Kids Planet Hebburn

Small acts of independence give Kids Planet Hebburn its clearest character: pouring drinks, choosing food and learning to handle everyday tasks. In June 2022, children practised these skills as they moved between rooms, with older children also preparing food for giant snails. These were practical learning experiences, connecting care for living things with responsibility and safe food preparation.

Kids Planet Hebburn, formerly Abacus Day Nursery, occupies 1-3 Station Road in Hebburn, NE31 1NX. It has capacity for 96 children, accepting ages from three months to five years. At its 9 June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. That judgement belongs to the nursery under its former name at the same address.

Today, learning combines activities chosen by children with guidance from adults. Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings give families different ways to fit nursery around their week.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday interactions support learning alongside practical skills. Hebburn combines children's own interests with activities guided by practitioners, giving children both opportunities to make choices and help with their next steps.

In June 2022, an interest in farm animals became a starting point for learning animal sounds among two-year-olds. Older children prepared food for giant snails, while adults explained safe knife handling. The examples matter because learning was attached to something children wanted to do, rather than treated as a separate exercise.

Independence developed gradually in June 2022. Toddlers moved from eating with spoons towards using forks; children in the Tots room practised pouring, before taking on serving themselves in the next room. Each step gave children a manageable task. For parents, this offers a useful picture of how ordinary routines can become opportunities to learn.

Communication needed more consistent attention. In June 2022, adults working with older children demonstrated vocabulary effectively, but some instructions to babies and toddlers were too lengthy for them to understand. Younger children could consequently struggle to follow what was being asked. Strengthening those interactions was an improvement priority, alongside more purposeful staff development and better monitoring of training.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor learning forms part of the current offer. The group-wide approach described for Hebburn includes growing vegetables, investigating wildlife and active outdoor play. These activities connect movement with opportunities to explore living things; they are additions to the account of indoor learning, rather than a separate claim about educational outcomes.

Sports activities are included within private fees. That gives physical activity a place alongside the nursery's balance of child-led and adult-guided learning.

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), with individual strategies developed alongside parents and professionals helping children make excellent progress. This is a dated judgement, but its practical detail is useful: support involved identifying needs promptly and agreeing approaches that could be used consistently by the adults around each child.

In June 2022, stories helped children discuss emotions, with colours providing a way to express feelings. Younger children received help with taking turns, while adults explained expectations about behaviour. These examples show how social learning was built into conversations and routines, rather than left to children to work out alone.

Relationships with parents also had a practical dimension in June 2022. Families received information about nursery activities and ideas for continuing learning at home. The current group-wide Famly app provides updates as activities happen, giving parents another connection with their child's day.

Hebburn works with families around children's wellbeing. Its team holds relevant early years qualifications, and some practitioners continue their studies and training. The useful distinction for parents is between having training arrangements and seeing their effect on daily interactions: in June 2022, managers needed to monitor training more carefully, including whether staff had actually completed online learning.

Freshly prepared snacks and meals are provided, with dietary needs accommodated. Private fees include food as well as formula, wipes, nappies and sun cream; days using early years funding carry separate meal and consumables charges.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. The nursery closes for bank holidays and a week at Christmas. The opening window and the standard full-day booking are different: a Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm, while Morning covers 8am to 1pm and Afternoon runs from 1pm to 6pm.

Full Time uses the 8am to 6pm window. The Full Week half-day option also has an 8am to 1pm time entry. Early Bird covers 7.30am to 8am, and an ad hoc hourly booking option provides another way to purchase additional time. These distinctions matter when matching a work schedule to the actual booking, especially before the standard day begins.

Getting There

The address is 1-3 Station Road, Hebburn, NE31 1NX. Families can enquire by telephone on 0191 483 6040 or email hebburn@kidsplanetdaynurseries.co.uk. Tours can be booked through the nursery.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are both offered. Private fees include meals and snacks, sports activities and the Famly app, together with nappies, formula, wipes and sun cream.

On days when early years funding is used, meals, consumables and activities are charged separately. The charge structure distinguishes half, short and full-day charges on days when early years funding is applied, so a funded booking needs to be considered separately from an entirely private one. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Language support for younger children. In June 2022, some instructions to babies and toddlers were too long for them to follow. During a tour, ask how practitioners now adapt their language and how managers evaluate the effect of staff training.
• The first half-hour. Standard full-day bookings begin at 8am, while Early Bird covers 7.30am to 8am. Families needing the earlier start should include that additional booking in their plans.
• Funded-day extras. Meals, consumables and activities attract separate charges on days using early years funding. Ask for a written explanation of the proposed funded pattern and its extras before agreeing the booking.

Kids Planet Hebburn suits families considering full-day care as well as those seeking morning or afternoon sessions. Its current offer combines adult guidance with children's own choices, outdoor learning and everyday supplies included in private fees. The June 2022 examples of growing independence give that offer a concrete educational context.

The balance is clear: an overall Good judgement, detailed inspection praise for SEND support, and specific improvement work around younger children's communication and staff training. For parents choosing care for a baby or toddler, the language-support question deserves particular attention during a tour.