URN 2767618 · Inspected 2026-03-03 · Published 2026-05-08 · Inspector: Tina Lambert
Ofsted - Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills Beech Tree Childcare Unique reference number (URN): 2767618 Address: Seal Primary Academy, East Street, Sesley, West Sussex, PO20 0BN Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 27/12/2023 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Beech Tree Childcare Limited Inspection report: 3 March 2026 Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement Our grades explained Our grades explained 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. Safeguarding standards met Click to Show Click to Hide Safeguarding standards met Click to Show Click to Hide 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 How we evaluate safeguarding 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 Show Hide Strong standard Achievement Show Hide Strong standard Children demonstrate a love of learning new words. They happily engage with other children and talk to staff about their interests and events that are important to them. Staff use routines and activities to engage with children through discussions or sign. This approach helps children who have no, or very little, language to contribute. Both children and staff delight in pretending to go on a journey on a bus. Babies sit in sensory trays and enjoy pouring cereals through their fingers. They have stories read to them, which helps extend their vocabulary and imagination through a love of reading. Children who face barriers to their learning achieve significantly from their starting points. They learn the skills to develop independence and perseverance and thoroughly enjoy making their own choices as they play. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Show Hide Strong standard Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Show Hide Strong standard Staff are excellent role models and have high expectations for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They are kind and gentle and highly respectful of children. Staff and children have built strong bonds, and children regularly invite staff to play with them. The sound of laughter echoes throughout the provision. Staff model good manners and respectful language, which has a positive impact on how children react to others. Older children keenly volunteer to be a helper to set the table, and staff praise younger children when they help to tidy up. Children are extremely well behaved and are beginning to understand the importance of cooperation and listening to what others have to say. Leaders and staff work hard with parents and carers to build up strong partnerships. They ensure that children access their full entitlement by working alongside parents to improve children's attendance. The rigorous monitoring of children's individual learning plans means that learning is always adapted to the age and stage of children's development. Information is shared appropriately with other educational settings, such as other nurseries that children may attend and/or school. Children's welfare and wellbeing Show Hide Strong standard Children's welfare and wellbeing Show Hide Strong standard Staff use age-appropriate ways to teach children about their own wellbeing and emotions. For example, children listen and are keen to join in with stories about recognising feelings. Even very young children are beginning to identify how they feel in response to an event, such as 'mummy coming back' or 'when someone takes my toy'. Staff ensure that children are strictly supervised when eating, and all sleeping practices are safe. Staff's warm and caring interactions have a positive impact on the way children view themselves, including children who face barriers to their learning. Children relish being with their key person, and staff demonstrate a clear passion for working with children. This contributes to the positive and happy atmosphere in the setting. Children are provided with nutritious and plentiful meals and snacks, and staff use this time to engage in a 'what's on my plate?' activity. Even the very youngest of children point at drawings of fruits and attempt new words associated with healthy foods. Older children contribute to discussions about where milk comes from and where cucumbers grow. Staff sensitively support children with their own care needs, such as toileting and handwashing. Older children are quietly reminded to go to the toilet, and babies are given warm clean cloths to wipe their own faces after eating. Leaders ensure that parents and carers are provided with information on healthy food choices. Curriculum and teaching Show Hide Strong standard Curriculum and teaching Show Hide Strong standard Leaders develop a curriculum that focuses on the individual child and the life skills that they will need for the future. Children have access to an exciting and stimulating curriculum with a particular emphasis on building children's communication and social skills. Children are taught how to play with each other and become independent in all tasks. All children, including babies, are developing the resilience and skills in order to do things for themselves. This prepares them very effectively for the next stage in their education, such as going to school. Staff provide consistently high-quality teaching opportunities. They provide children with plenty of time when responding to questions and instructions. They model new vocabulary and ask effective questions, which effectively extends children's learning. They consistently observe children as they play and are extremely skilful at knowing when to provide more support or to step back. They use recall to consolidate children's existing knowledge. Leaders and staff create an environment that is full of opportunities for teaching children mathematics, which are seamlessly woven into everyday play, routines and activities. Babies join in with counting songs, using their fingers, and older children learn that adding 2 and 2 equals 4. Teaching is differentiated for every child, which ensures that every child, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, makes significant progress. Staff are extremely skilled at supporting children's emotional and social development and providing ongoing experiences for children to build on their growing physical skills. Inclusion Show Hide Strong standard Inclusion Show Hide Strong standard Leaders and staff know children and their families extremely well. They are attentive to any family's changing circumstances and swiftly identify support to ensure that all children have consistent access to an inclusive curriculum. Leaders prioritise working with outside agencies to extend support and provide targeted intervention for those families that need it most, such as children who face a disadvantage or have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Reasonable adjustments are thoughtfully made, which makes all of the children's early education experience meaningful and enjoyable. Effective support plans are put in place, and all children receive learning and emotional support from their assigned key person. Staff are skilled and receive training to enable them to effectively carry out their roles and responsibilities to a very high level. They use ongoing and detailed assessments to establish children's existing knowledge and what they need to be learning next. Staff enthusiastically discuss the developmental opportunities that they receive, which supports them to put plans in place for the children. Consequently, the learning environment strongly supports children's communication and social interactions, which staff have identified is an area that some children need more support with. Babies and older children use signing during everyday play and activities. This allows all children to be able to freely communicate and have their thoughts and feelings known. Leaders use any additional funding to precisely meet the learning and development needs of those children who most need it. Leadership and governance Show Hide Strong standard Leadership and governance Show Hide Strong standard One of the many key strengths of the provision is the leaders' total commitment to providing an extremely high level of fully inclusive care and education for children. Leaders strive for continuous improvement and are skilfully responsive to the unique needs of children and their families. The ambitious curriculum is constantly adapted to meet precisely the needs of children. Consequently, all children who attend, including children who face disadvantage, make remarkable progress from their starting points. Staff feed back that they receive extensive support from leaders, as they are given a range of exciting opportunities to progress their careers. They have weekly opportunities to meet with leaders and discuss areas for further development. Individual training programmes ensure that staff are fully skilled in their work and proficient in their studies. They speak very highly of the leadership team and their hands-on and caring approach. Leaders work very closely with parents and carers to establish very firm partnerships. Parents and carers praise how the provision is managed and comment that their children are making incredible progress in their learning and development. Communication including regular children's progress reports helps parents and carers to feel included and fully confident in the quality of education and care that their children receive. Compulsory Childcare Register requirements Click to Show Click to Hide Compulsory Childcare Register requirements Click to Show Click to Hide 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 How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory 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 Click to Show Click to Hide Voluntary Childcare Register requirements Click to Show Click to Hide 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 How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary 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 Click to Show Click to Hide What it's like to be a child at this setting Click to Show Click to Hide Children positively thrive, and they achieve well at this setting. They demonstrate a high level of engagement in their learning, and they thoroughly enjoy exploring the environment. All children, including those who face disadvantage or other barriers to learning such as special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have access to a highly inclusive and exciting curriculum. They follow their own interests, listen attentively to staff and engage extremely well with their friends. Staff are skilful and adapt the curriculum to consider children's ages and capabilities. This helps close gaps in learning and ensures that activities and children's next steps are bespoke and purposeful. Children show that they are happy and feel safe. They form friendships with other children and develop warm and loving bonds with staff who work hard to nurture and identify children's unique needs. Every child is highly valued for their individuality, including children with SEND. Consequently, all children feel valued and listened to and quickly develop high levels of confidence and self-esteem. Staff are enthusiastic and support children to try new things, such as older children practising balancing in the garden or babies using a spoon successfully for the first time. All children's efforts are celebrated, and children enjoy being praised. Leaders and staff swiftly identify gaps to support children's individual needs. They gather information from parents and carers to establish children's starting points and the areas they need to be learning next. This approach enables children to make early progress in their learning and learn the skills that they need for the next stage in their education, such as going to school. Leaders work alongside parents to find ways to ensure that children's attendance is regular and children arrive on time. Parents are given information on the positive impact that attendance has on children's future outcomes. Next steps Click to Show Click to Hide Next steps Click to Show Click to Hide Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. About this inspection Click to Show Click to Hide About this inspection Click to Show Click to Hide The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, children and parents and carers 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. Inspector: Tina Lambert About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2767618 Address: Seal Primary Academy East Street Sesley West Sussex PO20 0BN Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 27/12/2023 Registered person: Beech Tree Childcare Limited Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30 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 3 March 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 1 to 4 Total number of places 42 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. 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