Little Hubbers Day Nursery

An interactive floor projector indoors and outings morning and afternoon give Little Hubbers Day Nursery a character that extends well beyond its rooms. This North Shields setting combines town-centre childcare with beach visits, journeys by public transport and weekly Forest School, where children explore local parks through hands-on experiences with natural surroundings.

At its June 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good. That is a dated judgement. The current setting accepts children from 3 months to 5 years, with provision divided between babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Inside, the building occupies two floors, with two children’s kitchens and dining space, a sensory room and a specialist UV den. Full-day and half-day attendance are offered, alongside funded childcare stretched across the year. The practical detail matters here: private and funded full days have different finishing times, and the minimum booking commitment needs to fit the family’s week.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room, for children from 3 months to 2 years, combines soft spaces for resting and moving with an introduction to sensory and social play. Toddler room serves children aged 2 to 3 years in a separate area arranged for active exploration and creative play. Pre-School Room, for ages 3 to 5, emphasises communication, early literacy and maths through play, alongside everyday independence such as dressing and washing.

Younger children keep individual routines consistent between home and nursery; preschool activities draw on children’s interests and encourage investigation, conversation and choices.

OMNI Vista is a ceiling-mounted projector that turns the floor into an interactive resource. Alongside the sensory room and UV den, it gives children additional ways to engage with their indoor surroundings. The children’s kitchens and dining areas add another kind of participation: handling food and taking part in everyday routines.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, including communication, movement and social development. It is the shared foundation for early-years provision, rather than an additional programme unique to Little Hubbers.

Here, preparing snacks makes an ordinary part of the day into an activity. Children help with chopping, preparation and serving, giving them something useful to do together. Preschool learning also includes stories, songs and role play, with repeated reading supporting familiarity with books and language.

Parents can follow this learning through personal learning journeys containing observations, photographs and examples of children’s work. Curriculum information is posted weekly on the parent notice boards, and an annual curriculum evening explains planning and assessment. That creates opportunities to understand how individual activities connect with a child’s development.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor experiences are a substantial part of the North Shields offer. Children go out in both the morning and afternoon, with destinations including the beach, fish quay and marina, as well as parks, nature reserves and wooded areas. Journeys also include the Metro and train trips to Morpeth; these are examples of destinations, rather than a fixed timetable for each place.

Weekly Forest School takes children into local parks to explore branches, mud and puddles. Mini-beast searches, matching leaves and making pictures from natural materials connect outdoor play with noticing and investigating the world. This suits families who value experiences beyond the nursery building and are comfortable with children getting muddy.

The Turtle bus and a six-seat reclining pram support outings with younger children. Walking children wear high-visibility vests.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person, giving parents a particular member of staff with whom to discuss concerns and development. For babies and toddlers, the connection between home and nursery includes keeping individual routines consistent. This includes familiar feeding and sleeping patterns.

FAMLY carries updates about meals, sleep and nappy changes, as well as activities and nursery information. Home Link Books contain activity ideas for families and carry information about children’s experiences at home back to staff. Together, these channels connect daily care with the child’s life outside the setting.

Coffee Mornings provide time with the key person to discuss the learning journey. Regular parents’ evenings take place downstairs in The Family Hub play centre, with children able to play while adults talk. Annual questionnaires and suggestion boxes offer further routes for feedback, including comments parents prefer to make anonymously.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Dedicated SENCo officers coordinate support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Their responsibilities include working with parents, overseeing records and liaising with the local authority and external services, including speech and language and educational psychology. Parents have a designated contact for developmental concerns.

An onsite cook prepares food using a four-week menu rotation that changes each term, and the nursery’s allergen policy places strict controls on packed lunches. Children also help set tables, serve themselves and clear their plates, making mealtimes an opportunity to practise useful skills.

Staff receive allergen-awareness training. For allergy-affected families, the relationship between nursery meals, food charges and bringing food from home deserves attention before attendance begins.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm, and operates for 50 weeks each year. It closes on bank holidays, during the first week of the summer holidays and for a week following Christmas Eve. FAMLY carries the exact closure dates, so those breaks need to sit within the family’s childcare planning.

Private full-day sessions run from 7.30am to 6pm, with parents asked to arrive 10 minutes before the end for handover. Morning sessions run from 7.30am to 12.30pm, and afternoon sessions from 12.30pm to 5.30pm; a private school-day option runs from 9am to 3pm. A funded full day ends at 5.30pm, having started at 7.30am.

The minimum attendance commitment is two full days each week, booked in advance with a month’s notice. One calendar month of written notice is required to withdraw a child or reduce sessions, with fees payable during the withdrawal notice period. Additional sessions must be booked and paid for at least 24 hours beforehand.

Getting There

The address is 99 Bedford Street, North Shields, NE29 6QJ, in the town centre near the Metro and bus station. General enquiries can be made by email to manager@littlehubbers.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children can use the 15-hour and 30-hour funded entitlement schemes, with hours stretched across 50 weeks. Additional private attendance is charged separately. The fees and chargeable extras page sets out the charging structure; current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Food during funded hours carries a separate voluntary charge with an opt-out. Parents supply nappies, wipes, creams, sun protection and formula where needed, and the nursery makes no consumables charge. Families are also asked to contribute an item for shared snacks, such as fruit or vegetables.

Visiting classes have a separate monthly charge, with funded families able to opt out. Fees are paid monthly in advance and spread across the year; booked absences, including illness and holidays, remain chargeable.

• Funded attendance. The current terms include funded half-day options alongside a requirement for funded hours to be taken in full days. Ask which arrangement applies to your child and how it fits the two-full-day minimum.
• Food and allergies. Funded food charges have an opt-out, while packed lunches are subject to strict allergen controls. Confirm the current procedure and suitable alternatives if your child has an allergy or you intend to provide food.
• Outdoor routines. Outings take place morning and afternoon, and Forest School is weekly. During a visit, discuss how your child’s naps, mobility and clothing needs fit those activities.
• Contract and closures. Notice obligations, chargeable absences and summer and Christmas shutdowns all affect childcare planning. Review these together before committing to a booking.

Little Hubbers suits families seeking either full-day attendance or shorter morning, afternoon and school-day sessions within a setting that spends substantial time out in North Shields and beyond. Its interactive indoor resources, practical independence and frequent outdoor experiences give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The booking commitment is substantial, however, and funded attendance needs careful clarification. Families comfortable with the contract, closure pattern and outdoor routine will find a clearly defined offer, supported by a Good judgement from June 2021.