All Saints' Catholic Primary School, Lanchester: Nursery Review

Welly Wednesday gives All Saints’ early years an outdoor identity, with a dedicated area in the school’s large field. The nursery forms part of the Early Years Unit at All Saints' Catholic Primary School, Lanchester, on Kitswell Road. Children are eligible once they turn three, and families of any faith or none are welcome. This is nursery provision within a Catholic primary school, with the school’s grounds adding a physical dimension to the early years experience.

Storytelling and singing feature in nursery learning. Alongside these indoor activities, Welly Wednesday gives the early years children a named outdoor experience and a specific place for it. The wider school grounds include a garden, an outdoor classroom and a field with equipment for building and play. These are school facilities; the dedicated early years area is the clearest detail for parents considering the nursery’s outdoor day.

In April 2025, Ofsted found that early years children had well-equipped surroundings, with practitioners demonstrating language and behaviour and activities that helped children learn. For a parent, the useful detail is the adult example: children hear how language is used and see the behaviour expected of them.

The nursery timetable starts at 8.45am and ends at 3.15pm. A morning break runs from 10.30am to 10.45am, lunch occupies 11.45am to 12.45pm, and a ten-minute afternoon break takes place at a variable point. Those fixed pauses give families a concrete sense of the day’s rhythm.

For children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), families can arrange an appointment with the school to discuss their child’s needs. That provides a direct route for raising individual concerns before choosing the nursery.

Parents receive electronic updates through the school’s regular newsletters, covering events, decisions and children’s successes. This keeps families connected to the wider school as well as their child’s nursery experience.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must apply separately through the normal school admissions process, using the online Local Authority Common Application Form by Durham County Council’s closing date. Treat the nursery application and the Reception application as two distinct steps: accepting a nursery place does not replace the later application.

Fifteen or thirty hours are offered from a child’s third birthday. Nursery applications use the nursery application form, while an individual visit can be arranged by contacting the school. Telephone 01207 520435 or email asl@asl.bwcet.com to enquire or book a visit.

Calendar planning. All Saints’ term dates do not always coincide with those of Durham County schools. Families coordinating children at different schools should use All Saints’ own calendar when planning holidays and childcare.