The Nursery
We offer childcare from the age 3 month to 4 year old children and before and after school care from 4 to 8 year old children.
We are a Day Nursery in Consett offering a warm, welcoming, friendly, safe and stimulating environment for your child.
We have caring, qualified and experienced staff who are all passionate about delivering the EYFS framework through a variety of stimulating activities. We have specialised staff including SENCO and behaviour management specialist. We operate a key worker system in every room. All our staff have paediatric first aid training.
There are large, bright, safe, secure and well-equipped playrooms and a large secure garden with modern learning methods. We provide nutritious and fresh home-made food, prepared in our own kitchen.
We have three rooms, one for babies, one for toddlers, and one for 3 year old children.
We are located centrally with excellent access to public transport. Our longer opening hours offer greater flexibility for parents. We have facilities for post-school pick-up from neighbouring schools.
To find out about our childcare costs for the non gov funded places please contact us.
To find out more about help with childcare costs please visit www.durham.gov.uk/childcarecosts
When is it on?
- Time of day
-
Morning
Afternoon
Evening - Session information
-
Monday to Friday 7.30am - 5.30pm
We are flexible and offer many sessions to parents, short or long.
Who to contact
- Contact name
- Judith Dixon
- Contact position
- Nursery Manager
- Telephone
-
01207 591 616
- Consettnursery@hotmail.co.uk
- Website
- The Nursery
Where to go
- Address
-
4a
Teasdale Street
Consett
County Durham - Postcode
- DH8 6AF
Other details
- Cost description
- Full Day £48 (0-2yrs) £46 (2-5yrs)
Half day £30.50 (0-2yrs) £30 (2-3yrs) - Referral and availability notes
We welcome referrals from other agencies and partners
- Age range
-
3 months - 5 years
Availability
- Childcare availability
-
Closed bank holidays
- Free 3/4 yr places
- No
- Free 2 yr places
- No
- Will be providing 30 hours
- No
Vacancy details
- Immediate vacancies?
- Yes
- Other information
- We have vacancies in all age groups. (Updated 15 November 2023)
Other details
- School drop off/collection
-
Consett Infant School and Nursery Unit
- Further drop off/collection details
- Drop off and collect from St. Patrick's Nursery School and Consett Nursery School
- Last Ofsted inspection grade
- Good
- Ofsted report
- View the latest Ofsted inspection report
Local Offer
- Local Offer description
We are committed to being inclusive to all who wish to use our nursery. We believe all children should be treated equally and given the same opportunities to flourish and develop to their full potential. We follow the SEN Code of Practice when planning, working with and supporting children with SEN.
We have a named, accredited Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCO):Lynsey
We work with parents/carers to ensure we are fully able to meet the needs of the child within the limits of our setting, We will endeavour to make necessary adaptations to be fully inclusive to each individual; however some constraints (for example the layout of the building) may not make this possible.
We offer flexibility within our settling in procedure to ensure the needs of the child are met. Also to ensure we have accessed any appropriate training to successfully include the child.
Partnership with Parents/CarersThe Nursery works closely with all parents/carers and sees this as vital when caring for children. This is particularly relevant when working with children with SEND to ensure our setting is right for that child and that they are fully included.
All children are assigned a key worker, which in the case of a child with SEND, could be a staff member with previous experience in this area.
Good communication is key when working with parents/carers to form strong, trusting relationships. Opportunities for parents/carers to communicate with their child’s key person are offered during the settling in process, at care meetings and at our parent’s evenings. More frequent communication may be needed for a child with SEND and further meetings will be arranged as appropriate.
Parents/carers will be included and encouraged to be involved in all stages of the SEND process.
Confidentiality will be maintained, with information shared on a need to know basis and only with the permission of parents/carers. The exception to this is if there is a safeguarding issue and gaining permission of the parents/carers could place the child at risk of further harm.
Admission arrangementsWe welcome children with special educational needs to our Nursery. Admission arrangements for children with SEND are the same as for all other children. Our admission policy states that the Nursery places are allocated according to the position on the waiting list and on the balance of numbers in age groups.
We take a positive and practical approach in treating each individual child’s needs.
The definition of special Educational needs as defined in the revised code of practice and 1996 Education Act is as follows:-
Children have special Educational needs if they have a learning difficulty, which calls for special educational provision made for them.
Children have a learning difficulty if they:
- Have a significant greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.
- Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age.
Curriculum, resources and the learning environment
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and all children, including those with SEND, are offered the same opportunities. Each key worker plans next steps for their individual key children to incorporate into the room planning. Activities may be offered in a different way or modified to make them accessible to all. Staff may change the way they communicate with or support children depending on their needs. Children with SEND will have their own Individual Child Plan (Education & Health Care Plan) with outcomes and strategies in place. The key person, supported by other staff, will work with parents/carers to support the child to achieve these outcomes, which are planned to be challenging yet achievable.
Resources and equipment are shared across all the rooms depending on the ages and stages of the individual children in the room at that time. Children with SEND may require specialist resources and if we felt it necessary to have these at The Nursery we would speak to County Hall SEND Team about where and how we could access such resources. Specialist resources may be for use just by a particular child, or they may be used with other children in the group.
All of our rooms are flexible and all the furniture can be moved to make the best use of the space available. The layout of each room is carefully planned to offer the best access and opportunities to the EYFS for all the children in that room at the time, regardless of whether they have SEND or not. Children are encouraged to be confident, independent, active learners and the rooms are laid out in such a way to reflect this.
When planning the layout of the rooms the children’s safety is paramount and if necessary we carry out further risk assessments.
Identification and Assessment
We carry out regular observations as part of our routine assessment of the children in our care. A variety of methods of observation are used depending on the purpose of that observation. We use these observations to plan activities and next steps for the children.
Confidentiality will be maintained, with information shared on a need to know basis and only with the permission of parents/carers. SEND records will be stored in the child’s file in the office, with only relevant working documents kept in the room.
When a child with SEND leaves The Nursery, all appropriate SEND records will be forwarded to the SENCO at the new setting, preferably directly or alternatively via the parents/carers.
Networking with other agencies
We work in partnership with parents/carers, other settings and other professionals working with individual children. We welcome support, advice and guidance to help us offer the most appropriate opportunities for children with SEND. Good networking across all the agencies involved ensures a consistent approach with the child so they have a clear understanding of what is expected.
Parents/carers are asked to give their consent before we share information or involve other professionals beyond the routine networking of the EYFS.
The role of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)
All settings are required to have a named SENCO who is identified in the Special Educational Needs Policy.
The role includes:
- working with staff to agree and implement the SEN policy
- meeting with the other members of staff to discuss individual children
- assisting staff with observations and assessment or carrying these out
- assisting staff in planning for children with SEND
- supporting staff development and sharing knowledge
- liaise with parents/carers, the County Hall SEN Team and other professionals
- ensure appropriate records are kept for children at Early Years Action, Early Years Action Plus and those with statement
- ensure other background information is recorded and kept up to date
- offer support to parents/carers
- attend meetings either on or off site and ensure information is fed back to the relevant adults
- Contact name
- Lynsey
- Contact telephone
- 01207 591 616
- Contact email
- consettnursery@hotmail.co.uk
How does the early year's provision identify and assess children with special educational needs and disabilities?
- How does the early year's provision identify and assess children with special educational needs and disabilities?
We carry out regular observations in all the rooms using different methods, based on the purpose of each observation. We work closely with a number of different professionals as well as parents to ensure that the right steps are followed to help and support all of our SEN children.
How will the curriculum be matched to meet children's developmental needs?
- How will the curriculum be matched to meet children's developmental needs?
Each room within our nursery provides daily, weekly and termly planning for all the children in their care.
We use the early years foundation stage handbook as a guide to support our curriculum - ensuring all the children get the experiences they require to improve their learning outcomes and progress their development
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the early years setting?
- What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the early years setting?
We have highly trained staff, some of whom have worked in the profession for many years - our staff are up to date in all areas of the relevant framework and have great planning knowledge which allows them to create key experiences for all our children.
We have a close relationship with our local Sure Start centre and our appointed health visitor, which allows us to seek help and support for all the children and parents in our setting.
We also have links to professionals such as Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists as well as the local Educational Therapist.
We have a named SENDCO, who guides and supports all staff who work with SEN children and liases with other professionals and parents/carers.
What training have the staff supporting children with SEND had, or are having?
- What training have the staff supporting children with SEND had, or are having?
We have a named SENDCO who oversees all the paperwork involved in making referrals for early intervention and support. She has started as our SENDCO on the 5th of September, and will soon go on a course which will equip her with more knowledge about her role, but has experience of working with SEN children.
All of our staff have had relevent training and experiences in SEND and are up to date with the required framework.
How accessible is the early years setting environment? (indoors/outdoors)
- How accessible is the early years setting environment? (indoors/outdoors)
Our building is a large old building with many stairs, the older children are based upstairs and do not appear to have a problem with accessing the room themselves with ease.
Our staff are always available to help and support children with mobility difficulties, however at present we do not have wheelchair access or stairlifts - we would be willing to make reasonable adjustments if we were required to.
How will the early years provision prepare and support my child(ren's) transition to their next educational establishment?
- How will the early years provision prepare and support my child(ren's) transition to their next educational establishment?
Our pre-school room staff work very hard to ensure that all of our children are 'school ready'.
We plan activities and topics accordingly to help to prepare children for their transitions - we also help to support parents and carers by providing them with any information they require such as a list of local schools in the area and links to relevent websites.
Durham County Council's Families Information Service does not promote nor endorse the services advertised on this website. Anyone seeking to use/access such services does so at their own risk and may make all appropriate enquiries about fitness for purpose and suitability to meet their needs.
Journey planner
Address: 4a Teasdale Street Consett County Durham
