Northumbria University Nursery Ltd

Northumbria University Nursery Ltd
Unique reference number (URN): EY454915
Address: University of Northumbria, Sutherland Building, College Street, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE1
8ST
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 28/11/2012
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Northumbria University Nursery Limited
Inspection report: 6 March 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement

Strong standard
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.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
Leaders maintain a consistently supportive and nurturing environment where staff model
kindness, courtesy and respect in every interaction. Children reflect this in the way they play
and talk with one another. They develop friends and play together harmoniously.
Relationships between staff and children are warm and trusting, giving children the
confidence and motivation to explore and learn happily.
Routines are extremely well established. Familiar songs, visual cues and calmly organised
movement between parts of the day help children to understand what will happen next.
Behaviour expectations build seamlessly as children move through the rooms. Staff support
children to recognise and manage their feelings, giving full consideration to their age, stage
of development and individual circumstances. Children respond very positively to reminders
from 'Lenny the Lion', a favourite soft toy that staff use to share consistent boundaries and
promote positive behaviours. Children know the rules in nursery, follow them diligently and
are very eager to please others.
When children need support with their emotions or behaviour, staff take a highly
personalised approach. They create individual plans that take account of children's
preferences, sensitivities and the circumstances that unsettle them. This tailored support
helps children to very quickly learn ways to talk about and manage their feelings and
frustrations.
Leaders promote the importance of regular attendance and work closely with parents so
they understand how this supports children's learning and sense of security. They offer
thoughtful, practical help where needed, such as providing later breakfasts or ensuring
children have what they need for the day, which reduces pressure on families during busy
mornings and helps them to arrive on time.

Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Staff know children extremely well and meet their care needs with precision. This includes
children who require support with medical procedures. Arrangements for keeping children
safe are meticulous. Staff assess risks thoroughly, supervise children closely and create an
environment where children feel very secure and confident.
Children develop a clear understanding of how to keep themselves healthy and safe. They
know when and why they should wash their hands. They make thoughtful choices about
food, for example when they talk about good nutrition while choosing what should be on the
menu. Children build a remarkable awareness of the importance of physical activity and
exercise. For example, when playing team games, they notice how their hearts beat faster
and discuss how their muscles become stronger. Staff teach them ways to assure their own
safety, for example by riding and climbing with care in the garden.
Relationships between staff, babies and children are warm, responsive and deeply
respectful. Attachments are extremely secure. Children seek comfort and reassurance from
trusted adults who know exactly how to support them. Routines such as sleep times and
mealtimes flow seamlessly. Staff's extra diligence at these times further assures children's
safety and comfort.
Leaders and staff are highly aware that not all children have the same life experiences. They
work closely with families and professionals to ensure children who face barriers or
disadvantage receive the support they need to thrive.
Inclusion Strong standard
Staff identify children's individual needs quickly through rigorous assessment and highly
attentive observation. They gradually increase the support they offer as children's needs
become clearer, and they know exactly when to seek external help so that children get the
right help at the right time. Leaders guide and train staff extremely well, ensuring they can
adjust their teaching and routines confidently so every child can take part fully.
Inclusive strategies run throughout the whole nursery. Staff use, for example, simple sign
language and visual prompts universally so every child experiences the same high-quality
access to learning. These approaches strengthen early communication, help children to
understand routines and enable them to express their needs confidently.
Staff work very closely with parents to ensure that every child is included and supported as
well as possible. For example, parents visit nursery to read traditional stories that reflect
children's culture and languages used at home. They teach staff words in other languages
that help them to strengthen interactions with children and meet their needs even more
precisely. Menus reflect the foods and cultures children are familiar with. This helps them to
feel recognised and valued.
Leaders use early years pupil premium funding thoughtfully to accelerate learning, for
example through targeted resources and enriching experiences. They work with staff and
other professionals to reduce barriers to learning wherever possible. For example, they
invite external agencies into the setting for children's appointments to avoid unnecessary

Expected standard
absences. They use external guidance alongside their own excellent knowledge to shape
high-quality, personalised support. This helps to ensure that all children thrive, regardless of
their background or previous experiences.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
Leaders are acutely aware of the nursery's strengths and the areas that still need a little
refinement. They describe significant challenges since the last inspection, including changes
in leadership, governance and the staff team, yet they have secured stability across the
team in the face of these pressures. They monitor practice with rigour and provide focused
support and supervision that continually strengthens practice and maintains a consistently
high standard of teaching.
Sharply focused professional development is having a significantly positive impact on the
quality of teaching, and this learning is now being cascaded across the whole team. With
more time, leaders are confident that this will lead to consistently strong standards of
teaching for all children. They recognise the need to develop more depth in some areas of
the curriculum. This remains a priority, and they continue to refine practice to achieve this as
quickly as possible.
Staff report feeling valued and speak confidently about their rapid progression in knowledge
and skills due to the guidance of the leadership team. Those with governance bring a wealth
of expertise to the setting, and leaders in the nursery manage with great care and a deep
commitment. They hold very high expectations for themselves, staff and children, and they
want the very best for every family. They demonstrate excellent capacity for ongoing
enhancements to the already high-quality provision and work tirelessly to strengthen
outcomes for all children.
Achievement Expected standard
Children communicate confidently and use language well to share their ideas. Staff place
consistent emphasis on communication and language, although leaders recognise that
further work to enrich older children's vocabulary will strengthen this area even more. Many
children show secure early writing skills. They are eager to write independently and show
remarkable pencil control when writing 'notes' for their friends. Children approach learning
with determination and show confidence when tackling new challenges. For example, they
tell staff, 'I've got this.'
Children's mathematical knowledge is developing well. Young children learn number names
and older children count accurately beyond 10. Some children would benefit from more
support to secure deeper mathematical understanding, for example, to make predictions
and attempt simple calculations with increasing confidence.
All children, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational
needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make steady and secure progress from their starting

points and are ready for the next stage in their learning. Children with SEND achieve
beyond what professionals, staff and parents expect. Greater consistency in breadth and
depth in some areas of the curriculum would strengthen these foundations even further.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Staff talk through children's ideas with them, which helps them stay engrossed in their
learning. They ask skilful questions, such as 'How could you make it go faster?' when
children transport sand using a pulley system they have designed. Staff encourage children
to try different ways to build a wall from small bricks. They use some opportunities to extend
learning further, such as prompting children to consider how many more or fewer bricks they
need. However, this is not yet consistent across the nursery, which occasionally limits the
depth of children's mathematical learning.
Staff support babies' communication extremely well. Support for older children is developing
rapidly. Strategies to support them to develop a richer vocabulary are still being embedded.
Staff give babies regular opportunities to be barefoot, acknowledging the impact this has on
brain development, balance and coordination. They encourage older children to paint on
high and low surfaces, using their big and small muscles in various ways. Staff consistently
support children to take turns and share. They encourage cooperation, for example, when
designing a poster for the wall.
The curriculum is designed well to cover all aspects of children's learning. Staff monitor
children's progress carefully and know that children sometimes need variation from the
curriculum to meet their needs more precisely. Leaders have introduced 'support and
extend' plans and monitor their use closely. While this approach is already highly successful
for children who have barriers to their learning, leaders recognise that further refinement is
needed to ensure the curriculum is consistently of the highest quality for all children across
all areas of learning. Leaders rigorously review staff's teaching and the impact the
curriculum has. They are highly aware of the strengths and the areas that need more time to
become fully embedded.
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 flourish in this warm, welcoming environment where they feel safe, cared for and
genuinely valued. Parents often spend time talking with staff, sharing updates and
discussing learning they can continue at home. These everyday conversations help families
to feel a part of nursery life and contribute to children's deep sense of belonging and their
ongoing achievement.
Children learn that their thoughts and feelings matter. They help to plan menus and vote
each week for activities or experiences, taking pride in making decisions that shape their
day. They enjoy contributing to the running of the nursery, for example by helping with
recycling and small laundry tasks. They build remarkable independence and a growing
sense of responsibility.
Staff celebrate and reflect the diversity of children's backgrounds, experiences and abilities
in everyday routines and activities. Their approach is consistently inclusive, which helps to
ensure that every child can take part fully and feel understood. This helps children to build
great confidence and to be proud of who they are and what they can achieve.
Each room is planned to offer experiences that match children's stage of development.
Babies enjoy calm, nurturing care with lots of emotional support and early communication.
Toddlers learn to recognise their feelings, follow boundaries and manage routines with
increasing confidence. All children develop excellent social skills and confidence. Pre-school
children negotiate, share and compromise with friends. They develop remarkably positive
attitudes and an enthusiasm for learning that prepares them well for school.

Inspector:
Clare Wilkins
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY454915
Address:
University of Northumbria, Sutherland Building
College Street
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
NE1 8ST
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 28/11/2012
Registered person: Northumbria University Nursery Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Children benefit from a well-planned curriculum that typically supports their learning very
well. Learning is centred around key books, which helps children to make sense of what
they are learning and contributes to their increasing literacy skills. Leaders continue to drive
incisive and swift improvements to the curriculum, giving children increasing support to
deepen their learning and achieve well. Children thrive here.
Next steps
Leaders should continue to embed and refine the curriculum to give children greater
breadth and depth across their learning and secure the consistently strong standards in
teaching and achievement that they aspire to.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, children and parents 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, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:45 - 18:15
Local authority: Newcastle upon Tyne
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 6 March 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 5
Total number of places
96
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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