Shildon Early Years celebrates 20 years

Twenty years ago it opened as a Sure Start nursery for the working families of Shildon, writes volunteer community journalist, Henri Birkholz. 

Last week, balloons, bunting and a teddy bears’ picnic marked the occasion. 

Shildon Early Years, run by Durham County Council on Byerley Road, celebrated two decades of caring for the town’s children.

The town around the nursery has changed, and Shildon Early Years has changed with it. 

Nursery manager, Tina Mortimer, who has been there for 17 years, says the families it welcomes today are not the ones it opened for. 

“When we first opened, we were more for paying parents and working families,” she said, “and now it’s more funded children. 

“It’s a bit more of a deprived area, so it’s a different demographic of families we’re caring for.”

The rooms tell the same story. The old baby room is now a room for two-year-olds, opened up as funding for that age came in, and the team, though smaller than before, works longer hours for consistency. 

Around 25 children are on the roll, with about 18 in on a typical day. 

“It’s a more secure, stable environment for the children to have the same staff in every day,” said Tina.

And those staff have stayed. Tina began as a nursery assistant and worked her way up. “I never thought I’d be where I am now,” she said. 

Deputy manager Donna Robinson, who also started as an assistant, has given the nursery 18 years. For her, it comes down to the outdoors. 

“Just seeing the children explore the garden and nature, footprints and things like that. Out and free,” said Donna.

For some parents, those staff have made a real difference. 

Katherine chose the nursery for her youngest after her eldest thrived there. But what she remembers is how staff spotted her older son’s needs. 

He wasn’t speaking, and they moved fast. “He didn’t speak at all, so they got the ball rolling for his autism assessment, which helped a lot going into school. He just enjoys coming,” she said.

“The teachers held his hand the whole time so he could have his sports day — I thought that was really special,” said Emma, who had initially thought his autism would prevent him taking part. 

She found the nursery through a friend and has sent all her children there since.

The praise isn’t confined to parents. Shildon’s mayor, Councillor Samantha Townsend, sent her own daughter there and says the nursery’s 20 years in the town count for a lot. 

“Because it’s been established so long, families trust this nursery,” she said. “A lot of the staff have been here for years. It makes it a lovely little nursery to take your kids to.” 

From there, many children step straight next door to Timothy Hackworth Primary.

For all that has changed, the nursery’s ambitions haven’t: “We want to keep the nursery going, support our families and work with the area,” Tina said. 

That still means allotment visits and trips out among everything else. And twenty years in, the children play on.