Windmill Nursery School, Smart Start

A large garden, sensory rooms and cooking with children give Windmill a practical, hands-on character. At 22-23 Overcliffe in Gravesend, this nursery combines indoor creative play with experiences planned around its outdoor space. For parents, the attraction is a day that gives children several ways to explore: through movement, materials, food and conversation.

At its 16 January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Windmill Good overall and judged safeguarding effective. That positive assessment came with two clear priorities: more consistent teaching from less confident staff and better indoor experiences for older children. Both matter when judging how well the nursery will suit an individual child.

Windmill has capacity for 82 children aged from 2 months to 5 years. Full days, mornings and afternoons provide different attendance options, while funded childcare is spread across the year rather than confined to school terms.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the foundation for children's learning and care: play supports communication, movement, relationships and early understanding of the world. Windmill's use of natural materials, creative play and garden activities gives these areas of learning concrete expression. Children can investigate something with their hands, talk about it and return to it through another activity.

In January 2025, language learning happened within everyday play. Staff talked babies through the textures of leaves and helped toddlers find objects with different surfaces. This makes vocabulary useful immediately: children hear words connected to something they can feel or examine, rather than encountering them only in a separate group activity.

Early mathematics was similarly practical in January 2025. Toddlers explored how much water containers could hold, while older children searched their surroundings for numbers and shapes using a magnifying glass. These examples show how counting, comparison and observation can sit within a nursery day. The activity gives the words a purpose.

Storal's group-wide Cooking together offer adds another route into learning. Children handle ingredients and practise skills during cookery sessions, with opportunities to explore how ingredients grow and where food originates. That links an enjoyable activity with questions about the world around them, and gives children something tangible to discuss afterwards.

The sensory rooms and creative play spaces broaden the indoor offer. Their value lies in the different experiences they allow alongside the large garden, rather than in any single branded teaching method. For a child who enjoys investigating textures or making things, these are relevant features of the setting.

Outdoor and Community Life

Planned activities extend into the garden, so outdoor learning connects with what children are doing indoors. The space is part of the educational day, rather than simply somewhere to spend a break. Natural resources are also used to encourage exploration and curiosity.

In January 2025, babies climbed into and out of a ball pit, toddlers practised steps before using a slide, and older children worked on balance with beams and running games. These were different physical challenges for different stages of development. The progression matters: movement was woven through experiences for younger and older children alike.

Global celebrations connect nursery life with the cultural festivals celebrated by children and their families. This offers a way for family experiences to enter the nursery day. Community trips and seasonal events also form part of the enrichment offer, alongside cookery and yoga.

Relationships and Communication

Settling was adapted to each child and family in January 2025, with that individual attention continuing as children moved through nursery and prepared for school. This is a useful distinction for parents: settling is about the child's needs, rather than simply completing a fixed introduction to the setting.

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff understood their key children's development, planned their next learning steps and supported children with SEND or English as an additional language through targeted help, professional liaison, signing and books in two languages. Those mechanisms make the support more concrete than a general statement about inclusion.

Home learning also had a practical connection with nursery in January 2025. Families could borrow books from a lending library and received ideas for activities at home. Parents contributed their own skills through activities including exercise and bracelet-making. These examples describe a partnership in which families could participate, as well as receive information.

Children's emotional understanding was addressed through conversation in January 2025. Staff helped them recognise feelings and talk about them, while shared garden activities gave children opportunities to cooperate. Preparing for school was part of the continuing attention to transitions, rather than a separate promise about school admission.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

An onsite chef prepares food, using locally sourced ingredients where possible, and menus accommodate different dietary requirements. That places food preparation within the nursery and makes dietary needs part of menu planning.

Individualised care is also part of Windmill's current approach: learning is adapted to the child and their pace. The January 2025 findings give families specific examples to weigh alongside that offer. The strongest evidence concerns staff knowing children well and putting targeted communication support into practice.

Sessions and Attendance

Windmill's address is 22-23 Overcliffe, Gravesend, DA11 0EH. It opens Monday to Friday, with full days from 7.30am to 6.30pm, morning sessions from 7.30am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6.30pm. Those are separate booking patterns, so families can choose a shorter session as well as a full day.

The nursery operates across 51 weeks, with closures during Christmas week and two team training days each year; bank holidays are also accounted for in its fee arrangements. For working families, the calendar matters alongside the daily session length. Attendance charges continue during a child's absence, including illness, so a missed day does not reduce the invoice.

Enquiries can be made through Windmill's nursery enquiry form, by email at windmill@storal.com or by telephone on 01474 332255. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Monthly invoices use the same payment amount each month, helping families plan their childcare spending across the year.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged 9 months and above can access the 15 Hours or 30 Hours funding offer, with funding eligibility beginning the term after the child's corresponding birthday. Windmill stretches these entitlements over 51 weeks, giving up to 11.18 or 22.35 funded hours each week respectively. The distinction is important: the term-time entitlement name is not the number of funded hours applied each week throughout the year.

Funding can be used within the usual sessions, with a maximum of 10 funded hours per day. Families using the larger stretched entitlement can apply the first 20 hours across two full days and use the remaining 2.35 hours towards another full-day or half-day session. Additional attendance beyond funded hours is charged separately.

Private fees include meals and snacks, formula and milk, plus nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream; funded sessions carry separate food, health and hygiene consumables, and enrichment charges. Enrichment charges apply to children over 2, with no such charge for under-2s. The total quotation therefore needs to be read as a combination of attendance and the applicable additions.

A non-refundable registration charge applies, and a deposit is credited against the first invoice. Windmill's fees and funding information explains the session structure and the costs included in its offer.

• Teaching consistency. In January 2025, less confident staff sometimes missed opportunities to extend children's learning. During a visit, ask how staff now receive support to develop children's ideas during play.
• Older children's indoor experiences. In January 2025, resources and experiences differed between preschool rooms, leaving older children with unequal learning opportunities. Ask to see the spaces your child would use and how those experiences have been strengthened.
• Funding and daily care. Funded sessions carry additional charges, while private fees include food and consumables. Request a written quotation for your intended pattern, and discuss current arrangements for any allergy or dietary requirement before joining.

Windmill suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full days, especially those who value garden learning, sensory exploration and cooking. Its stretched funding model also fits childcare planned across the year.

The January 2025 assessment gives a positive overall picture, supported by specific examples of communication support and individual attention. The decision deserves a closer look at teaching consistency and older children's indoor experiences. Those are the questions most likely to distinguish a good practical fit from an appealing description.