a task.

The early-years curriculum was well planned at that point. Across the school, however, oversight of the recently revised curriculum still needed development, and changes to mathematics were not fully established. Those were school-level improvement points, rather than a separate adverse judgement on nursery provision. Across the school, some pupils missed important learning because they attended irregularly. Inspectors asked the school to keep working with families and assess whether its attendance strategies made a measurable difference.

Support for additional needs has a school-wide team structure. A SENCO works alongside a designated teacher responsible for looked-after children, with a governor linked to SEND. The designated teacher and SENCO work together so teachers understand the needs of looked-after children who also have SEND.

The school aims to remove obstacles to learning through intervention and collaboration with other agencies. For a family considering nursery, this makes additional needs a subject to raise with the school’s support team from the outset, rather than treating it as a question only for later schooling.

Attending nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate application through the normal school admission process, using Durham County Council’s electronic application form and meeting the normal deadline. Choosing nursery and applying for Reception are two distinct decisions.

Keep that distinction clear when planning your child’s next step. A nursery application goes to the school office; the application for starting school goes through the council’s process. Familiarity with the school should therefore be considered separately from the allocation of a Reception place.

Prospective parents and carers can book an appointment to see the nursery and meet staff before applying. Telephone 01388 731082 to arrange a visit. This provides a practical opportunity to meet the team who would be involved in your child’s early education.

Nursery application forms are obtained from the school office. The school is on Smith Street, Tow Law, Bishop Auckland, DL13 4AU, and its office email is office@blessedjohnduckett.bhcet.org.uk. Use the nursery application route for this stage, keeping the later council application for Reception as a separate step.