Nursery Advice
Claim Your Nursery

Kids 1st - Rake Lane

Ofsted: Good
(Jul 2025)
·
3.7(6 parent reviews) ·North Tyneside General Hospital, Rake Lane, North Shields, NE29 8NH · North Tyneside
Number of places
112 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Jul 2025
Local authority
North Tyneside

About this day nursery

Kids 1st - Rake Lane, established in 2004, is a childcare setting for children aged 0-4 years, operating year-round from Monday to Friday, 7 am to 6 pm. The nursery received a 'Good' rating in its latest Ofsted inspection on 1st July 2025.

Children are noted to arrive excitedly, settle in quickly, and form secure attachments with staff, ensuring they feel safe and cared for. The nursery offers a wide range of engaging resources and activities, from babies exploring books to pre-schoolers playing hide-and-seek outdoors and creating art inspired by famous artists like Vincent van Gogh.

Staff are skilled at introducing new vocabulary and fostering communication and language development through storytelling, singing, and cooperative games. The nursery excels in its empathetic support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), providing an inclusive curriculum and ensuring staff are well-trained.

They collaborate with professionals to secure specialist support and facilitate timely referrals for education, health, and care plans. Outdoor learning is a highlight, with children enjoying ample space to run, climb, and maneuver ride-on toys, demonstrating good spatial awareness.

The leadership team, though recently changed, is proactive in maintaining consistency and quality for staff, children, and families.

What it's like

Children arrive excitedly and leave their parents with ease, showing happiness and settlement as they play alongside friends and develop secure attachments with staff. They enjoy exploring a wide range of resources and activities, from babies showing interest in books to pre-school children playing hide and seek in the garden and creating art. Staff introduce new words to extend vocabulary and support the development of listening and attention skills.

Happy, settled childrenWide range of activitiesStrong communication skillsEmpathetic SEND supportRelish outdoor play

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds

Key facts

Opening hours

Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7am until 6pm.

Term time / All Year

All Year

Established

2004

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Kids 1st - Rake Lane

Last inspected 1 July 2025

Safeguarding effective
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good

What it's like to attend

Children arrive excitedly and leave their parents with ease, showing happiness and settlement as they play alongside friends and develop secure attachments with staff. They enjoy exploring a wide range of resources and activities, from babies showing interest in books to pre-school children playing hide and seek in the garden and creating art. Staff introduce new words to extend vocabulary and support the development of listening and attention skills.

Inspector highlights

  • Children arrive excitedly and leave their parents with ease and show that they are happy and settled as they play alongside their friends and develop secure attachments with staff.
  • All children enjoy exploring the wide range of resources and activities that staff provide.
  • Staff introduce many new words to extend children's vocabulary and support children in developing their listening and attention skills.
  • Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is implemented with empathy.
  • Children relish their time outdoors, having ample space to run, climb and balance on the equipment provided.

Areas to develop

  • 1provide more targeted support and coaching, specifically for staff working with the younger age groups, to help raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high level
  • 2continue to develop parent partnerships to ensure all parents are aware of who their child's key person is and next steps in their child's learning, to enable parents to support and continue children's learning at home
  • 3enhance key transition times of the day to ensure children are clear about what is happening next and to support children to understand how their feelings and behaviours may impact on others.
Inspection #10410263 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is implemented with empathy. Leaders and staff provide an inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of all children. Staff are aware of individual needs and keep this information at the heart of what they do. Leaders ensure staff are trained to support children with SEND. They work in partnership with other professionals to ensure children receive the specialist support they need. They make timely referrals to ensure children who need them have education, health and care plans in place to fully prepare for the next stage in their education.

Outdoor space

Children relish their time outdoors. They have ample space to run, climb and balance on the equipment provided. They negotiate space well as they steer ride-on toys, careful not to bump into their friends.

Parent Reviews of Kids 1st - Rake Lane

3.7
(6)
Ruby Holland
8 months ago

Don’t go to kids 1st rake lane, they don’t update the system to let you know about your child’s updates such as: nappie changes or what food they have had. My daughter can’t communicate & then didn’t consider she can’t communicate she needs food, drink or her nappie changed and let her go without a drink all day & always came home with poo smeared clothes that were soaking wet (every nursery day) so let her sit in her own poo and then went through her clothes due to her weeing! Not aloud to take snacks (even though that’s the only thing my daughter would eat there) even tho they had full ingredients on the packet. Never helped her through or communicate needs or suggested anything to help. Also PRESUMED my child didn’t not have sensitive skin (even though she does) & out there own sun cream on her (even though she needs her own) & multiple times changed me wrong. Honestly put my off putting my daughter into a nursery untill she can speak. Oh & also sent me photos of someone else’s child!

Read on Google
John Cook
4 years ago

Well, seeing as though the only other Google review at the time of writing is a rather cowardly anonymous one-star with no detail, I thought it best to add some honest balance. My son has been at Kids 1st Rake Lane for about four years now and we couldn't be happier with them. He loves all the staff, they are a genuinely warm and welcoming bunch. It's a very professional set up, communication has always been good, there's a great range of activities to suit all ages with separate rooms for different age bands to ensure the children are surrounded by stimulating age-appropriate stuff for their stage of development. Also, the way the staff have handled the incredible challenges of the pandemic has been exceptional. Warm, kind and professional folks who genuinely care for the kids they look after. So there, little Mx one-star.

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Kids 1st - Rake Lane. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Date: October 2005

  • July 2025Good
  • February 2020Good
  • April 2015Outstanding
  • November 2008Outstanding
  • October 2005Outstanding

Frequently asked about Kids 1st - Rake Lane

Nearby day nurseries in North Shields

Other Ofsted-registered day nurseries close to Kids 1st - Rake Lane.

Are you the owner of this nursery? Claim this listing to manage photos, hours and contact details.

Claim listing

Share this nursery

Send to a partner, friend or family member.

This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more