Positive Steps Childcare Nursery

Interior of the Positive Steps Day Nursery play area

Welcome to Positive Steps Nursery.

Located on-site at East Durham College’s Peterlee campus, Positive Steps Nursery offers a warm, nurturing environment designed to support both children and families. Our convenient location helps make college life more accessible for students with young children, while we also welcome families from the wider community seeking high-quality childcare.

We provide a safe, stimulating and welcoming setting where children aged from six weeks to five years can learn, play and grow. Our experienced and dedicated team is a key strength of the nursery, with many staff members having worked here for over 15 years. This continuity allows us to build strong, trusting relationships with children and families while maintaining a consistent, high standard of care and early education. We are committed to delivering high-quality provision at a competitive cost, supporting each child’s individual development.

Funded places are available for eligible children, with a range of options to support the use of funded hours. We are happy to discuss session choices and current availability to best meet your needs.

We can offer an early bird session from 7:45am to 8:00am. This is available at a small additional cost and must be booked in advance.

We also offer wraparound care to provide additional flexibility for families. This service is available at an additional cost, which can be discussed upon enquiry.

For students at the college, some sessions may be available free of charge, subject to eligibility criteria.

We are open for 50 weeks of the year, closing for a two-week period over the Christmas holidays.

The nursery is also closed on all bank holidays, along with three additional days each year to support ongoing staff training and professional development, ensuring we continue to provide high-quality care and education.

Ofsted - GOOD

Positive Steps Nursery was inspected in 2022 and was graded good by Ofsted. You can view the report on the Ofsted website

Curriculum At Positive Steps Nursery

At Positive Steps, we follow the Early years foundation stage (EYFS) curriculum.

This is a statutory framework that sets the standards that school and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5.

You can find our more about the EYFS on the government website

Meet The Team

Management Team

Denise McAvinnie – Nursery Manager/Designated Safeguarding Lead

Tracey Brennan – Deputy Manager & Room Lead Little Bears/Designated Safeguarding Lead
Christine Wells – Room Lead Pre School/Designated Safeguarding Lead
Joanne Churlish – Room Lead Cuddly Cubs/Designated Safeguarding Lead/SENCo.
Claire Malcolm – Cuddly Cubs
Leanne Hawkes – Cuddly Cubs
Emma Armstrong – Cuddly Cubs
Clare Smith – Cuddly Cubs
Shannon Dosworth – Cuddly Cubs
Shannon Dodsworth – Cuddly Cubs
Kim Lambert – Little Bears
Debbie Langlands – Little Bears
Nichola Morland – Little Bears
Claire Malcom – Little Bears
Scarlett Marley – Little Bears
Debbie Langlands – Pre-School
Marie Finlay – Pre-School
Lily-May Perry and Brooke Coles – Supply Childcare Officers
Shelley Low – Kitchen Assistant

Exterior of the Positive Steps Day Nursery play area

Visits

Once you have accepted your nursery place, we will arrange a series of settling-in visits for you and your child.

To begin, you will attend a one-hour session, either between 10.00am and 11.00am or 2.00pm and 3.00pm, depending on what works best for you and your child.

As your child becomes more comfortable and you feel confident to leave them for longer periods, these visits will gradually be extended to two hours. When we all feel your child is settled, happy and ready, they will then begin their regular booked sessions

Rooms at Positive Steps

We have three dedicated rooms at Positive Steps Nursery, each designed to support children at different stages of their development:

Cuddly Cubs – for children from birth to 2 years
Little Bears – for children aged 2 to 3 years
Pre-School – for children aged 3 to 5 years

These age ranges act as a general guide and room transitions may also be subject to availability. Decisions about room placement are made with each child’s individual needs in mind and may vary slightly. Any transitions between rooms are carefully considered by our management team in partnership with parents and carers, ensuring the best possible experience for every child.

Childcare Funding Available 

All families may be eligible for government-funded childcare support, which provides up to 15 hours a week for all three and four-year-olds, and up to 30 hours a week for eligible working families.

To check eligibility and apply for funded childcare, parents and carers can visit the government’s official Childcare Choices website at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk, where you can complete a simple online eligibility checker and apply for your funding code if applicable. We are also happy to support families with this process and answer any questions you may have.

Positive Feedback

We are extremely proud of the quality of service we offer to all the children entrusted to our care, as well as to their parents and carers. It is always very satisfying to have that endorsed by the positive feedback received from parents. This is just one example of many:

"I just wanted to drop you guys a message to express our appreciation for the outstanding quality and professionalism of the whole team at Positive Steps Nursery. Denise and the whole team deserve special mention for the absolute joy, care and attention to detail they have in their roles. We feel very lucky that our daughter has a place at Positive Steps, and we could not be more impressed or satisfied with the fantastic work that the whole team does there." Phillip.