Little Lingfields Limited
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Darlington for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £73.50 a day for under 2 years old, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2022. Open since 2015, with 59 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
51 weeks a year.
| Age | Full day | Session | Weekly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2 years oldbirth to 2y | £73.50 | £48.00Half Day, 5 hrs | £343.50Full Time (5 Days) |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £2.00 High Tea
- £3.20 Dinner
- £16.26 a week Meals/snackson 3 full days
What a funded hour still costs
Funded hours cover the childcare. These are charged alongside them.
- £2.00 Teaattending funded hours only
- £3.50 Lunchattending funded hours only
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
9-month-old plus funding, 15 & 30 hours per week.
Worth knowing. Additional charge of £3.50 for lunch or £2.00 for tea for funded hours only; parents to bring own nappies, wipes and formula milk.
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
DL1 1RWWhat 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, 27 January 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children have very good relationships with their key person and they settle quickly on arrival. Older children demonstrate high levels of confidence and independence.
They are eager to play and make their own decisions about what they want to do.
For example, children spend a long time exploring ice, water and paint. They use hammers to break the ice and excitedly watch what happens as they mix a variety of paints together. Staff encourage children to predict what might happen next.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to identify the more quieter children to make sure that they have the same learning experiences as the more confident children - use detailed, initial information gathered from parents more effectively, when children start attending, in order to plan for what children need to learn first.
- 27 January 2022Good
- 18 August 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Little Lingfields Limited
- 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.
- Is £73.50 a day still the rate? 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.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.