Hebburn 'home-from-home' nursery which opened during lockdown sees rapid growth and plans for expansion as it celebrates successful first year

Noah’s Ark Nursery, in Victoria Road Hall, Hebburn, opened its doors in July 2020 with just three members of staff and 17 children, but now employs 17 people and caters to 95 children aged 0-5.

After a successful first year, the nursery is planning to expand even further by taking over further premises in the area.

The nursery has two rooms, a rainbow room, for 0-2 years and a sunshine room, for 2-5 years, with owner Nicola George putting the success down to the nursery’s home-from-home approach.

She said: “Parents are always really impressed when they visit our nursery, particularly the Rainbow Room, as there are only six children and two members of staff in there at any one time. This makes it less overwhelming for the little ones, many of whom were born in lockdown and haven’t had the chance to socialise as much as they usually would.

“Noah’s Ark started as a childminding service, but as soon the business grew it became a hybrid childminder/nursery model. Parents really loved that approach, as the children benefited from being cared for by a team of experienced early years professionals, but within a comforting home environment.

“As our business flourished and the staff increased with the children, we realised we were doing something very right, but quickly outgrowing our home space. When we looked for new premises, I wanted to make sure we could expand, but keep the same ethos that our reputation had flourished with. The old church hall on Victoria Road was the perfect fit.”

Nicola comes from an education background having worked in early years settings for a number of years and has applied a holistic, natural approach to Noah’s Ark Nursery.

The nursery has proved so popular that the Rainbow Room is at full capacity until July 2022 while the sunshine room has limited availability.

Parents are advised to contact the nursery on 0191 250 8356 at the earliest opportunity if they are interested in their child attending.

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