URN 2832591 · Inspected 2026-08-14 · Published 2026-09-17 · Inspector: Ruth Williamson
Kids Planet Heddon-on-the-wall Unique reference number (URN): 2832591 Address: Kids Planet Day Nursery, 1 Taberna Close, Heddon-on-the-wall, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE15 0BW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 10/02/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited Inspection report: 14 August 2026 Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement Strong standard Safeguarding standards met The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe. How we evaluate safeguarding When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes: Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard Leaders have established a highly positive and respectful culture. Warm relationships help children understand expectations and develop confidence in managing their behaviour. Staff know children well and adapt their approaches where individual children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, need additional support. Children demonstrate consistently positive attitudes to their experiences. They concentrate for sustained periods and persevere when they encounter difficulty. For example, younger children persist with challenging self-care tasks rather than immediately relying on staff for help. Children spontaneously help one another when something is difficult and show genuine pleasure in their friends' successes. They cooperate, take turns and increasingly manage everyday routines independently. Children show notable consideration for others. They readily include their friends in play, share resources and respond positively when others need help. Routines are calm and predictable, and children know what is expected of them. During sociable mealtimes, they talk confidently with staff and friends, use good manners and increasingly take responsibility for themselves. These expectations develop progressively as children move through the nursery. Leaders promote regular attendance and follow up unexplained or repeated absence. Well- established routines support children's positive behaviour, growing independence and readiness for their next stage. Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Children flourish within the setting's distinctive homely approach. Staff know children and their families well and use this knowledge to provide highly responsive care. They create continuity between children's experiences at home and nursery. Babies form secure attachments to their key persons and confidently check back with them for reassurance as they explore. Parents value the close relationships they develop with staff and have confidence in the care their children receive. Children develop increasing independence through carefully established daily routines. Babies are encouraged to attempt new skills for themselves, while older children increasingly manage dressing, toileting and their personal belongings. Staff recognise when children are ready for greater independence and give them the time, encouragement and reassurance they need to succeed. This builds children's confidence in their own capabilities. The setting makes particularly effective use of its small village community. Children regularly explore their local surroundings and enjoy experiences, such as village events. This helps them become familiar with where they live and develop a strong sense of belonging. Alongside this, books, stories, music and creative experiences broaden children's understanding of people, cultures and experiences beyond their immediate community. Children benefit from extensive opportunities to be physically active outdoors, explore and take appropriate risks. Staff give careful attention to individual care needs, including safer- sleep arrangements. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive appropriate adaptations that support their communication, emotional security and participation. Leadership and governance Strong standard Leaders, and those responsible for oversight, know the setting well. Their evaluation of its strengths and priorities closely matches what is happening in practice. Leaders seek external expertise, including from the local authority, and use this purposefully to improve the curriculum and provision. Children benefit from a well-considered approach to developing staff's expertise. Leaders use induction, mentoring, supervision and peer observation to identify what individual practitioners need to improve and provide professional learning that responds to these needs. For example, leaders identified interactions as an area for development and provided targeted training and support. Staff explain how this has strengthened their practice, and improvements are evident in the quality of interactions children now experience. Leaders provide effective oversight for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They ensure that staff understand individual plans, implement specialist advice and review the difference support makes. Leaders give appropriate attention to staff's workload and wellbeing and provide individual support when needed. They make effective use of partnerships with the local authority and family hub to strengthen staff's knowledge and improve provision for children. Leaders' reflective culture, accurate self-evaluation and sustained focus on developing staff's expertise make a consistently positive difference to the quality of provision. Expected standard Achievement Expected standard Children make appropriate progress from their different starting points across the areas of learning. Babies develop secure relationships and increasingly communicate and manage simple routines. As children progress through the nursery, they become increasingly independent, develop their language and physical skills and show greater concentration and persistence. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress towards their individual targets because staff implement appropriate adaptations and specialist advice. Children who need additional help are supported to participate and develop important communication and independence skills. Older children develop the skills they need in preparation for school, including managing their personal needs, communicating with others, following instructions and developing early literacy and mathematical knowledge. However, variation in the quality of staff's interactions means that opportunities to deepen and extend children's knowledge and thinking are not consistently maximised. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders have established what they want children to learn as they progress through the nursery. They prioritise communication, independence and physical development alongside the knowledge and skills children need for their next stage. Leaders work with the local authority to strengthen aspects of the curriculum, including mathematics and communication. Staff generally understand the curriculum and know their key children well. They use books, songs, routines, children's interests and the local environment to support learning. There are examples of skilful teaching. For instance, staff use mathematical vocabulary, books and well-chosen questions to extend children's ideas. Staff adapt teaching appropriately for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have correctly identified staff's interactions as an area for further development and have provided training. This is beginning to improve practice. However, the quality and precision of interactions are not yet consistent. At times, staff do not make full use of opportunities to model language or extend children's communication and thinking. Leaders' work to improve interactions is beginning to have an impact, but the strongest practice is not yet embedded across the nursery. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders identify children who may need additional help, including those facing barriers to their learning or wellbeing, and work with families and other professionals to understand and reduce these barriers. Staff use developmental information, including two-year progress checks and communication assessments to identify emerging needs. This helps to provide targeted support and activities where needed. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have individual plans, which incorporate specialist advice. Staff understand these plans and make appropriate adaptations. This includes using visual communication, smaller groups and more gradual transitions. These adaptations make a positive difference. For example, the introduction of visual communication has helped some children to communicate their choices more successfully. Parents also recognise the progress children make with additional support. Leaders consider the individual needs of children eligible for early years pupil premium. They involve parents and key persons when deciding how funding will reduce identified barriers, particularly those relating to communication. Leaders use assessment to review the support provided. This helps children who need additional support to participate in nursery life and make progress from what they know and can already do. What it's like to be a child at this setting Children are happy, confident and secure. From the time they are babies, they form warm relationships with staff. They confidently explore their surroundings and check back with familiar adults when they need reassurance. Children experience a nurturing, home-from- home environment where staff know them and their families well. Parents reinforce this view. They describe how their children are 'welcomed with open arms'. Children develop increasing independence as they move through the nursery. Babies begin to feed themselves. Young children persevere with dressing dolls, and older children increasingly manage dressing and toileting independently. At mealtimes, children chat happily with others. They use good manners and manage increasingly complex tasks for themselves. These experiences help children develop the confidence and self-care skills they need for their next stage. Children are curious and enjoy learning. Their interests and experiences are promoted within the setting. For instance, staff introduce baby play to support young children who are due to have a new baby in their family. This helps to support children to explore familiar care routines. Older children show interest and enjoyment as they learn about sea life. This is initiated by children bringing items from home, such as seashells. Children use books to investigate their ideas, represent sea creatures through large-scale drawing and used mathematical language to describe their shapes. Inspector: Ruth Williamson About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2832591 Children enjoy being physically active and confidently explore outdoors. They learn to take appropriate risks and regularly experience the setting's small village community. These experiences help children develop physical confidence and a strong sense of belonging to the place where they live. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities participate confidently because staff make appropriate adaptations. Visual communication helps some children express their choices, while individual plans and specialist advice help staff understand how to support children's next steps. Children make progress from their different starting points, and parents recognise improvements, particularly in children's speech and communication. Regular attendance is promoted so that children benefit fully from their nursery experiences. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. They concentrate, persevere when something is difficult and cooperate with others. However, while some staff skilfully extend children's vocabulary, ideas and thinking, the quality of interactions is not yet consistently strong across the nursery. Consequently, some opportunities to deepen children's learning are not fully realised. Next steps Leaders should enhance the consistency of staff's interactions so that they can build on high-quality opportunities to extend children's communication and thinking. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator and apprentices during the inspection. We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage. Address: Kids Planet Day Nursery 1 Taberna Close, Heddon-on-the-wall Newcastle Upon Tyne NE15 0BW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 10/02/2025 Registered person: Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited Register(s): EYR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Northumberland Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 14 August 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 65 Our grades explained Exceptional Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it. Strong standard The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them. Expected standard The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them. Needs attention The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements. Urgent improvement The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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