Borrowby Nursery School
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Knayton, Thirsk for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in December 2023. Open since 2003, with 24 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in North Yorkshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in North Yorkshire from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
YO7 4ANWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 18 December 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children receive a warm welcome to this nursery. They look forward to coming and delight in seeing their friends and staff. Staff build warm and caring relationships with children. Children trust the adults and know that they are there to help. They demonstrate highly positive attitudes towards tasks and are very engaged. Children move freely around the setting and develop their imaginations successfully. For example, they engage with small-world figures, promoting their language and communication skills.
Children treat each other kindly, imitating the good relationships that they see around them in nursery. They begin to understand that some types of behaviour are better than others. They make friends and share and play together well.
Children spend a lot of time outdoors. They work together, shovelling sand and soil out of a large container before wheeling it elsewhere. Meanwhile, others solve the problem of how to transport water using pots and pans. Children are fascinated by nature and the world around them. They turn over logs to see what creatures live underneath. They describe the size of the various spiders and compare the length of the worms they find. Staff support children to find information in books to correctly name bugs, such as 'millipede'. Children learn how to skilfully ride bicycles and understand how to keep themselves safe by wearing a helmet.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance further the opportunities that help children to test their ideas through their own trial and error.
- 18 December 2023Good
- 18 July 2023Inadequate
- 4 December 2017Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Borrowby Nursery School
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.