Ofsted record

Free Spirits Nursery

High Heaton, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE · URN 319181

According to Ofsted's inspection on 20 January 2026, Free Spirits Nursery in High Heaton, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE was graded on 6 areas of its report card: curriculum and teaching — Strong Standard; achievement — Strong Standard; behaviour and routines — Strong Standard; welfare and wellbeing — Strong Standard; inclusion — Strong Standard; leadership and governance — Strong Standard. Source: Little Bees Nursery Intelligence, from Ofsted's published record.

  1. Inspected 20 January 2026

    8 months ago

    Report card — six areas graded separately.

    Curriculum and teaching Strong Standard
    Achievement Strong Standard
    Behaviour and routines Strong Standard
    Welfare and wellbeing Strong Standard
    Inclusion Strong Standard
    Leadership and governance Strong Standard

    What each grade means

    Each area is judged separately. Expected standard is the bar every provider has to clear, so meeting it is the pass rather than a mediocre result.

    Curriculum and teaching Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Achievement Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Behaviour and routines Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Welfare and wellbeing Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Inclusion Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
    Leadership and governance Strong Standard
    Clearly better than the expected standard in this area, though not exceptional.
  2. Earlier inspections

  3. 20 January 2020 Outstanding
  4. 12 May 2015 Outstanding
  5. 10 August 2009 Good
  6. 13 October 2006 Good
  7. 17 January 2006 Requires Improvement
  8. 28 May 2004 Outstanding
  9. 19 August 2003 Good

On the register

Ofsted URN
319181
Provider type
Childcare on Non-Domestic Premises, Full day care
Ages
0 to 4
Registered places
88
Registered since
30 November 1999
Local authority
Newcastle upon Tyne

High Heaton, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE · NE7 7DN. Location from the Ofsted register.

On the Early Years Register.

Common questions

When was Free Spirits Nursery last inspected by Ofsted? +

Free Spirits Nursery in High Heaton, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE was last inspected on 20 January 2026. That inspection used Ofsted's report card framework, which replaced single-word overall ratings for early years settings in November 2025.

What did Ofsted say about Free Spirits Nursery? +

Ofsted graded 6 areas: curriculum and teaching — Strong Standard; achievement — Strong Standard; behaviour and routines — Strong Standard; welfare and wellbeing — Strong Standard; inclusion — Strong Standard; leadership and governance — Strong Standard. Each area is judged separately, so a setting can be stronger in one than another.

Is "expected standard" a good grade? +

Yes. Expected standard is the bar every provider has to clear, so meeting it is the pass rather than a mediocre result. Strong standard and exceptional sit above it; needs attention and urgent improvement sit below.

What ages does Free Spirits Nursery take? +

Free Spirits Nursery is registered for children aged 0 to 4.

How many children can Free Spirits Nursery take? +

Free Spirits Nursery is registered for up to 88 children at any one time. That is a registration limit, not the number currently attending.

How long has Free Spirits Nursery been registered? +

Free Spirits Nursery has been registered with Ofsted since 30 November 1999. Its unique reference number (URN) is 319181.

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Inspection and registration information is published by Ofsted and reproduced by Little Bees Nursery Intelligence under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Little Bees is not affiliated with Ofsted. The grade descriptions are our plain-English summaries of where each grade sits against the standard, not Ofsted's own criteria.

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