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Nursery at Leadgate Primary School - Split Site
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Inspection data and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. Contact the nursery directly to confirm current arrangements. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Children’s interests set the direction at Leadgate’s nursery. Play themes and developmental needs shape its curriculum, while practical skills such as sharing, toileting and handling cutlery receive deliberate attention. Independence starts with everyday tasks.
This is the nursery provision within Leadgate Primary School - Split Site in Consett. Its approach combines learning chosen by children with adult guidance, giving exploration a place alongside the routines of a school day.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework. In parent terms, the nursery’s priorities bring language, movement and emotional development together with early experiences of numbers, books, creative work and the wider world. Adults observe children’s play and use their interactions to guide what comes next. The curriculum responds to what children need and what catches their interest.
There is a useful distinction between that current approach and the detailed routine for 2022/2023. That older timetable began with breakfast, registration and discussion of the weather and day, followed by communication and language work. A substantial morning block was reserved for children’s chosen learning, alongside play partners, BLAST and support for personal, social and emotional development. Small-group maths and Squiggle whilst you wiggle also featured. Wednesday included soft play.
Afternoons in that routine combined small-group activities with another period of children’s chosen learning, then stories, singing or milk before preparation for home. Physical development had a Monday slot. These details illustrate how adult input and longer play periods were arranged, rather than establishing today’s precise activity timetable.
Everyday care is part of the learning approach: children practise managing the toilet, using cutlery and sharing with others. Those are concrete steps towards doing more for themselves. Language and physical skills also receive attention, so the nursery’s priorities extend beyond preparation for reading and maths.
For children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the school’s support process involves families in identifying difficulties and agreeing next steps. Its policy reviewed in February 2024 describes discussions with the class teacher or SEND coordinator, parents’ evenings each term and reviews of support plans. Provision Map gives parents online access to those plans, creating another route for contributing to targets and communicating with teachers.
The same policy describes individual or group interventions, visual timetables and adjustments such as allowing additional processing time. These are school-wide arrangements; support for a nursery child should be planned around that child’s needs. Discussing identified needs before starting allows intervention and support to be prepared.
Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Parents must make a separate application through County Durham’s local authority admissions route and meet the deadline for their child’s entry year.
Durham’s 2022/2023 admissions guide explicitly excluded nursery attendance as a criterion when applications exceeded available places. That is a dated admissions position, rather than a promise about a later intake. Keep the Reception application separate from the decision to attend nursery.
The school’s SEND policy describes extra visits, personal books and meetings with new staff for children needing additional transition support. These measures help prepare a child for change; they do not confer an admissions advantage.
The nursery timetable gives Monday and Tuesday hours of 8.50am to 3.00pm, with Wednesday running from 8.50am to noon. This concentrates attendance into the beginning of the week, an important consideration when matching childcare to working hours.
Contact the school through p2259.admin@durhamlearning.net or the Lower School telephone number, 01207 610355, for nursery enquiries.
Past disruption. The inspection of 24 and 25 May 2023 recorded that the nursery was closed because its roof had collapsed. That closure belongs to the inspection period and should not be read as its current status.
Children’s interests and developmental needs shape the curriculum. Adults guide learning through observation and interaction, with attention to language, physical skills and everyday independence.
The nursery timetable lists Monday and Tuesday, 8.50am to 3.00pm, and Wednesday, 8.50am to noon.
No. Reception requires a separate application through the local authority. Durham’s 2022/2023 guide also excluded nursery attendance as an oversubscription criterion for that cycle.
The school’s February 2024 policy describes discussions with teachers or the SEND coordinator, termly parents’ evenings, support-plan reviews and online access through Provision Map.
Email p2259.admin@durhamlearning.net or telephone the Lower School on 01207 610355.
