Deal Nursery and Forest School

Deal Nursery and Forest School
Unique reference number (URN): 2821724
Address: Hornbeam School, Mongeham Road, Great Mongeham, Deal, CT14 9PQ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 19/12/2024
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Deal Nursery and Forest School Ltd
Inspection report: 23 January 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Safeguarding standards met
The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for
governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open
culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively
identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all
legal requirements are met.

Strong standard
Achievement Strong standard
All children make significant progress. Children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities (SEND) who could not walk when they started are now confident movers.
Children with SEND benefit from swift interventions and adaptions to ensure they make
excellent progress in their communication, listening and attention skills. Children benefit
from high-quality support from other partners and professionals, which is organised to
support them individually so that they reach their full potential. Children access a wide
variety of motivating and interesting activities and experiences to support their confidence
and independence. Where for some children, points of transition are a focus for staff, this
does not impact on children's achievement or progress. For example, babies learn to
choose what they want to eat and use spoons to feed themselves. Older children use cutlery
with skill. These activities help all children be very well prepared for their next learning
stage. All children flourish and thrive.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Leaders and staff prioritise children's welfare and wellbeing. Leaders regularly review
processes and procedures to ensure that all children's emotional wellbeing is at the forefront
of their practice. Staff provide babies with frequent cuddles and reassurance. Older children
receive regular praise for persevering. Staff are highly responsive to individual needs. For
example, staff talk with children about how they are feeling. Babies are encouraged to learn
to recognise different emotions. Staff encourage older children to advocate for themselves.
These activities support all children's emotional wellbeing, self-esteem and confidence
successfully.
Staff encourage children to make healthy choices and manage their self-care. For example,
babies learn to use spoons to manage their meals. Older children wash their hands and put
out bowls and cups for their friends at snack time. These skills promote children's
understanding of how to keep themselves healthy and safe effectively.
Staff encourage children of all ages to be physically healthy. Babies learn to balance and
move, supporting their coordination skills effectively. Older children enjoy additional yoga
sessions, learning how their bodies move. These very well-embedded practices ensure that
children learn to make consistently healthy choices and support children's physical and
mental health very well.
Staff ensure that they provide targeted and individualised support so children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and children who face barriers to their learning make
significant progress in their learning and development. Leaders regularly review practice and
provision to ensure they consistently prioritise children's welfare and wellbeing. They
support families very well to ensure that parents and carers are provided with support where
needed to help their children settle in. As such, all children feel welcomed and safe.

Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders prioritise children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and
those who face barriers to their learning very well. They consistently make a demonstrable
difference to children, including those who face barriers to learning, disadvantage and
SEND. For example, staff develop forest school sessions to support children who do not
have access to the outdoors each day. Leaders make sure that they prioritise reducing
barriers for families to ensure they make a sustained difference to children. Staff know the
children very well and use funding very effectively to support individual and specific needs.
For example, they develop physical spaces for children to ensure they develop important
movement and coordination skills. Those who face disadvantage are provided with
specialist aids to support them to take their first steps. This means that children with SEND
make significant progress from their starting points.
Children benefit from very well-trained staff. For example, staff swiftly identify training and
adapt their practice to support children's specific needs. Staff implement this immediately,
ensuring that children benefit straightaway, adapting their support skilfully to ensure they
offer targeted and bespoke support for children. This supports significant progress in
children's speech and language skills. Leaders ensure that all children benefit from
additional sessions to further enhance their skills. For example, children join in with yoga,
multi-sports, dance and French sessions, supporting their learning further.
Staff encourage a culture of respect and inclusion. Staff encourage children to talk about
their families. This helps to support children to learn about similarities and differences
positively. Staff liaise with a wide range of other professionals and partners to secure
additional support and help for families where needed. For example, links with the local
settings are effective, ensuring that children have a very smooth transition to school.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
Leaders and managers are very reflective and proactive. They are committed to providing
high-quality care and education for all children and to making a difference. Leaders
continuously review what they offer and have effective plans in place to enhance the setting
further, providing more opportunities for children to learn and develop. For example, leaders
accurately identified where support for staff could be enhanced and immediately supported
staff's confidence with regard to this. They have instilled a culture of continuous
improvement, where staff immediately ask for feedback and adapt practice in the moment,
improving practice and provision straightaway. Leaders have a consistent focus on securing
excellence for all children and have high expectations. This ensures they make a significant
positive difference to children and families. For example, leaders are in the process of
training for a therapy dog to join the setting, supporting children and staff's emotional
wellbeing. They have plans to extend the environment for younger children, providing them
with more space to explore. This will impact significantly on children's experiences.
Leaders and managers have an accurate understanding of the setting's strengths and areas
for future development. They prioritise support for children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities (SEND) and children who face barriers in their learning. They seek
specialist advice and support to ensure that staff are well trained to support all children and
families. This has a direct impact on the progress children make. Staff's workloads are

Expected standard
reviewed regularly, and staff report high levels of support and wellbeing. Parents and carers
speak highly of the setting, citing significant progress their children have made in
confidence, independence and behaviour. They especially praise the support for children
with SEND.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Staff have high expectations for children. Where needed, staff are gentle and sensitive in
their interactions with children, reminding them of the rules and routines appropriately.
Children develop positive bonds with their friends and staff, demonstrating that they are
happy and well cared for.
All children attend regularly, and this impacts positively on the progress they make. Staff
know the children well. They identify what children need to learn next, supporting children's
individual interests successfully. For example, staff ensure that children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities settle in well. They make sure that they provide
children's favourite toys, helping them to feel secure. As such, children develop very positive
attitudes to each other and their learning.
However, at some points of transition, for example mealtimes, opportunities for some
children to remain focused and engaged are not embedded as consistently. At these times,
this means that children are not supported by staff as well as they could be to join in with
other activities to support their learning even further. Despite this, children demonstrate that
they are happy and play with their friends collaboratively. For example, children enjoy
exploring during their forest school sessions, learning about the natural world and moving in
different ways.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Staff provide children with a very well-planned curriculum. Staff use assessment effectively
to identify what children know, can do and need to learn next. This means that children are
well supported for their next educational stage. Staff focus on developing children's
personal, social and emotional skills. For example, babies are regularly cuddled and
comforted, supporting them to feel safe and secure. Staff use funding to purchase resources
to support older children to identify their feelings, developing their understanding of
emotions.
Staff encourage children to join in with favourite songs, rhymes and stories. Babies
immediately join in with the song 'Sleeping Bunnies', demonstrating they know the routines
well. Older children explore different paints, making marks and learning about colours.
These activities support children's knowledge and skills successfully.
Staff encourage children to count and identify numbers. Older children identify how many
farm animals they have in a tray, and staff skilfully support them to count on. Staff
encourage all children to develop their physical skills. Staff provide additional physical

activity sessions, such as football, to enhance this. All children thoroughly enjoy exploring
forest school, learning about the natural world. However, during some daily routines, such
as some points of transition, children are not always consistently supported by staff to be as
focused as they could be. Leaders identify this and take immediate action to support staff
with these times. All children enjoy learning and make progress.
Compulsory Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
Voluntary Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met

Inspector:
Victoria Salisbury
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children and their families are at the heart of this welcoming setting. Children arrive happily,
eager to explore. Babies demonstrate they feel comfortable and content. Staff plan a wide
range of motivating activities for children, supporting their social, communication and
physical skills. Older children explain how to keep themselves safe near the firepit at forest
school. Younger children use cutlery to serve themselves at lunchtime. Babies join in
excitedly with rhymes. These experiences help children to develop the skills they need for
their next learning stage.
Staff are very good role models. They praise children regularly, supporting their self-esteem
and confidence. For example, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities
make significant progress from their starting points. Staff clap and cheer when babies take
their first steps. Children enjoy joining in with games, tailored to their specific needs. They
sustain high levels of concentration when learning how to make different shapes and sounds
with toys. This supports children's understanding successfully.
Staff prioritise children's literacy and mathematical learning. Babies eagerly toddle to choose
books themselves, and staff immediately support them to turn the pages and listen to
stories, developing a love of books. Older children persevere to match numbers to how
many insects they find hidden in the woods. Staff are skilful in explaining to children how
many legs centipedes have. This helps to develop children's knowledge and skills
successfully. Children play and collaborate with their friends and show kindness and care to
others. Older children help staff to scrape their plates after lunch and put their toys away.
These activities support children's independence effectively.
Next steps
Leaders should review daily routines to ensure consistent staff practice at points of
transition to best support children's needs, engagement and focus.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, managers, staff and parents during the inspection.
We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the
quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The
registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for
children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2821724
Address:
Hornbeam School
Mongeham Road, Great Mongeham
Deal
CT14 9PQ
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 19/12/2024
Registered person: Deal Nursery and Forest School Ltd
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Local authority: Kent
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 23 January 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
69
Our grades explained

Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
Expected standard
The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are
following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional
standards expected of them.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement
The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects
and regulates services that care for children and young people.
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