Kids Planet Kettering

An Edwardian house, upstairs rooms for under-twos and gardens give Kids Planet Kettering a recognisable character. Weekly music sessions and outings to local parks and the nearby fire station extend children's experiences beyond their usual play spaces. This is a nursery where the building and its surroundings both contribute to the day.

At its July 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with positive findings about learning and staff interactions, while asking for younger children to have more opportunities to handle their own care tasks. That balance matters: there was much to value in the everyday teaching, alongside a specific improvement for the youngest children.

Children are accepted from three to 60 months. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings serve different family routines, with an additional Early Bird period for an earlier start.

Rooms and Ages

Under-twos have dedicated rooms upstairs in the Edwardian house. The gardens and outdoor areas add another setting for exploration, so the physical offer extends beyond indoor activities. For parents choosing care for a baby, the upstairs arrangement is a practical detail to weigh alongside the outdoor provision.

Room changes received deliberate attention in July 2025. Children had settling sessions before moving between rooms, giving them time to become familiar with the next stage. The move was treated as a transition needing support, rather than simply a change of age group.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, that means learning through play, conversation, movement and growing independence, rather than separating education from the ordinary nursery day.

In July 2025, staff expanded children's vocabulary while joining their play and encouraged thinking through questions. Book-sharing included discussion of illustrations, giving children opportunities to contribute rather than simply listen. Early signing accompanied speech for children whose language was still developing. These were concrete ways of making communication part of shared activity.

Counting also arose within play in July 2025. Staff helped children reconsider an initial answer about flowers and count again together. The useful feature was the response to a mistake: children were encouraged to look more closely and work it out with an adult.

Weekly music sessions add a regular musical element to the current offer. In July 2025, children also explored instruments and took part in movement activities with music, linking listening with physical participation.

Outdoor and Community Life

Regular outings include local parks and the nearby fire station. These experiences give children something beyond the nursery to explore and talk about; in July 2025, older children recalled a fire-station visit with enthusiasm.

Outdoor play had a practical physical emphasis in July 2025. Tyres and planks were used for balancing, climbing and jumping, giving children opportunities to practise controlling their bodies and judging space. The gardens remain an important part of the setting's current character, alongside its indoor rooms.

Relationships and Communication

In July 2025, the key-person arrangement helped staff understand individual children's needs and adapt activities. Assessments were used repeatedly rather than as an isolated exercise. Together, these practices connected knowledge of the child with decisions about their learning.

Famly, the group-wide parent app used here, provides updates about children's days. Families can also participate through stay-and-play sessions, open days and wellbeing coffee mornings. Those face-to-face opportunities offer a different kind of connection from receiving an update on a phone.

Daily conversations with parents were part of communication in July 2025. Stay-and-play sessions also gave families opportunities to see the learning for themselves, making the relationship with nursery more than a brief exchange of practical messages.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged that children with special educational needs or disabilities made good progress, supported by collaboration with families and external agencies and targeted use of additional funding. Examples included individual adult assistance and extra resources, so the finding rested on specific support rather than a general statement about inclusion.

Independence was less consistent for younger children in July 2025. Older children managed tasks such as cleaning their faces, while adults sometimes stepped in to do younger children's tasks, including taking off shoes before sleep. The improvement needed was clear: younger children should have more chances to try for themselves.

Freshly prepared food includes meals and snacks, with dietary needs catered for. Mealtimes also offered learning opportunities in July 2025, when children practised serving food and pouring drinks.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, across 52 weeks of the year. The standard Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm; Morning is 8am to 1pm, and Afternoon is 1pm to 6pm. A Full Time booking uses the same 8am to 6pm window, while Early Bird covers 7.30am to 8am.

Ad-hoc hourly care is also part of the booking offer and costs more than regular bookings. This distinction matters for families combining a regular routine with occasional additional care: an extra booking follows a different charging structure from the usual pattern.

Getting There

The address is 113 London Road, Kettering, NN15 7PH. Enquiries can be made directly by telephone or email, and tours can be booked.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid care are both offered. For privately paid care, the inclusive fee covers snacks and meals, plus sun cream, formula, wipes and nappies. Sports activities and the parent app are also included in that offer.

On days where early years funding is applied, meals, consumables and activities are charged separately. The charge structure distinguishes different lengths of attendance, so a funded booking needs to be considered alongside its additional charges. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Younger children's independence. In July 2025, adults sometimes completed care tasks that younger children could have attempted themselves. During a tour, ask how children now practise taking off shoes and cleaning their faces.
• Upstairs care for under-twos. The youngest children's rooms are upstairs in an Edwardian house. A visit is the opportunity to discuss how that arrangement works for your child's daily care and access to the gardens.
• Funded-day extras. Separate charges for meals, activities and consumables apply on days using early years funding. Request a written quotation for your intended pattern so the overall cost is clear before booking.

Kids Planet Kettering suits families choosing between morning, afternoon and full-day care who value gardens, regular outings and a weekly musical element. Its July 2025 strengths lay in everyday interaction: shared books, conversation and counting woven into play. The younger children's opportunities for independence deserve attention alongside those strengths, especially for families considering the upstairs under-two rooms.