Kids 1st Great Park

Recorded parental voices, vegetables grown by children and balance bikes give Kids 1st Great Park a recognisable character in its October 2022 account of nursery life. The strongest examples connect practical learning with emotional reassurance: familiar voices helped children settle, while planting and harvesting gave older children something real to investigate.

At its 21 October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that individual learning plans and professional partnerships supported children with SEND. Two weaknesses also mattered: younger children had fewer outdoor learning opportunities, and quieter children sometimes missed out on activities.

On Roseden Way in Newcastle Great Park, the nursery has capacity for 106 children aged 3 to 60 months. It opens throughout the year, excluding bank holidays, with weekday opening hours of 7.30am to 6pm. Full-time childcare is a booking option.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, play provides opportunities to practise communication, movement and independence alongside early writing and other developing skills.

In October 2022, staff planned learning around children's interests and what they needed to practise next. Paintbrushes and chalk boards gave children different ways to make marks. Rather than separating early writing from play, these activities let children experiment with the movements involved.

Practical tasks extended that approach. During October 2022, children practised cutting carrots with knives and cabbage with scissors, with adults showing them how and encouraging further attempts. These were opportunities to work on handling tools and doing things independently. The caution was participation: less confident children were sometimes left sitting without becoming involved, so access to an activity did not mean every child benefited equally.

Outdoor and Community Life

In October 2022, older children used wooden structures for climbing and jumping, while toddlers rode balance bikes. A mud kitchen provided another kind of outdoor play. These physical features gave children different ways to move, investigate and use materials.

The grow zone connected planting with play: children grew herbs, kale and beans, then used harvested vegetables in the mud kitchen. This made the process of growing food tangible. Children could work with what they had planted, rather than encounter nature only through pictures or conversation.

The younger children's experience was less developed at that time. In October 2022, babies had fewer chances to use outdoor equipment and resources, and planning for their outdoor learning needed attention. For parents choosing baby care, this distinction matters more than a general description of a nursery garden.

Relationships and Communication

In October 2022, settling included electronic buttons carrying recordings of parents' voices and family photographs displayed around the nursery. Both brought something familiar from home into the child's day. Unsettled babies received comfort and cuddles, making reassurance a practical part of care.

Communication also ran in both directions during October 2022. Staff discussed children's days with parents and shared photographs and observations through an online app; families were invited to contribute experiences from home. That combination gave staff information about children's interests beyond nursery and gave parents a view of activities they had not shared themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In October 2022, children learning English alongside another language were supported with familiar words from home and visual prompts for routines. Singing and rhymes offered ways to join in. The SEND coordinator advised practitioners, who worked with other professionals and used individual learning plans to organise support.

A later outdoor-access issue needs its own context: following a regulatory visit on 9 January 2025, Ofsted required daily outside play for babies and toddlers, and its outcome dated 10 January 2025 confirmed satisfaction with the action taken. Although addressed, this returned to the younger children's outdoor experience after the earlier weakness. It is a useful subject for a focused visit conversation.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with year-round operation and bank-holiday closures. The distinction between opening hours and a family's booked attendance matters: the nursery's full-time option sits alongside a form on which families select weekdays and their intended start date.

Enquiries can be made through the branch contact form or the central enrolments team on 0330 333 8133. The address is Roseden Way, Newcastle Great Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE13 9BD.

Funding and Paid Extras

The branch booking form includes 30 Hours working families funding, 15 Hours universal funding for children aged 3 and 4, and 15 hours for 2-year-olds receiving support. These are eligibility-dependent options, rather than a promise that every family qualifies. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Outdoor time for younger children. The January 2025 action addressed daily outside play for babies and toddlers after the October 2022 weakness in outdoor learning. At a visit, ask how outdoor access and activities now work for the youngest children.
• A quieter child's day. In October 2022, staff sometimes missed children who were sitting without joining activities. Ask how practitioners notice hesitant children and help them participate.
• The funded booking. The branch offers the three funding options above. Before agreeing attendance, request one written breakdown covering booked hours, funding delivery, meals and non-food consumables.

Kids 1st Great Park suits families considering full-time childcare with year-round weekday opening. Its October 2022 examples give substance to the nursery experience: planting, practical tool use and familiar parental voices each served a clear purpose. The decision deserves equal attention to younger children's outdoor day and how quieter children are included. Those are concrete questions that arise from this nursery's history.