Forest Grove Hackney

A log circle, tarpaulin shelter and a permanent mud-kitchen define the classroom at Forest Grove Hackney. This fully outdoor nursery in South Millfields Park takes children aged 3 to 5, with nature supplying both the space and the materials for learning. Outdoor life is the central choice here. Families need to want it throughout the seasons, rather than as an occasional addition to an indoor day.

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. There is capacity for 30 children in total. The educational character is clear: children follow their interests, use real tools with adult guidance and explore the park and surrounding natural spaces. A weekly musician visit adds another dimension to that outdoor offer.

Kindergarten opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Alongside it, an adult-accompanied club introduces younger children to the setting, while older children can continue through holiday and after-school provision.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) supplies the learning and care framework: play develops children's language, movement, relationships, early number understanding and creativity. Forest School adds a particular way of doing that, using child-led exploration and practical experiences in a natural setting. Children can pursue an interest rather than work towards an identical finished product.

Daily resources give that approach substance. An arts and crafts area is set out, books sit beside the log circle, and the mud-kitchen supports sensory play. Other equipment changes: a scramble net, rope bridge or loose materials for making dens may feature. The classroom therefore combines familiar anchors with changing opportunities. Children have somewhere recognisable to return to and something different to investigate.

Adult-guided tool work can involve drills, hammers, whittling knives and bow saws. In colder months, children help with kindling, wood preparation and food for the fire. These are practical tasks with a purpose, rather than just themed activities. The weekly music session brings a professional musician and instruments including guitar and violin, giving children contact with live music within the outdoor routine.

In March 2023, children used a numbered map and counted their companions during circle time; staff also set up a mathematics area each day. Language developed through stories, conversation and adults repeating useful vocabulary. Those examples show how an outdoor setting can give early learning a concrete context: number belongs to a task, and discussion grows from something children are doing or noticing.

The same March 2023 visit identified an important limitation: some children were missing adult-guided group learning because they were not encouraged to join. This matters in a setting where independent play carries much of the day. Freedom to choose needs to sit alongside opportunities for every child to encounter the planned learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

South Millfields Park is the base, with regular roaming to Hackney Marshes, nearby nature reserves and other wildlife areas. The enclosed site sits beside the basketball court, and its shelter includes seating on logs beneath tarpaulin among the trees. Children also have outdoor toilets. These physical arrangements make the outdoor model tangible: shelter and everyday care are organised within the park setting.

Environmental education involves doing, not simply discussing. Children regularly join park rangers to make habitats, plant bulbs, sow wildflowers and put up nest boxes. Snack-time waste goes into recycling or composting, allowing children to encounter the results of their decisions later. The Five Rs connects these routines with reducing waste, repairing things, reusing resources, recycling and respectful behaviour.

Forest Grove holds Eco-Schools Green Flag with Distinction accreditation. Families participate too, through a termly clothes swap and donations of useful outgrown kit. That gives sustainability a household connection: equipment can pass to another child, and the conversations started outdoors can continue at home.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is adapted to the child and family. Parents may remain briefly, stay for the first day or support a longer introduction; those staying are asked to use the park benches rather than join the group throughout. The arrangement allows a parent to remain close while children begin establishing their own relationships. Parents choosing settling without their support are asked to remain nearby during the first week.

A key person is allocated after the child has attended for a couple of weeks. That practitioner becomes the main contact, observes interests and development, and identifies possible concerns or additional support needs. This makes the relationship useful beyond comfort alone: observations of play inform what happens next.

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that key-person relationships supported emotional wellbeing and that communication with parents was a strength, including daily updates. In March 2023, children could use a feelings bench for quiet time, while The Colour Monster helped them talk about emotions. These examples connect reassurance with practical ways of recognising and expressing feelings.

Parent/Carer Circle Time gives a relative an opportunity to contribute a brief story, music activity or show-and-tell towards the day's end. Home-learning activities also connect indoor and outdoor play with conversations about development. Parents are encouraged to share what they notice away from the nursery, so communication can run in both directions.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The nursery has policies covering SEND, inclusion, settling and safeguarding. Its manager has experience working with children who have additional needs, and the key-person role includes recognising when extra support may be needed. These are concrete arrangements for discussing an individual child's experience, rather than a blanket promise about what the setting can provide.

Kindergarten staffing is one adult to four children, better than the one-to-eight minimum for children aged three and over. That is a meaningful distinction in a setting using tools and moving through natural spaces. Staff have Forest School training, and the team holds paediatric Forest School first-aid qualifications.

Children bring lunch and a water bottle; the nursery supplies seasonal vegan snacks in the morning and afternoon, sometimes using the fire for a warm snack. Lunch is provided by parents, while funded-place terms include voluntary food charges for the nursery's provision.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is South Millfields Park, Millfields Road, London, E5 0AR. Kindergarten operates during term time, with opening hours of 9am to 3pm on weekdays and a calendar following Hackney's school terms. Enquiries can be made by email to info@forestgrovehackney.com.

Forest Grove Nature Club is an adult-accompanied outdoor group for two-year-olds, running on Fridays from 9.30am to 11.30am during term time. Activities include nature crafts, mud play and introductions to tools. Attendance is booked for at least half a term, so it is a recurring commitment rather than an occasional drop-in.

Forest Grove After School Club runs seasonally on Wednesdays in term time, from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, for Kindergarten graduates in Reception and Years 1 and 2. It continues outdoor activities such as tool work and rope-bridge building, with collection offered from Millfields Community School. A minimum half-term attendance applies.

Forest Grove Holiday Club serves children aged 5 to 8, with settled Kindergarten members also able to attend and receiving booking priority. The holiday provision closes in August and over Christmas. It therefore extends the offer beyond term time while still leaving closure periods to plan around.

The main Kindergarten intake is September, with additional intakes during the year. Waiting-list families receive offers first, and requests for two or more days receive priority. Joining the paid Kindergarten waiting list guarantees neither a place nor the requested weekdays; Nature Club has no waiting-list charge.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers 15-hour funding and does not offer 30-hour funding. The funded arrangement uses three set days and combines funded time with additional privately paid hours. Kindergarten operates in term time. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and admissions page explains the charge structure.

Parents supply lunch, while food provision and non-food consumables carry separate voluntary charges within the funded-place terms. Additional days are privately charged. The distinction matters: funded time, extra attendance, food and consumables are separate parts of the arrangement.

An enrolment deposit secures an offered place. It is returned when the child leaves if fees are fully paid and at least two months' written notice has been given; it is retained if the family cannot take up the place after paying it. A separate registration charge is non-refundable and includes a backpack.

Getting There

Access is through Hillstowe Street or the Chatsworth Road park entrance opposite Millfields cafe, with parking on Chatsworth Road. Clapton and Homerton are the nearest train stations; nearby bus services include routes 55, 56 and 242.

• An outdoor day needs preparation. Waterproof trousers, a waterproof jacket and spare clothes are expected even when rain is not forecast; a wet or cold child may need early collection. During a site tour, discuss how shelter, clothing and toileting work for your child across the seasons.
• Independent play and shared learning need balance. In March 2023, some children missed adult-guided group activities. Ask how practitioners now include children who prefer to remain in their own play.
• Weather can disrupt attendance. Unsafe winds or thunderstorms can lead to cancellation, and weather closures have a charging arrangement. Consider how a cancelled day would fit your family's working commitments.
• Funding comes with a defined attendance pattern. The 15-hour arrangement uses three set days with extra privately paid hours and voluntary food and consumables charges. Discuss the complete written quotation, including how dietary requirements are accommodated, before committing.

Forest Grove Hackney suits families choosing a fully outdoor, term-time Kindergarten and those seeking a shorter, adult-accompanied Friday introduction through Nature Club. The permanent mud-kitchen, guided tool use, live music and work with park rangers give that choice real substance. This is an offer built around sustained contact with nature.

The March 2023 Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality, alongside a clear concern about participation in group learning. Practical fit matters just as much: parents supply lunch and outdoor clothing, the funded model includes private hours, and severe weather can interrupt attendance. For families comfortable with those commitments, the combination of hands-on learning and an unusually favourable staffing ratio makes a persuasive case.