Sarahs Little Stars

Friday baking, stories on the sofa and woodland exploration give Sarahs Little Stars a recognisable character. Based within the grounds of Temple Grove Academy in Tunbridge Wells, it combines a homely indoor setting with outdoor learning and a deliberate emphasis on preparing children for school.

At its August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), made good progress from their starting points. That judgement needs to be read alongside subsequent regulatory findings involving safety, safeguarding procedures, supervision and care. Several issues have recurred across later visits, even where corrective action was recorded.

In August 2023, the children attending were aged 0 to 5. The nursery now offers funded childcare for children from 9 months and for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Its opening hours extend from 7am to 6pm on weekdays, with a Holiday Club planned initially for current families with older siblings.

Rooms and Ages

Curious Stars, Explorer Stars and Shining Stars are the named groups within the nursery. Staff roles include baby-unit and preschool room leadership.

Soft furnishings and a sofa support the indoor emphasis on comfort. Children take turns selecting stories and talking about their day, so the homely setting also provides occasions for listening and conversation. This is a concrete part of the Hygge approach here: comfort, relationships and wellbeing expressed through the surroundings and everyday routines.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday language, it brings play, communication, physical development and growing independence together rather than treating learning as a series of formal lessons. The nursery adds its Hygge approach and a detailed phonics programme alongside that framework.

Hygge Friday is the weekly baking occasion. Children make savoury or sweet food to eat at snack time or share at home, with baking also happening on other days.

Phase 1 Phonics is woven into daily activities, with speaking and listening as its emphasis. Outdoor sound bingo draws attention to traffic, birds and wind; instruments help children distinguish sounds; clapping, stamping and rhymes introduce rhythm.

For children who are ready, including those approaching school entry, Phase 2 Phonics introduces the relationship between letters and sounds. Participation in the small-group sessions is optional and flexible. Children practise combining sounds to read simple words and separating them for spelling, adding a challenge for those ready.

In August 2023, books were used differently across the age groups. Babies chose books to share with adults and practised handling the pages; older children sought information in books, including during learning about planets.

Outdoor and Community Life

Woodland exploration is part of the current Hygge offer, with attention to local flowers and identifying birds. It supplies real things to notice and discuss, extending conversation beyond indoor activities. In August 2023, children also used the forest school and garden areas, while babies practised movement on a slide.

Animal Man and Cascade Dance have visited the nursery. Family participation has its own structure: Parent Partnership sessions run at least five times each year, including opportunities connected with first aid and building relationships between families.

Relationships and Communication

In August 2023, staff built relationships around children's individual interests and used observations to plan their next experiences. They spoke calmly when managing behaviour and helped children practise sharing.

Monthly newsletters cover recent activities, nursery news and plans for the following month. Alongside the Parent Partnership sessions, these give families ways to follow what their children are doing and take part in nursery life. School preparation also explicitly involves parents: conversations about school and practising everyday skills at home complement what happens in the setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The current team structure includes SENCO roles and staff with Portage training. In August 2023, staff promoted children's home languages and invited families to share customs and traditions, bringing children's backgrounds into everyday learning.

There was also a clear weakness in the August 2023 routines. Babies waited too long while being prepared to go outside, and whole-group activities did not sufficiently reflect children's ages and development. Children became unsettled or lost interest. Better transitions and shorter, better organised group times were the improvement priorities.

Later findings matter to the care picture. In February 2024, actions concerning risk removal, staff responsibilities and toileting hygiene were subsequently recorded as met; in September 2024, safeguarding referral procedures were updated during a regulatory visit. In November 2024, supervision in the forest school required changes to staffing deployment and assessments of areas staff could not readily see.

During 2025, safer-eating procedures were reviewed, supervision responsibilities were addressed and a September visit identified a failure to notify a significant event, alongside effective changes to monitoring senior staff practice. At a July 2026 regulatory visit, Ofsted found a requirement had not been met and recorded that the nursery had revised procedures for children's intimate care. These later documents describe corrective steps, but the recurrence of care and supervision issues remains relevant to a parent's decision.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, for 51 weeks of the year, closing for a week at Christmas. Those are opening hours. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, email or telephone, and the school-readiness information offers a tour-booking route.

The planned Holiday Club would initially serve current nursery families with older siblings. Proposed patterns are full days from 8am to 6pm, an early session from 7am to 8am including breakfast, and morning or afternoon half days lasting 5.5 hours. These proposals concern school-aged holiday care.

Getting There

The nursery is within Temple Grove Academy's grounds. Its nursery address is Temple Grove Academy, Greggs Wood Rd, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3JJ, while its official childcare address is Temple Grove Academy, Friars Way, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UA.

Sharing a school site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still need to use the local authority admissions process. The nursery's school-readiness work concerns preparation, including communicating needs, dressing independently, recognising names and following instructions; it does not confer an admissions advantage.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children aged 9 months and for two-, three- and four-year-olds, with funding paid directly through Kent County Council. Private childcare is also offered, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Nursery meals carry a separate daily charge. The nursery has a food partnership with Frook Eats in Ely Court, Tunbridge Wells.

• Repeated care findings. Safety, supervision and care procedures have required corrective steps across several regulatory visits, most recently intimate-care procedures in July 2026. Ask how staff practice is monitored now and how those changes are checked during an ordinary day.
• Babies' waiting time. In August 2023, preparations for outdoor play left babies unsettled, while some group activities were too long or poorly matched to development. A visit should explore how the youngest children stay engaged during transitions.
• Two site addresses. Greggs Wood Rd, TN2 3JJ and Friars Way, TN2 3UA both identify the Temple Grove Academy site. Confirm which entrance to use for your visit.
• Nursery and sibling care. The planned Holiday Club proposes full-day and half-day options, initially for current families with older siblings. Ask about its launch and how nursery attendance could fit alongside the proposed sibling care.

Sarahs Little Stars suits families drawn to baking, shared stories, woodland exploration and explicit preparation for school. Daily listening activities and optional small-group phonics give its homely character educational substance. For current nursery families with school-aged siblings, the planned Holiday Club proposes full-day and half-day patterns that could complement nursery attendance if launched.

The August 2023 Good judgement is a useful starting point, but later care and supervision findings deserve equal attention. A family's decision should turn on the appealing daily offer and a clear understanding of how the nursery now sustains the corrective changes recorded across those visits.