Mr Noah's Nursery School

Woodland exploration and Christian worship give Mr Noah's Nursery School a clear identity. At Tarly Pit in Gills Green, children learn through play and practical involvement in their surroundings, with a Froebelian approach that emphasises exploration and community. This is a rural nursery with an explicitly Christian foundation. Its songs, Bible stories and sung prayers make that foundation part of the children's experience, rather than simply a name above the door.

Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding at its inspection on 19 January 2023. The detail behind that judgement is memorable: children investigated a stream, assessed routes through the woods and took responsibility for growing vegetables. These were activities with decisions attached. Children had to think about where to go, what to try and what might happen next.

The current age range is 24 to 60 months. Opening hours run from 9am to 4pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, with Thursday ending at 1pm. For families choosing between early years settings, the strongest point of difference is the combination of outdoor exploration, practical environmental learning and Christian life.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday experiences become opportunities to develop language, physical skills and independence. Alongside that framework, the nursery uses its Froebelian approach to give exploration, play and participation in a community a central place. The outdoor setting supplies much of the material children investigate.

In January 2023, children compared how ice and toy trains moved along guttering. Staff introduced words connected with the investigation, helping children describe movement and how objects joined together. This linked practical experimentation with vocabulary. The activity gave children something concrete to discuss, rather than asking them to learn new words in isolation.

A feather found in the woods prompted another January 2023 discussion. Children initially identified it as belonging to an eagle; adults encouraged them to examine its markings and reconsider what they already knew. The important detail was the pause for thinking. Children had room to revise an idea after looking more closely, rather than receiving an immediate answer from an adult.

Christian music is another part of learning. Bible-story gatherings include songs, while sung prayers mark snack time and the ends of the morning and day. Sharing the songs with parents also gives families a way to recognise and continue this part of nursery life at home. Families should be comfortable with faith being expressed through routine activities as well as celebrations.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2023, the woods offered physical challenges with real choices: children considered leaves, gullies and a stream crossing while deciding how to reach trees for climbing. They also used poles to investigate water depth before choosing where to wade. The setting made observation and decision-making part of physical play. Mud and water were learning materials.

Growing food connected several experiences. During the same month, children cultivated and harvested vegetables in an allotment-style area, with tomatoes grown in a polytunnel. Children could use money raised from selling the harvest to buy eco-pond plants they selected. Cooking and eating what they grew was another possibility.

Site development has also involved children. In October 2021, they helped with improvements to the woodland path. A covered mud kitchen was refurbished that month with a dresser, an oven hood and a microwave, and a Toy Room was added beside it. These details show the breadth of the outdoor provision: imaginative domestic play sat alongside gardening and woodland investigation.

Environmental learning received further attention in 2024. The Education People's ESD award scheme recognised sustainability work, which included children completing SDG booklets with encouragement from their families. A global-goals flag marked the award. The eco-school silver award also formed part of the nursery's environmental identity, linking the practical work with wider sustainability themes.

A July 2024 wildflower display took inspiration from seasonal flowers seen at Sissinghurst Castle. It brought changing plants into children's close observation, with children identifying flowers in the display. This is a useful example of outdoor learning extending beyond energetic play: looking carefully, recognising differences and naming what is seen matter too.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2023, children could remain near their key person until they felt ready to interact with other adults. That arrangement gave them a familiar relationship from which to explore the setting. Adults also used assessment tools covering involvement, wellbeing, creativity and self-regulation, looking beyond whether a child could complete a particular task.

Communication with families has included face-to-face consultation. A parent consultation evening took place at Tarly Pit in March 2022, using the outdoor dining space and play kitchen for conversations. For an outdoor nursery, these surroundings also connected discussions about development with the places where children spent their time.

The nursery's image policy prohibits identifiable pictures of children online, including on its website, blogs and social media. Accounts of activities can therefore be shared without making a child's face publicly recognisable. This is a specific communication policy with practical relevance for families who care about their child's online privacy.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff recognising children's SEND needs and making prompt referrals for specialist help. That is a dated finding about staff practice and access to support. It gives parents a concrete account of how additional needs were addressed at that point.

Risk-taking in January 2023 was supervised rather than removed from the day. Around the firepit, children waited to add fuel and discussed why heated metal required distance and care. Adults used the experience to connect a physical boundary with an explanation. The aim was understanding as well as following an instruction.

Christian celebrations also bring families and the nursery's wider community together. In December 2023, children learned songs and performed the birth narrative at a Nativity Service held at Cranbrook Congregational Church. The annual end-of-year event in July 2024 included a Christian story, singing and books for children moving on to primary and prep schools. These occasions make the religious character especially visible.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Tarly Pit, Potters Lane, Gills Green, Hawkhurst, TN18 5BB. Current opening hours are 9am to 4pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and 9am to 1pm on Thursday. The shorter Thursday is a material consideration for anyone arranging work around the nursery week.

In January 2023, full-day sessions ran from 9am to 4pm during term time, excluding Thursday afternoons. This describes the attendance arrangement at that date. Enquiries can be submitted through the nursery's contact form, which takes an email address and a message.

Funding and Paid Extras

In January 2023, funded early education was offered for children aged two, three and four. That inspection-era participation is useful background for a funding conversation, rather than a promise about a family's entitlement or booking. Families should obtain a current written quotation before agreeing paid attendance.

• Outdoor weather. Snow prevented attendance for a week in February 2021, and storms caused a further closure in February 2022. An outdoor setting makes weather disruption a practical consideration when planning childcare.
• Christian participation. Bible stories, sung prayers and the Nativity Service are part of the nursery's character. Families should weigh how comfortably these fit with the experiences they want for their child.
• Attendance and costs. Thursday closes at 1pm, while the January 2023 attendance pattern was term time. At a visit, ask how the current holiday calendar and booking options work, and how funded attendance treats meals, consumables and additional paid hours.

The nursery suits families seeking woodland exploration and practical environmental learning within an explicitly Christian setting. The January 2023 observations will interest parents who value practical decision-making: children investigated water and helped decide how gardening proceeds were spent.

The January 2023 examples illustrate practical learning, while the sustainability work and Christian celebrations give the nursery a recognisable character. The shorter Thursday and the implications of an outdoor setting deserve equal weight in a family's decision. This is a choice about both the children's experience and how the nursery week fits family life.