Bee in the Woods Kindergarten, Stanmer Park

A log-burner yurt, a pond garden and woodland beyond the fence give Bee in the Woods Kindergarten, Stanmer Park a character that starts with its surroundings. This is outdoor early education, with sheltered spaces supporting the day rather than replacing it. Children can grow vegetables, build dens and explore woodland, making the natural environment part of their learning rather than an occasional destination.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the kindergarten Outstanding overall and in every assessed area, praising the curriculum and staff's understanding of children's development. The detail behind that judgement matters: children contributed ideas to shared learning documents, investigated weight and volume, and practised physical skills through climbing and tool use.

The kindergarten accepts children aged three to five and has 15 places in total. Its base is The Wellbeing Gardens in Brighton's Stanmer Park. Attendance follows term time, with a breakfast club alongside the main kindergarten day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care through play, including communication, physical development and relationships. Outdoor learning is the setting's way of putting that work into practice. Gardening, stories, music and opportunities to investigate natural materials sit within the day, rather than forming a separate offer detached from early education.

Alongside this framework, Bee in the Woods' group-wide approach draws on Froebel, Reggio Emilia, Te Whakiri and Scandinavian Forest Schools to organise learning around nature, community and play. Children help shape their learning: adults listen to their interests and make space for exploration and self-directed play.

In September 2025, children helped document their own learning using drawings, writing and other marks on large communal sheets. They could revisit earlier experiences and contribute ideas for what should happen next. That gives children's recorded ideas a visible place in planning.

Mathematical language also grew from practical investigation that September. Children used scales to explore materials and discuss weight and volume, while adults gave them time to think through questions. Stories involved singing, movement and puppets. Books were also resources for children's investigations and early writing, so literacy extended beyond a scheduled story session.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Cosy Yurt contains a log burner and provides somewhere warm and sheltered for activities. Elsewhere, the Eco shelter supports shared gatherings, while the play area includes a mud kitchen, rope bridges, swings and dens.

A vegetable patch gives children opportunities to grow flowers and food. The Pond Garden lies outside the kindergarten camp and provides a place to watch wildlife; occasional adventure walks extend into Stanmer Park Great Woods.

Weekly music, gardening and yoga broaden the outdoor day. Gardening Club appears in the afternoon programme alongside exploratory walks, games, pond investigation and time to rest. The daily sequence also includes a morning gathering for songs and stories, lunch followed by stories and play, and an afternoon reflection. There is room for movement and quieter participation.

Beach School adds a summer-term option for children already attending Stanmer. This is coastal outdoor learning, with activities such as investigating crab habitats, making shelters, looking for birds and collecting litter. Stanmer's session runs on Thursdays at Rottingdean Beach. It brings a different environment into the offer, with tides, weather and coastal wildlife replacing the garden's familiar surroundings for the day.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2025, staff responded sensitively to children experiencing separation from a parent for the first time. Physical comfort and close attention to individual needs helped support that transition. A story about young owls waiting for their mother also gave children a way to talk about separation and a parent's return. Emotional reassurance was connected to ordinary experiences, including books and conversation.

Children's contributions received time and attention that September. Adults encouraged them to express opinions, listen to others and solve problems, rather than taking over their play. Sharing ideas and working together were part of learning how to be a friend.

The term calendar includes settling periods and home visits for new starters. Its autumn arrangements use shorter days at the beginning of term, while the spring pattern separates new starters' settling sessions from the attendance of established children.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified inclusive support, including visual cues and positive encouragement, that helped children make progress. Those are practical mechanisms: a child can receive a prompt they can see as well as spoken guidance, and adults can reinforce helpful behaviour consistently.

During that September, children developed coordination through tree climbing, obstacle play and hammocks, while using tools for sculpture supported hand control. They also discussed healthy eating and the purpose of safety boundaries.

Stanmer's manager has teaching and forest- and beach-learning training, alongside outdoor paediatric first aid. The current day also includes opportunities for rest and quieter play.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Wellbeing Gardens, Stanmer Park, Lewes Road, Brighton, BN1 9SE. The main kindergarten opening window is 9.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, following Brighton and Hove term times. Breakfast club runs from 8.30am to 9.30am. The term calendar also identifies full-day attendance after the initial settling period.

Beach School has its own full-day arrangement, from 9.30am to 3.30pm on Thursdays during the summer term, for existing Stanmer kindergarten children. Families use the beach location for collection and drop-off, so this is a different practical commitment from a day at the woodland garden. Parents provide a packed lunch for Beach School and bring spare clothing and a bag for wet items.

Bee Wild Holiday Club runs at Stanmer as well as the other Bee in the Woods site. Its Forest School activities include natural crafts, den building, gardening and camp cooking. The club runs from 9.30am to 3pm, with a booked extension to 4pm offered in spring and summer; participation by three-year-olds is restricted to children already attending the kindergarten.

Getting There

The kindergarten sits behind One Garden, with access from Patchway car park; parking is charged, with a 15-minute collection and drop-off window free of charge. Falmer Station is the nearest railway station, and buses connect central Brighton with the entrance to Stanmer Park or Stanmer village.

Funding and Paid Extras

Early Years Entitlement Funding can cover up to five hours of the Beach School day.

Kindergarten enquiries use the waiting-list form, and families joining that list are subsequently invited to a showaround. Joining the waiting list expresses interest in kindergarten attendance. Current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation, with kindergarten attendance, the beach option and holiday-club bookings clearly separated.

• Outdoor fit. The Cosy Yurt and Eco shelter support an outdoor day that also includes climbing, gardening and woodland exploration. At a visit, discuss how your child would use the sheltered spaces when tired or cold, and how the outdoor routine would suit their needs.
• Weekly timetable. Stanmer's main information gives Monday-to-Friday opening, while its home-education information also gives a Monday-to-Thursday timetable. Clarify the days that apply to the kindergarten booking you want before arranging work around it.
• A different Thursday. Summer-term Beach School uses Rottingdean Beach and requires a packed lunch and spare clothing. Consider whether the separate collection location fits your week as comfortably as Stanmer Park.
• Starting gently. The term calendar includes shorter settling days and new-starter home visits. Ask how the settling pattern would work for your child's start, including the timetable and any costs attached to their attendance package.

Bee in the Woods Kindergarten, Stanmer Park suits families seeking outdoor early education through term-time full days, with breakfast-club attendance for an earlier start and a summer Beach School option. Its strongest features are tangible: sheltered gathering spaces, a garden children can cultivate, woodland exploration and a coastal learning day.

The September 2025 Outstanding judgement adds weight, but the most persuasive detail is children's involvement in deciding and documenting their learning. This is a setting to choose for the outdoor routine itself. The weekly timetable, settling pattern and beach-day logistics are the practical decisions to settle alongside that educational fit.