Beehive Out of School Club
Beehive Out of School Club is a pre-school in Gateshead for children aged 2 to 11, with 45 registered places. Ofsted report card, 12 December 2025: Strong standard in 5 areas, Expected standard in 1 area; safeguarding standards met.
Gateshead Council Learning Centre, Market Lane, Gateshead, NE11 9NX
Key facts
- Type
- Pre-school (Sessional day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Ages
- 2 to 11 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered places
- 45 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered
- 15 October 2008 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Opening hours
Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:45 - 18:00
Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 12 December 2025
Latest inspection
- Inclusion: Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
- Achievement: Strong standard
- Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
- Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
- Leadership and governance: Strong standard
- Safeguarding standards met
Source: Ofsted, inspection on 12 December 2025. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children thrive in the calm, nurturing environment. They settle quickly when they arrive and choose what they want to do. Clear routines help children to feel secure and develop their independence. For example, they access their water bottles and sit at the table to have a drink. They choose which toys they would like to play with and quickly engage in purposeful play. For example, younger children thoroughly enjoy playing with the play dough. Other children show off their balance and coordination as they navigate the outside space on their balance bikes.
Staff know children well, including all children's individual next steps. They thoughtfully adapt their provision to support children's differing needs. They plan a range of opportunities to support children's learning across the whole curriculum. Children achieve well. For example, younger children explain that their parcel is 'too big' for their piece of wrapping paper. Staff understand children's individual care needs and go out of their way to help them to access all aspects of the provision. For example, they use a range of signs and symbols to help children communicate.
Children form strong relationships and a clear sense of belonging. They thrive on the praise and reassurance that staff give them as they wrap presents and learn to use scissors safely. Staff help all children to feel valued as they listen to all children and make time to talk to them as they play. They notice when children need support or reassurance, for example, as they become overwhelmed or upset. They provide the necessary comfort to help children to thrive. Leaders talk to parents and carers to encourage consistent attendance. They take effective action to understand any barriers to attendance and work with families so that children benefit from the stability the setting provides.
What Ofsted found in each area
Inclusion: Strong standard
Leaders and staff are well trained to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who face barriers to their learning. They work hard to identify the needs of all children. They use initial home visits and meetings with parents to gather detailed information and identify where children may need additional support. Staff are proactive, and they use a range of strategies to help all children settle and adjust to the nursery. They look at the adjustments that they can make to ensure that all children thrive. For example, they adapt the settling-in sessions to children's individual needs. They review the pick-up and drop-off arrangements to ensure that all children get the support they need, particularly at times of transitions. Funding is used effectively to support individual children. Leaders review children's progress to assess the effectiveness of their plans and adaptations. Staff work exceptionally well with other professionals who may be involved in children's learning. They act on advice from professionals and share this information with parents. Staff support families effectively to ensure that they get the help that they need. Examples of this include providing families with professional support from portage workers. They share resources and strategies with parents to ensure that children benefit from a consistent approach at home and in the setting.
Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
Leaders ensure that the curriculum is well sequenced to support children to develop the skills that they need over time. There is a strong focus on developing children's personal and social skills. Staff's assessment and planning focuses on the skills they want children to learn, using children's interests as a focus. They plan motivational activities to support children's interests and adapt these to support those who are disadvantaged or those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They focus on children's next steps in learning, including their small-muscle skills and mathematical understanding. Children thoroughly enjoy learning how to wrap presents. Staff support children effectively to develop their physical skills as children learn how to use scissors to cut paper or sticky tape. Staff typically support children's communication effectively overall. There is a sharp focus on developing children's communication and language from a young age. Staff listen to children and speak clearly. However, on a small number of occasions, staff's interactions are not grammatically correct, as staff sometimes use phrases from local dialect. Mathematics is consistently embedded throughout the daily routine. For instance, children enjoy setting challenges for another group of children. They use dice to decide how many times children must complete the challenge.
Achievement: Strong standard
All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make rapid progress. Children who face barriers to their learning make excellent progress from their starting points. For example, they settle quickly and develop strong relationships with staff. Through time, children become less reliant on comforters when they are in the setting. From the moment they settle, they quickly develop their vocabulary over time. Parents of younger children are delighted that their children are starting to use words to communicate. Children enjoy taking a cuddly toy home on a weekend and sharing their adventures with their friends. They develop confidence as they talk about the toys' adventures with staff and other children. Children count confidently and use mathematical vocabulary as they talk about the size of presents. Older children attempt to write out gift tags, using symbols and letters to communicate meaning. Skills such as these prepare children well for the next stage in their learning.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
Children benefit from a calm and nurturing environment. They develop strong, effective relationships with staff. Staff have clear behavioural expectations, which they consistently apply. This is evident as staff use commonly understood words and gestures throughout the routines. Children respond quickly when staff say 'stop' and put a hand up to gain children's attention. They remind children what they expect of them too. For example, staff talk to children about the importance of having 'kind hands'. Staff help children to manage their feelings and emotions. They support children to recognise how they are feeling and take time to explain how others are feeling. Staff identify where some children may need additional support. They take time to talk things through and plan additional activities to reinforce concepts such as taking turns. This helps all children, including those who find it difficult to understand the need to wait for a turn. Children develop positive attitudes to learning. For example, they thoroughly enjoy a challenge activity and work well as a team during this time to set challenges for another team. Children concentrate well. They focus on activities and develop the ability to talk and listen as part of a group. Leaders reinforce the importance of regular attendance and work closely with parents to ensure that children benefit from the provision.
Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
Staff work hard to develop a detailed understanding of children's individual needs, even before they start at the setting. They develop strong and responsive relationships with all children. They provide additional support and reassurance to those children who face barriers to their learning. For example, staff take time to help children to understand their own feelings and those of other children. When children get upset that another child sits in their seat, staff provide reassurance and explain how others are feeling. Staff work exceptionally well with parents to understand children's care needs and how these may change on a daily basis. For example, they know when children may need a sleep or when they may need time to relax after a busy or exciting morning. Staff work hard with professionals from health services to help children and families to understand how they can keep themselves healthy. Following visits from dentists and health visitors, children understand how they can look after their teeth. Two-year-old children thoroughly enjoy playing on bikes in the garden, developing their balance and core strength. Children learn how they can keep themselves safe. Staff remind them how to use scissors safely and how to hold them when they move around the room.
Leadership and governance: Strong standard
Leaders and staff engage consistently well with school staff to ensure that they always meet children's needs. For example, they meet weekly to plan how they can support children and agree strategies that they can use to support children's learning and wellbeing. This means that children benefit from shared approaches to managing behaviour and agreed use of resources to help children to understand the routines. Staff work exceptionally well with parents. They gather detailed information when children first start so that they can plan effectively for ways that they can meet all children's needs and identify where children may need additional support. Thoughtful ongoing communication means that staff consistently adapt and change strategies to support children's emerging needs. Leaders support staff to develop their skills and knowledge. Through regular meetings and staff training, staff evaluate and refine their practice. Leaders have clear plans for improvement to help all children, including those who face barriers to their learning to make the best possible progress. This includes providing additional outdoor learning opportunities for all children. Managers have identified that further training is needed to ensure that all staff's interactions are of a consistently high quality. They support staff's wellbeing and workload consistently well.
What the setting must and should do next
The provider should:
- Leaders should implement plans for future improvement to continually raise the quality of interactions between staff and children, particularly focusing on the use of correct language.
Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 12 December 2025. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Inspection history
Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)
Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.
The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.
Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.
Source: Ofsted reports
Funded childcare hours in England
All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.
Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.
Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.
The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.
Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)
Other nurseries nearby
- St Philip's Pre-School - Day nursery, Gateshead NE8 2QU, ages 2 to 4, 24 places, 0.7 milesOfsted, 15 November 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Duckpool Pre-School C.I.C - Day nursery, Whickham NE16 4HB, ages 2 to 4, 24 places, 0.7 milesOfsted, 8 November 2023: Outstanding overall; safeguarding is effective
- Stepping Stones Day Nursery - Day nursery, Newcastle upon Tyne NE16 3ED, ages 0 to 5, 94 places, 1.1 milesOfsted, 26 April 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- The Valley Nursery and Kids Club - Day nursery, Gateshead NE11 0JU, ages 0 to 11, 152 places, 1.1 milesOfsted, 12 June 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Ladybird Children's Nursery - Day nursery, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE4 7NQ, ages 0 to 4, 63 places, 1.1 milesOfsted, 15 March 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
Schools nearby
- Dunston Hill Community Primary School - Primary, under 0.1 miles
- Kingsmeadow Community School - Secondary, under 0.1 miles
- Riverside Primary Academy - Primary, 0.6 miles
- St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, Dunston - Primary, 0.6 miles
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whickham - Primary, 0.7 miles