Lonsdale Childcare
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Hartlepool 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 They do not publish prices, so ask.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 Good by Ofsted in March 2023. Open since 2009, with 56 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds can access 15 hours childcare support. By September 2025, eligible working families with children aged between 9 months and 5 years old will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare support.
What childcare usually costs in Hartlepool
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Hartlepool 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
TS26 8JJWhat 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, 3 March 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy, settled and content in this warm and welcoming nursery. Staff greet children as they arrive and they happily leave their parents, ready to start the nursery day. Older children identify their name and self-register. Children learn to be independent. For example, older children help to give out cutlery and plates at lunch time. They independently serve themselves freshly prepared nutritious meals.
Toddlers enjoy looking at books independently and with staff. They listen attentively as staff read 'Goldilocks and The Three Bears.' Staff encourage children to talk about feelings and emotions as they read the story. Children eagerly respond to staff questions and describe what they see on the pages. Children behave well. Staff are positive role models and provide plenty of praise and encouragement. This helps to develop children's confidence and self-esteem.
Children benefit from daily opportunities to play outdoors. Older children practise their physical skills as they carefully balance along a tyre wall and ride balance bikes. Furthermore, staff challenge children to throw coloured bean bags into the corresponding coloured hoop. Toddlers take part in an exercise session. They excitedly count the number of star jumps they complete. Children use small spades to search for carrots in their garden. Children relish the time they spend outside.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen the quality of staff interactions with children to help them challenge and extend children's learning more effectively as they play n develop further the strategies to communicate information to parents about how they can extend and support their child's learning at home n provide staff with more professional development and training opportunities in order to raise the quality of education even further.
- 3 March 2023Good
- 21 July 2017Good
- 9 June 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Lonsdale Childcare
- 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.