Opening hours
Monday to Friday all year round, except for bank holidays and two weeks at Christmas. Sessions are from 7am until 6pm.
Kidzone
Ofsted: Good
(Oct 2024)
Number of places
60 places
Age range
0–5 yrs
Last inspected
Oct 2024
Local authority
Durham
About this day nursery
Kidzone, established in 2002, is a childcare setting in Crook, operating all year round from Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, excluding bank holidays and two weeks over Christmas. The nursery welcomes children from 0 to 10 years old.
Kidzone prides itself on strong relationships with children and families, with children arriving happy and confident. The curriculum is thoughtfully planned, building on children's prior learning and current interests, with a particular emphasis on respectful relationships and supporting physical and emotional development.
The nursery received a 'Good' rating in its latest Ofsted inspection on 10th October 2024. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress.
Staff are deeply committed to supporting children with SEND, working closely with parents and external professionals to provide tailored interventions that help close learning gaps. The nursery also actively engages with the local community, taking children to the market to learn about fresh produce and visiting the local church for key events, helping them develop confidence in new environments.
While outdoor play encourages splashing in puddles and creative mark-making, leaders acknowledge that the outdoor space could be further developed to better support expressive and imaginative skills during self-led play.
What it's like
Staff pride themselves on their very strong relationships with children and their families. The children arrive at the nursery happy and settled and confidently leave their parents and carers to start their day. The curriculum has a clear focus and builds on children's prior learning and current interests.
Strong parent partnershipsSupports SEND wellEngages with local communityPromotes healthy eatingGood communication skills
Pricing & funding
Funding accepted
15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds
Key facts
Term time / All Year
All Year
Established
2002
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating for Kidzone
Last inspected 10 October 2024 · Kate Henderson
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
What it's like to attend
Staff pride themselves on their very strong relationships with children and their families. The children arrive at the nursery happy and settled and confidently leave their parents and carers to start their day. The curriculum has a clear focus and builds on children's prior learning and current interests.
Inspector highlights
- Successful partnerships with parents enable staff to gather information that helps them to get to know the children well.
- The provider supports staff well-being successfully, offering an open-door policy, both personally and professionally.
- Staff utilise the local community particularly well to provide children with new experiences.
- Staff provide healthy food at mealtimes and teach children self-care and hygiene skills.
- Staff interact well with children, supporting communication skills and confidence.
Areas to develop
- 1strengthen the procedures in place for the evaluation of the provision, to ensure that areas for improvement are routinely identified and actioned in order to further improve outcomes for children
- 2further develop the planning for the outdoor area in order to encourage children to develop their expressive and imaginative skills during self-led play.
Inspection #10363892 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
What parents say
Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection
The families speak very highly of the support the children receive, especially for those children with SEND.
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning. Staff are passionate about supporting children with SEND. They prioritise working together with parents and external professionals to ensure that children receive the correct support. Staff are aware of children's individual needs and they provide tailored interventions to support their next steps in learning. This means that gaps in children's learning quickly close and children with SEND make good progress from their starting points.
Outdoor space
When children play outside, they are supported to dress in appropriate clothing and this encourages them to splash freely in puddles and play with the paint. Staff engage with children effectively, for example, supporting children to develop their early literacy skills through making marks in sand and painting. However, leaders do not always pay enough attention to detail when monitoring and evaluating the setting, and as a result, some areas, such as the outdoor space, do not provide children with enough support in their learning and development.
Parent Reviews of Kidzone
5.0
(3)
janet charlton
7 years ago
Lovely nursery for little ones to start. The staff are wonderful and show a genuine interest in the bairns. Very warming, and all the children are very happy playing and learning new skills whether it be in drawing, and other creativity. Outside play is always enjoyed. The little ones learn how to share and play and help each other. My grandaughter is enjoying coming here, and I am very disappointed that Kidzone was not awarded an OUTSTANDING report but given a GOOD. All credit to Beverley and ALL the team. I would recommend this lovely place for all children. Our little Nancy always insists on a hug for the girls who look after her before she leaves, I think this says it all - - - Don’t you.??
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sarah-jane hissey
5 years ago
Apsolutly amazing. The staff always make you feel welcome and are brilliant with all the children. Couldn't be more happier with having our son here, always willing to listen to parents concerns or worries, they always do their best to help and give advice, is always clean and smells lovely when you go in, always a friendly face with a smile when you take your children in. The best of the best i say
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Francine Pinkney
5 years ago
Superb nursery staff go above and beyond very clean and all staff very professional, my 2 children have temporary places due to Covid 19 lockdown and I’ve never felt that my children were so safe and nothing is a bother to them!! Thank you
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for Kidzone. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Date: July 2009
- October 2024Good
- January 2019Good
- June 2014Good
- July 2009Good
Frequently asked about Kidzone
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