Happy Little Sunbeams Day Nursery
Needs improvementTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Middlesbrough for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Needs improvement by Ofsted in September 2025. Open since 2018, with 64 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Government funded nursery places from the term after your child turns 9 months till when your child starts school.
What childcare usually costs in Middlesbrough
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Middlesbrough 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
TS1 3LFWhat 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, 30 September 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
The provision requires improvement
Staff are friendly as they welcome children into the nursery. Children settle quickly.
Leaders have developed a curriculum in which they want children to develop their confidence and independence. However, there are inconsistencies in the quality of education on offer. Some staff lack the understanding to implement clear learning outcomes for children. For instance, staff do not always offer appropriate activities or plan activities that focus on children's next steps in learning and development.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: improve staff's knowledge so that they understand how to implement the curriculum intentions consistently and consider the learning and development needs of all children (by 31/12/2025)
develop the key-person system, to improve staff knowledge of their key children and to support children to build positive bonds with staff responsible for their care. (by 30/11/2025)
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- embed strategies to support children who speak English as an additional language n embed systems to provide parents with information about their children's next steps for learning and how they can support these at home.
- 30 September 2025Needs improvement Safeguarding: Yes
- 31 January 2020Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 1 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Happy Little Sunbeams Day Nursery
- What it costs
- 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
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? 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.