Ferndene Nursery
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Darlington 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 August 2025. Open since 1999, with 78 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 Darlington
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Darlington 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
DL3 8PQWhat 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, 20 August 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are very happy and settled in this inviting, welcoming nursery. They arrive and are greeted warmly by kind and caring staff. Staff spend time building, nurturing and trusting relationships with children, which helps them to feel safe and secure. Children behave well and benefit from staff's high expectations. Staff help children to learn about good behaviours, such as sharing and turn taking. Staff have developed the environment to enable children to independently select their own activities and resources. Children demonstrate a positive attitude to their learning and behave well.
Children really benefit from the vast outdoor area. Staff set resources to encourage children to be physically active in a range of ways. For example, staff help and guide children to learn to climb on the different frames and equipment. They carefully step and balance along planks. Babies develop their small-muscle skills as they paint with a variety of flowers, leaves and petals. The garden provides children with a wide variety of opportunities to investigate nature. They find a beetle and a fly when they go on a bug hunt and excitedly ask staff lots of questions. This helps children to understand the world around them.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen opportunities for coaching and monitoring of individual staff's teaching skills, to improve their knowledge of how to consistently maximise children's learning experiences n develop staff's understanding of curriculum intentions to enable them to focus specifically on what children need to learn next, to ensure that all activities challenge children's learning more effectively.
- 20 August 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 6 November 2019Good
- 19 June 2014Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Ferndene Nursery
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.