Little Barn Owls Forest School Nursery

Little Barn Owls Forest School Nursery
Unique reference number (URN): 2545390
Address: Easteds Barn, Easteds Lane, Southwater, West Sussex, RH13 9DP
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 22/07/2019
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Little Barn Owls Ltd
Inspection report: 2 April 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.

Exceptional
Achievement Exceptional
Children take tremendous pride in their achievements. They proudly share their creations,
for example showing parents a window that they had put in the tree house they created. All
children, including those with barriers to learning or wellbeing, make rapid, sustained and
remarkable progress from their individual starting points. Children express themselves with
growing confidence and clarity. They gain an impressive ability to think, explain and engage
in meaningful dialogue.
Children demonstrate highly sophisticated understanding and curiosity, which means they
continuously strive to learn. They apply their ever-growing knowledge confidently and
effectively and show extreme resilience when faced with a challenge, often working together
to fix the problem. For example, children embarked on a 9-month-long bridge project. They
glued wood together to create 2 cities, which they wanted to join together. They researched
the best types of bridges for connection. The community voted on the design and elected to
build a suspension bridge. Children tested out twisting metal, how to ensure that the bridge
was stable and how much weight it could bear. They cut the bridge to size using accurate
measurements and real tools. Children are articulate, curious and self-assured, equipped
with a rich set of skills that go far beyond expectations. The rapid progress they make is
deeply embedded and lays the foundations for continued success.
Curriculum and teaching Exceptional
Leaders have drawn on their extensive global research to meticulously design the bespoke
and ambitious curriculum. This reflects the fully engrained ethos that every child is
'competent and capable' and is based largely on real-life, practical experiences.
The delivery of the curriculum by every staff member is exemplary. They ensure that it is
carefully sequenced for every child through repetition, exploration and discovery to fully
embed children's learning over time. Staff teach children a range of practical skills, such as
how to use a range of tools and equipment. This enables children to explore, create and test
their ideas, leading them to be inventive and resourceful. With the caring, nurturing support
of staff, children develop the confidence to experiment without fear of failure. For example,
children expressed that they would like a tree house. Supported by staff, children wrote to
the landowner to request permission to build a tree house. They used various methods to
create different designs, and the entire community was involved in a voting process for
which tree house to build. Children tested different materials' stability and durability. They
practised putting parts together before constructing the full tree house in their forest space.
All staff have rich, purposeful interactions that are seamlessly woven throughout all areas of
learning. The strong focus on giving each child a broad vocabulary and excellent skills for
learning significantly enhances outcomes for children. For example, on discovering an egg,
children research which animal could have laid it. They discuss the properties of the egg
and, working together, identify it to be a stork's egg.

Strong standard
Practitioners know children exceptionally well and adapt teaching dynamically and
instinctively to meet the needs of all children, particularly those who face disadvantage or
other barriers to learning or wellbeing. Assessment is highly effective, sharply focused and
used expertly to tailor teaching to each child's unique starting point.
Leadership and governance Exceptional
Visionary and inspirational leaders have embedded a highly effective, research-informed
curriculum. This is firmly rooted in securing the very best outcomes for all children,
particularly those who may face disadvantage or barriers to learning or wellbeing. Their
ambitious approach ensures that decisions are consistently made in the best interests of all
children, resulting in extremely inspirational practice throughout the setting, which is
showcased to the early years sector.
Leaders prioritise staff development and wellbeing, ensuring that continuous professional
development is meaningful and manageable. Thoughtful consideration is given to leaders'
and staff's workload, enabling them to sustain high-quality interactions, while continually
refining their knowledge and skills. Expert trainers rigorously monitor, evaluate and enhance
the implementation of the training programmes created by leaders, ensuring sustained
excellence and innovation. All staff take every opportunity to deliver consistently exceptional,
highly effective, adaptive and dynamic teaching.
Leaders demonstrate an inspiring commitment to sector-wide improvement, hosting at
international conferences to share their values and pedagogy. They support professional
learning globally, including Saudi Arabia, Poland, Dubai and China. Leaders believe and
invest in global best practice, supporting staff to access specialised training in Italy and
Scandinavia, significantly enriching the quality of curriculum and teaching throughout the
setting.
All children thrive, make exceptional progress and are tremendously well prepared for their
next stage of learning and beyond. The impact of leadership is truly transformational for the
outcomes of children attending this setting and many children in the wider community.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
Children are supported to feel secure and develop positive attitudes to learning. Leaders
have created a calm, positive and purposeful environment where consistently high
expectations are understood and embedded by every practitioner.
Children have a strong, secure and sustained sense of belonging. The relationships
between them and practitioners are warm, respectful and responsive. Staff know children
extremely well and support them sensitively. Having such a supportive environment allows
children to understand expectations and regulate their own behaviour and emotions with
increasing independence.

Routines have been well established and provide structure and predictability, helping
children to feel safe and confident. Children look forward to parts of the day, such as
'proposal time' and 'reflection time'. Practitioners manage transitions smoothly, supporting
continued engagement in learning. They model positive behaviour and support children to
collaborate, take turns and build meaningful relationships with their peers.
Leaders promote the importance of good attendance and punctuality, ensuring every child
fully benefits from the curriculum and builds and maintains strong, reliable relationships
within the setting. As a result, children demonstrate extremely positive attitudes to learning,
showing motivation, cooperation and resilience.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Leaders and practitioners create a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment where children
feel secure and valued. Effective care practices consistently meet children's individual
needs. Practitioners know children extraordinarily well and provide attentive, responsive
care and interactions, ensuring that every routine is tailored to each child. This supports
children to feel secure, comfortable and ready to engage in learning.
Secure, trusting relationships are consistently embedded across the entire nursery.
Practitioners form warm, responsive attachments with children, offering reassurance,
redirection or comfort when needed. Children develop confidence, feel safe and build a
secure sense of belonging within the setting.
Children are very well supported to understand their own health, physical development and
personal safety. Daily routines and experiences are used as effective opportunities to
skilfully promote independence, such as serving their own lunch. Practitioners model and
reinforce good hygiene practices.
Practitioners support children to recognise, express and manage their emotions effectively.
This may be through bucket time, the 'cool down box' or social stories. Through sensitive
interactions, clear guidance and targeted support, all children learn to understand their
feelings and develop and learn strategies to regulate their behaviour, strengthening their
emotional wellbeing.
Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders and practitioners demonstrate a clear, focused commitment to ensuring all children
are valued, respected and supported to achieve and succeed. Children's individual needs
are identified early through accurate, robust assessment procedures and ongoing
observations. This ensures that any additional needs are clearly understood and responded
to effectively. Leaders diligently monitor children's progress and consistently review support
plans, ensuring strategies are adapted and the impact of interventions is clearly measured.
Staff's training is impressive. They are extremely well trained to confidently implement a
process to assess children regularly, plan for them and their next steps from this and after
implementing these strategies, review the impact this is having on each individual child. This
results in meaningful support that helps children make secure, consistent and sustained
progress. The setting promotes an inclusive ethos where diversity is celebrated and

individual differences are recognised as strengths. Leaders and practitioners work closely
with children and their families, professionals and external partners to shape the provision,
ensuring that children receive the most appropriate support at the best possible time. These
strong and secure partnerships enhance children's experiences and promote consistency
between home and the nursery.
Children with barriers to learning or wellbeing achieve exceptionally well. Children flourish
and succeed alongside their peers. For example, children are supported gently and
gradually to integrate with group times when they may struggle. Children who have had
individual plans have completed the programme so successfully, they attend mainstream
school with no additional support needed.
Funding is thoughtfully used to improve outcomes for children in receipt of it. For example,
funding has been used to provide speech and language resources and focused adult
support. Parent packs have been created so children can access these resources at home.
This means that children's communication, confidence and emotional development improve
noticeably over short periods of time. Leaders and practitioners provide effective,
meaningful support for children known to children's social care, ensuring they are fully
included, feel secure and make positive progress alongside their peers.
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
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Leaders and staff have created a nurturing environment, full of opportunity and wonder.
They work diligently to successfully reduce barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. All
staff consistently deliver the expertly tailored curriculum that supports every child to reach
their full potential.
The highly skilled interactions of staff enthuse children in their learning. For example,
recognising the potential to build on children's fascination in a story, staff provided support
and encouragement that resulted in a month-long 'anti-deforestation' project. After visiting
their forest space and conducting research on deforestation, children decided to campaign
at their local woodlands. They worked collaboratively to create 'stop deforestation' signs,
which they took into the local community. This experience significantly enhanced children's
understanding of the world, helping them to believe they can make a difference. Activities
and experiences of this calibre are commonplace across the setting. Children become
independent learners who share their ideas, confident that their voices will be listened to,
respected and advocated for.
The environment is alive with the sound of children engaged in purposeful and interesting
conversations as they explore and share their ideas. Babies use their rapidly developing
vocabulary to engage with staff, for example, they accurately point at birds and name a
robin. The positive response that children receive, along with the caring interactions and
consistent modelling by staff, helps them to gain extremely positive and mature social skills.
The levels of resilience and motivation that children develop are spectacular. They
persevere, solve problems and take pride in their achievements. For example, when working
together to fix a broken table, children pass each other tools. They watch each other work
and make helpful suggestions to enable their friends to succeed, such as trying to use a
screwdriver to twist the screws rather than hitting them with a hammer. The excellent

Inspector:
Beth Wilson
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2545390
Address:
Easteds Barn
Easteds Lane
Southwater
West Sussex
RH13 9DP
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 22/07/2019
Registered person: Little Barn Owls Ltd
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
progress that children make across all areas of learning prepares them remarkably well for
moving on in their education.
Next steps
Leaders should ensure continued improvement in the setting's successful work to remove
barriers for children who need extra help to realise a transformational impact on all
children's achievement and wellbeing.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator,
mentors, designated safeguarding leads, the head of learning, parents and children 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

Operating hours:
Local authority: West Sussex
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 2 April 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
52
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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