Little JEMS Hetton

Little JEMS Hetton Little JEMS Hetton "Because they are precious!"
Professional, caring, fun & safe childcare for all Early Years children Pauline B. Early Years Assistant.

OFSTED Registered "Good" Provision in January 2019 and June 2024. Based in Hetton le Hole and run by well qualified staff with with a wealth of experience of working with children including those with complex needs, disabilities and SEN. Staff include a qualified Early Years Teacher as well as qualified Early Years Educators (Level3). All staff hold paediatric first aid qualifications and received

full continuous professional development training in all areas of the curriculum. Little JEMS offers full and part time services and can also offer school holiday care (up to year 2) subject to availability. Little JEMS delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in a dedicated environment with a focus on your child's unique needs. Each child will have an electronic learning journey which is accessible via an app for parents and carers. Little JEMS are a small but established team of early years professionals: Suzanne - Owner and SENDCo, Early Childhood and Curriculum Studies BA (hons). Jen - Manager, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Early Years Educator L3. Lindsey - Deputy Manager - L3 Early Years Educator and Room Leader. Jess - Curriculum Manager, Qualified Early Years Teacher who holds early Years Teacher Status and 3rd in charge. Alex - Holds a T'Level (L3) qualification, with specialist Early Years Route and Baby Lead. Our newest team members are Abi - Early Years Educator L3 Apprentice and Ellis also an Early Years Educator L3 Apprentice.

03/06/2026

⭐️ Well we are half way through our first week and things are starting to feel a little more normal! We just want to pass on our thanks to our families for their patience as we have navigated some teething difficulties with the phone line (it’s now all up and running 🙌) and broadband (also working fully now 🥳) this has really been appreciated. ⭐️

Our new intercom system will be fitted mid June, so you will then be able to buzz your rooms directly rather than one of us sticking our head out of the office window 🤣🙈

We wanted to share another little video with you all - this one is for our older children (3+) in our Little Treasures Room. We would love to know what you think of this one?

01/06/2026

⭐️ Well our first day is done in our lovely new home ⭐️

😊 It has made us very emotional to see the children absolutely loving the new environment - they have handled the move brilliantly! And we also welcomed a couple of new faces which was lovely too 🥰

We wanted to give you a little look inside as so many of you have sent us messages, well wishes and requests to see it! We are looking forward to holding a community event in August where you will be able to visit our gardens and rooms, but for now we will pop a video on of a peak inside some of our rooms.

This one is of our Little Explorers Room - for our very youngest little jems - what do you think 🤔 ?

📣 Well we did it!! 📣 🤗 And we just can’t wait to welcome all our little ones tomorrow 🫶 watch this space for some sneak ...
31/05/2026

📣 Well we did it!! 📣

🤗 And we just can’t wait to welcome all our little ones tomorrow 🫶 watch this space for some sneak peaks for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to be one of the children attending our setting 😆

🌿We Are Hiring – Level 3 Early Years Practitioner 🌿Position must be filled in time for September start. Little Jems Nurs...
27/05/2026

🌿We Are Hiring – Level 3 Early Years Practitioner 🌿

Position must be filled in time for September start.

Little Jems Nursery is growing and we are looking for a passionate, nurturing and enthusiastic Level 3 Practitioner to join our exciting journey.

At Little Jems, we are evolving into a nature-based, curiosity approach inspired setting where every child’s learning journey becomes a magical “Treasure Hunt of Discovery.” We believe children learn best through exploration, wonder, outdoor experiences and meaningful connections — and we are looking for someone who shares that vision.

We are searching for a practitioner who:
💎 Holds a full and relevant Level 3 qualification
💎 Is passionate about child-led learning and curiosity approaches
💎 Creates warm, nurturing relationships with children and families
💎 Loves outdoor learning and embracing nature
💎 Can spark awe, wonder and imagination through play
💎 Works well as part of a supportive and ambitious team

In return, we offer:
🌿 A unique and evolving nursery vision
🌿 Opportunities to help shape our environment and curriculum
🌿 A supportive and welcoming team
🌿 Ongoing professional development
🌿 A setting where creativity and new ideas are celebrated

At Little Jems, every child is a precious gem — and we believe our staff are too.

Come and join us on our adventure as we create a magical environment where little treasures thrive.

To apply or find out more, please message us directly or email [email protected]

✨ Little Jems Nursery – Where Every Little one Begins Their own Journey of Discovery ✨

📣 📣 We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce that we now have an opening date! 📣 📣 🥳 So as of the 1st June 202...
19/05/2026

📣 📣 We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce that we now have an opening date! 📣 📣

🥳 So as of the 1st June 2026 we will be operating from our amazing new premises 🥳 you can find us at Victoria Street. Hetton le hole. Dh5 9dg 🥳

⭐️ We have absolutely worked our socks off and with the support of some absolutely amazing local companies we have pulled out all the stops to ensure the building is up to code, we have put a few shout outs to them in the comments as these guys have also worked tirelessly to get us to our deadline day!
⭐️ We don’t want to spoil the big reveal as we will pop a video on once we are completely finished so watch this space!
⭐️ Thanks again to our neighbours for bearing with us, the many trade vans parked outside and your patience as we continue to make this building amazing 🤩

📝 We will be releasing spaces for new children from the end of July - ready for September so if you do need childcare please get in touch and we will help where we can 👌

📣 WE DID IT!!!! 📣 We are absolutely over the moon to announce that we completed on the purchase of the new building on F...
27/04/2026

📣 WE DID IT!!!! 📣

We are absolutely over the moon to announce that we completed on the purchase of the new building on Friday. We have the keys and we are finally in ❤️ 🥳

There is lots of work to be done, but we’ve spent today with contractors and our vision, to breathe life back in to the building and that starts today! We aim to use local tradesmen wherever possible too - so that we really keep this project within our community 🫶

As you know we’ve been busy in the gardens 🪴 🪏 🌳 for the last couple of weeks and we are delighted with the progress in such a short space of time with them! Thank you to everyone in the local community who has shared kind worlds and encouragement as you have passed by as this has really kept us going.

Now the next part of the journey begins and we are looking forward to updating you as we go along ❤️ 🏡 🔐

🍃 We wanted to give you all another little update today on our progress with the garden 🍃 We did think we had a great vi...
17/04/2026

🍃 We wanted to give you all another little update today on our progress with the garden 🍃

We did think we had a great video to share …. but Suzanne’s skills appear to be lacking in that today as she seems to have deleted it 😂😂🥴🥴 so we have popped on a few photos from our day 4 progress!
(We will redo a video and pop it on next week) We have now finished day 6 and have just about finished the clear and cut back from this small garden and it’s actually starting to take shape!

🪴 Next week we will begin to tackle the big garden, so wish us luck! 🪴

A few “thank you” messages to go out though; to our lovely new neighbour Annie for supplying lovely words of encouragement and coffee to us! To Tony and Jake who have literally broken their backs (and a shovel and a broom!) this week. To our fab Team Jems who have held the fort brilliantly at the current premises so we could concentrate on this mammoth task - you are all fabulous! Also to our friend Gemma who popped in this morning to lend a hand ❤️
As the saying goes “it takes a village to raise a child” and we hope to become a very special village for all your children very soon!

13/04/2026

So as you all know we have a setting move pending! Although we still haven’t got a completion date yet, we have kindly been allowed access to the jungle/garden in order to commence some tidying up! And wow 😮 what a task …

Some of the most special spaces for children start with a little bit of vision… and we need a lot of vision for this 🌿
But we have now officially begun the small garden, there’s lots of tidying, clearing and reimagining happening as we turn our “jungle” into a space where children will feel calm, curious and excited to explore.
Outdoor environments play such an important role in children’s development — from building confidence and independence to encouraging movement, imagination and a love of nature. This is where friendships grow, risks are taken, and little adventures happen every day.
We hope you enjoy these two short video of our day one progress - the second video is in the comments (we are now on day three!) we’re so excited to share this journey with you and can’t wait for you to see the finished space ✨
What do you think so far? 🌳 🌱 🪴

🌟 A Proud Moment for Our Team…There’s something really special about seeing our team continue to grow, learn and strengt...
02/04/2026

🌟 A Proud Moment for Our Team…

There’s something really special about seeing our team continue to grow, learn and strengthen what we offer your children ✨
We’re so proud to share that our Manager Jen and Deputy Manager Lindsey have now successfully completed their NDNA training and are now officially Maths Champions!
But what does that actually mean for your child?
Being a Maths Champion setting means we don’t just “teach numbers” — we weave maths naturally into everyday experiences in a way that feels meaningful, playful and real.
You might see it in:
• Pouring water and exploring full and empty
• Counting steps as we climb
• Sorting natural objects by size, shape or colour
• Talking about “more”, “less”, “big” and “small” during play
• Using real-life experiences like baking to explore measuring
It’s learning, disguised as play 🌿
This approach helps children to:
• Build confidence with numbers from an early age
• Develop problem-solving skills
• Strengthen language and communication
• Begin to understand the world around them
• Feel capable, curious and willing to try
Most importantly, it removes pressure — and replaces it with curiosity.
Because early maths isn’t about getting the “right answer”.
It’s about exploring, noticing, questioning and thinking.
We’re incredibly proud of our team for their continued commitment to providing the very best for your children — and we can’t wait to keep bringing these rich learning opportunities into everyday nursery life.
Congratulations Jen and Lindsey


NDNA - National Day Nurseries Association

✨ We have to apologise for our radio silence lately ……. but it’s because we have some very exciting news to share… ✨We a...
23/03/2026

✨ We have to apologise for our radio silence lately ……. but it’s because we have some very exciting news to share… ✨

We are absolutely ecstatic to announce that Little JEMS is expanding into a brand new building 🎉

This is something we’ve been working towards carefully and intentionally over the last twelve months, and now that our existing families are all aware we wanted to share the news!

We have exchanged contracts on a local building and it means we’ll be able to offer even higher quality care and education for our children and families.
🌱 What does this mean for our children?
* Dedicated rooms for each age group, allowing us to tailor experiences even more closely to children’s developmental stages
* A sensory room, designed to support sensory regulation and wellbeing — particularly valuable for many of our children with SEND
* An incredible, large outdoor space, where we’ll be delivering Forest School learning, nurturing confidence, resilience and curiosity through nature
This expansion also means we’ll be able to offer additional nursery places, supporting more families in our local community 💛
🌿 And here’s the best part…�
The new building is just a few minutes’ walk from our current setting, so there will be no disruption to our children or families.

We’ll also be continuing with our current fantastic team right through until September, (with a few new additions joining us in April) ensuring consistency, familiar faces and the strong relationships our children know and trust.
This next chapter is all about growing with intention — creating spaces that truly support children to feel safe, regulated, confident and ready to thrive.

Thank you for being part of our journey. Feel free to share and tag to share the news with anyone you know who may be looking for childcare from September! We can’t wait to share more as the next steps unfold ✨

Address

Victoria Street
Hetton Le Hole
DH59DG

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 6pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 6pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 6pm
Thursday 7:30am - 6pm
Friday 7:30am - 6pm

Telephone

+441915616618

Website

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