Oxhill Nursery School

About Oxhill Nursery School

Oxhill Nursery School sits within County Durham’s local authority, where it is one of ten state nursery schools. Of those, six hold an Outstanding rating from Ofsted, placing Oxhill in a competitive local landscape. The school itself is rated Good, a grade it has maintained across its two most recent inspections. Its headteacher, Julia Watson, leads a mixed-gender nursery for children aged two to four, with 121 pupils currently on roll. The school does not have a religious character, and its nursery provision is a core part of its identity. Among its local peers, the top-rated nurseries in the authority are those with Outstanding status, though Oxhill’s Good rating still places it within the majority of nurseries in the area that are performing well. For parents in County Durham weighing up early years options, Oxhill offers a solid, well-regarded choice within a local system where only a minority of nurseries have achieved the top Ofsted grade.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in July 2025, Oxhill Nursery School received Good ratings across all four graded areas: quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management. The previous inspection, in March 2015, also rated the school Good overall, with the early years provision and leadership both scoring 2 on the four-point scale. Parent feedback from the period between September 2024 and September 2025 is largely positive: 83% of the 24 respondents would recommend the school, and 92% agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy there. Strong majorities also felt their child does well (92%) and that the school has high expectations (75%). However, a minority of parents expressed concerns: 17% would not recommend the school, and 21% disagreed that concerns are dealt with properly. The school’s SEND support received no responses, so parent views on that area are not available.

The school’s facilities include a library, dining hall, music rooms, and a chapel, and it offers gymnastics, dance, and swimming as part of its sports provision, alongside an art club. Its SEND provisions cover social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. Oxhill is a state nursery, not a boarding school, and its admissions are likely to be oversubscribed given its Good rating and the limited number of nursery places in the authority. This school will suit families in County Durham who want a well-regarded, non-religious early years setting with a strong track record in personal development and behaviour. The parent view data suggests most families are very satisfied, though a small but notable minority have concerns about how concerns are handled, so it is worth visiting and asking about that directly.

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