Pegwell Bay Nursery

A baby garden, lunches cooked at Baypoint Sports Club and a progression through four named rooms give Pegwell Bay Nursery a recognisable character. Based at Baypoint Club on Ramsgate Road in Sandwich, it accepts children from birth to five. Natural materials and furniture low enough for children to choose their own play resources make independence a practical part of the day.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with positive findings on support for children with SEND and children's progress. That judgement belongs to that visit. The strongest current details for parents are the key-person arrangement, daily updates through Famly and a curriculum that connects play with everyday skills.

Attendance choices include mornings, half days and full days, alongside a school-hours pattern. The differences matter: families can choose a shorter nursery day rather than treating the whole opening window as their booking.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Bears Room, for three to 24 months, overlooks the garden and combines low natural-material furniture, sensory and creative play, and a designated outdoor area for babies. This gives the youngest children somewhere to explore outside separately, while accessible resources allow them to begin choosing activities for themselves.

Mice Room, described for 14 months to two years, separates messy and craft activities from role play, with a reading space for quieter moments and access to the larger garden. Cheeky Monkey Room serves children aged two to three. Pre School Owls Room, for three to five, combines individual and group language and mathematics activities with opportunities to continue learning in the garden.

These age bands overlap. Moving between rooms is linked to readiness, with visits accompanied by the child's key person. A familiar adult carries the relationship into the next room, rather than leaving the child to manage the change alone.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering communication, physical skills, relationships and later learning such as literacy and mathematics. Here, adults lead some activities and children initiate others, indoors and outside. Staff observe children's interests and use them to introduce further ideas, so planning has a starting point in what children actually enjoy doing.

Growing food gives that approach something tangible. Children plant seeds, follow their growth and eat the produce; baking provides another connection between an activity and its result. Visits from people such as dentists and police officers introduce work in the community, while walks and trips to local parks extend learning beyond the nursery. These are everyday experiences with a purpose: children encounter the people, processes and places they are learning about.

In September 2023, children experimented together with water and mud, working out how to enlarge a lagoon and prevent leaks. They also talked about the sunflowers and potatoes they had grown. Those examples show the inspection-era curriculum through children's actions: testing an idea, explaining a change and making a connection between planting and food.

Outdoor and Community Life

Garden access is part of the room arrangements, rather than a separate occasional activity. Babies have their designated garden, Mice Room children use the larger outdoor space, and preschool children continue activities outside. The practical value is continuity between indoor play and outdoor exploration.

The curriculum also includes charity fundraising and celebrations involving food tasting, music, stories and visitors. Dressing up is among the celebration activities. Families who prefer learning rooted in real experiences will find more to judge here than a curriculum label alone.

Relationships and Communication

A key person provides a consistent relationship for each child, while children also spend time with other staff. Famly is the daily communication system: baby updates include sleep, nappy changes, activities and photographs, while older children's updates also cover their development. This gives parents concrete information about the day rather than relying entirely on a brief conversation at collection.

Assessment begins shortly after a child starts, with parents contributing to the initial picture of development. Termly assessments follow, and a leaving assessment brings together development, interests and relevant information for the next stage. Information is shared with receiving schools in summer, helping the next adults understand the child before the transition.

At the September 2023 inspection, Ofsted identified two communication improvements: giving parents more practical help with learning at home and sharing information more effectively when children attended another setting. Daily photographs and care notes therefore deserve a separate question from learning advice. Parents need to understand both what happened and how to support the next step.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support has a designated SENCO and deputy role. Staff can raise concerns for observation and discussion with parents, with referrals to speech and language therapists or specialist teaching services where appropriate. Individual strategies and support plans are reviewed with families each term. For more complex needs, the nursery supports requests for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment and contributes to implementing a resulting plan.

Children with SEND can have a personalised settling period. Room and school transitions use meetings, shared information and gradual introductions, allowing the plan to reflect the child rather than applying a single timetable to everyone.

The nursery specifies visual supervision and recorded checks at least every five minutes, with babies using cots or approved sleep surfaces. Medication requires written parental consent, and administration is recorded and shared with parents. These are defined procedures, with the child's routine and medical needs forming part of the conversation with their key person.

Lunch is prepared daily by a professional chef at Baypoint Sports Club using fresh ingredients, with a Wednesday roast and an intended meat-free day each week. The dietary policy asks families to keep the nursery informed about changes to allergies or intolerances.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Baypoint Club, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich CT13 9QL. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with bank holidays and Christmas closures. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the contact form.

Morning sessions run from 8am to noon. Half-day bookings run from 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm; full days run from 8am to 6pm, and the school-hours pattern is 8am to 4pm. Breakfast club runs from 7.30am to 8am, and additional hours can be purchased alongside morning and afternoon bookings. The funded admissions arrangement also includes three school-day sessions from 8am to 4pm, selected within Monday to Friday.

Admissions give priority to full-time bookings and children with siblings already attending, with time spent on the waiting list also carrying weight. Booked attendance cannot be moved unless another space permits it. These rules make choosing a sustainable weekly pattern important before signing the contract.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Free Working Parents Entitlement, Free Early Education and Kent's Free for Twos scheme. Term-time funding patterns are offered, alongside private childcare and additional paid hours. Eligibility and the nursery's delivery pattern are separate questions; an entitlement does not itself establish a particular booking.

For funded places, meals and snacks sit within a separate voluntary consumable charge, which also covers learning materials, trips and activities. Additional hours and services are voluntary, and the admissions policy provides for fully free funded places. The pricing and hours information sets out a non-refundable registration charge, advance invoicing every four weeks and fees payable across 50 weeks; Free For 2 year places require no deposit. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Cancellation terms distinguish paid attendance from funded places. The pricing terms require a month's notice, while the admissions policy allows a funded place to end without notice and retains its funding until the next claim date. That distinction matters when planning a move or a change in childcare.

• Room allocation. Mice Room has different age descriptions across the room and pricing information. During a visit, discuss which room your child would join and how readiness determines the next move.
• Funded booking and charges. Funding information describes a daily care package and registration payments, while the admissions policy describes voluntary extras and fully free funded places; the under-three working-parent hours also differ. Obtain one written agreement covering your entitlement, attendance pattern and chosen extras before committing.
• Learning beyond nursery. September 2023 improvement points concerned home-learning advice and continuity between settings. Ask for an example of current learning guidance and, if your child attends elsewhere, how information passes between the two teams.
• Allergies and medication. Lunches come from Baypoint Sports Club, and medication follows a consent and recording procedure. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food handling and any child-specific care arrangements before attendance.

Pegwell Bay suits families looking for morning or half-day attendance as well as full-day care, with garden play and practical learning woven into the offer. Baby Bears Room's separate outdoor area, Famly updates and readiness-based room visits are useful details for younger children; preschool learning connects language and mathematics with increasing independence.

The September 2023 Good judgement supports the inspection-era picture. For a present decision, the most useful balance is the concrete room and care arrangements against the need for a clear funded contract and effective learning communication. Those details determine whether the nursery's day fits both the child and the family's week.