Pegswood Day Nursery

Pegswood Day Nursery
Unique reference number (URN): 2804089
Address: Pegswood Primary School, Longhirst Road, Pegswood, NE61 6XG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 18/09/2024
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Wilson, Kathryn
Inspection report: 21 July 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Safeguarding standards met
The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for
governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open
culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively
identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all
legal requirements are met.

Strong standard
Expected standard
Inclusion Strong standard
Inclusion is a strength of the nursery. Staff work well with parents to understand children's
individual needs when they first start. They act swiftly when they identify any barriers to
children's learning. For example, they change children's sessions to ensure children get the
most from their time in the nursery. Staff identify adaptations that they can make to help
children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to make the progress of which
they are capable. Examples of this include altering the environment and the deployment of
staff so that children can access the full curriculum.
Knowledgeable leaders provide highly effective support to children and their families to
ensure children get the help they need. They quickly seek advice from other professionals to
provide targeted support. They implement highly inclusive strategies to help support all
children, for example in communication. They monitor the impact of their interventions to
ensure that children make sustained progress over time.
Children who are disadvantaged are equally well supported. Staff use any additional funding
extremely effectively to help children to benefit from the routines and expectations. This
includes providing extra sessions during school holidays to support children and families.
They work exceptionally well with professionals from children's social care, and staff in the
school, to provide a supportive team to help children and families who are known or have
previously been known to children's social care.
Achievement Expected standard
All children achieve well in the nursery overall and develop a broad range of skills, which
prepares them for the next stage in their learning. Children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities make rapid progress in all areas of learning, particularly their personal and
social skills and communication and language.
Children develop their communication skills. Babies acquire words rapidly as they copy the
key words that staff use. For example, they copy the word 'pop' as they explore paint and
bubble wrap on a tray. From a young age, children are highly engaged in their learning.
Babies explore the paint colours as they mix under the bubble wrap. Toddlers are engrossed
as they play with trains and move them around the tracks in circles. They begin to use
numbers in their play as they talk about the number of carriages on the train. Children
generally develop a love of books. However, on occasions they lose interest when the books
they select to read are to hard or too long for them.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff have clear expectations which they consistently reinforce. For example,
they remind children to roll balls inside rather than throw them. When children throw balls to
other staff, they too reinforce these expectations. This helps all children to understand and
follow staff's expectations. Older children learn that they must line up at the barrier to go
outside. Leaders support children to play alongside other children. When minor
disagreements do occur, staff deal with these patiently, encouraging children to use their
words to ask for things. Children develop effective relationships with children and staff.
Staff typically encourage children to tidy up at various points of the day, such as before
snack or after lunch. Sometimes, staff do not reinforce key messages to children about
tidying up after themselves. For example, staff do not consistently remind children to tidy up
before they go outside. This means children do not get clear and consistent messages
regarding this. Staff have been well trained in how to manage children's behaviour, including
their emotional regulation. Leaders encourage children's positive attitudes and ensure that
children enjoy their learning.
Staff work with parents and other professionals to support children and their families with
any barriers to attendance that exist.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Leaders place a high priority on children's welfare and wellbeing. They provide a highly
inclusive environment for all children. They ensure that all children, including those who face
barriers to their learning, benefit from their time in nursery. Staff encourage children to talk
about their feelings. They take time to explore different emotions and what makes children
happy and sad.
Babies are happy and settled. Staff are attentive to their individual needs. For example, staff
notice and respond when children show signs of tiredness. Staff find out detailed information
about children's needs when they first start at the nursery. This includes information about
children's learning and care needs, such as allergies, as well their likes and dislikes. Staff
working with babies also find out about children's routines and information about weaning
and bottle feeding.
Parents value the support that staff give them to manage key aspects of their child's
development, including toilet training. Parents comment that they feel lucky to have found
the nursery.
Staff teach children about the different food groups and discuss why these foods are good
for us. They provide a range of detailed information to parents about balanced diets and
their policies regarding healthy packed lunches. However, parents of children who attend the
holiday club do not always receive timely reminders of these policies before children return
to the club each school holiday. This occasionally results in differences in the content of
lunchboxes, which can be confusing for younger children. Children enjoy plenty of fresh air
and exercise. They play in the garden regularly and participate in of active play
opportunities.

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders plan a curriculum that is focused on the skills children need to learn over time and
the order in which they develop these skills. Staff focus precisely on what children need to
learn next. For instance, they plan activities to develop children's core strength to give them
more confidence in walking and climbing.
Staff working with babies focus on developing their personal and social skills as well as their
communication and language. They plan activities to support children's next steps in
learning. For example, as babies explore paint in bubble wrap, they use the word 'pop'
repeatedly. Children are highly focused and by the end of the activity, some toddlers start to
repeat these words.
Staff encourage children to develop a love of books, and children are keen to pick books for
staff to read. However, sometimes, staff provide too wide a choice of books and some of
these are too hard for some children. When children pick these books to read, staff lack
confidence in how they can make these sessions highly engaging and children sometimes
lose focus.
Staff plan deliberate communication and ensure their interactions are of a high quality. They
adapt their language appropriately when talking to children. For example, they speak in
simple phrase to toddlers. Staff speak clearly, repeating and extending what children say to
develop their language further.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders have a clear understanding of the nursery's strengths and areas for development.
They work particularly well with staff from the on-site school to develop the curriculum
further. In partnership, they identify the skills they want children to learn in nursery as well as
school.
Staff share a wealth of information with parents about children's learning and the policies of
the nursery. Parents enjoy looking at pictures of their child's day. However, staff do not
always ensure that parents get key information at appropriate times. Sometimes, staff share
too much information with parents and key messages, such as children's next steps in
learning, are not always clear to parents. In addition, staff do not consistently remind parents
of key policies before children return to the holiday club. This does not consistently support
a coherent approach to children's care and learning.
Staff benefit from a regular programme of professional development that is carefully planned
to support children's learning and development. For example, staff attend training from
different educational services to help them support children's behaviour and development.
Staff reflect on key messages from training and make adaptations that they feel will enhance
the setting further. For example, staff working with babies have reflected on the routines for
nappy changing. This includes adapting routines around nappy changing for babies under
12 months to give them a greater sense of safety and security.
Leaders plan the deployment of staff carefully to ensure that they maintain high ratios to
provide the optimum support to children. Strategies such as these also support staff's

wellbeing and workload.
Compulsory Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
Voluntary Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children thoroughly enjoy their time in this safe and homely environment. They develop
effective relationships with children and staff. They greet staff with enthusiasm as they
arrive. Younger children can be heard shouting the name of their key person as they arrive
in the morning. Babies are delighted when they discover that their key person has returned

Inspector:
after time off. Children settle quickly and benefit from well-thought-out settling-in procedures
to help them to become familiar with the routines and expectations. Some children have
shorter, more regular sessions to ensure they are able to leave their parents with ease when
the time comes. Children's individual needs, interests and routines are recognised and
valued by staff. They enjoy a range of motivational activities and develop positive attitudes
to their learning. This is because staff focus on children's interests as they plan the
environment. This helps children to settle to activities quickly and become engrossed in their
play.
Children learn to share their toys with other children. Older children develop skills, such as
counting to 20, when they become frustrated when others attempt to take the toys they are
using. Other children learn how they can express their wishes and needs. For example,
when they say 'help me' staff and children help them to share their toys.
Children benefit from a well-planned curriculum that supports all children to develop the
skills that they need for the next stage in their learning. Children who experience barriers to
their learning achieve well and benefit from high staff-to-child ratios to help them to make
high rates of progress. Staff encourage them to attend regularly throughout the year. They
work with parents to help them to understand how regular attendance helps their children to
benefit from the routines on offer.
Next steps
Leaders should focus on ways of sharing key information with parents in a timely way to
help support children's care and learning.
Leaders should help children to understand the expectations of the nursery, especially
regarding tidying up, so that expectations are consistently embedded.
Leaders should find more effective ways of organising books so they support children's
interests, age and stage of development and help support their engagement and love of
books.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinator, parents
and children during the inspection.
We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the
quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The
registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for
children's learning, developmentand care, known as the early years foundation stage.

Elizabeth Fish
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2804089
Address:
Pegswood Primary School
Longhirst Road
Pegswood
NE61 6XG
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 18/09/2024
Registered person: Wilson, Kathryn
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Northumberland
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 21 July 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 10
Total number of places
25

Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
Expected standard
The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are
following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional
standards expected of them.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement
The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects
and regulates services that care for children and young people.
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