Claremont School Nursery Review

In 2025/26, specialist Forest School, sports coaching and music formed an optional enrichment package alongside Claremont’s core nursery learning. Nursery & Pre-Reception spans ages 2–5 within this independent school in St Leonards-on-Sea. The nursery shares the main site with the preparatory and pre-preparatory sections, rather than the senior campus.

The Prep campus occupies over 100 acres, including woodland and grounds. That is the physical setting for the youngest children’s school life. Nursery leadership sits within a combined Nursery and Pre-Prep role. In November 2023, Ofsted recorded that the nursery was registered and inspected separately from the school; the school’s judgement should therefore not be treated as a nursery rating.

Core early education and specialist activities are distinct parts of the offer. For 2025/26, nursery practitioners delivered the statutory early education curriculum to children whose families did not choose the enrichment package. Choosing specialist sessions was therefore an addition to core learning, rather than a requirement for accessing it.

Forest School sat alongside specialist music and sports coaching in that optional package. Participation depended on the activities scheduled during the child’s booked session: each specialist activity did not run every day. For parents weighing a morning against an afternoon, the session’s timetable matters as well as its length.

The 2025/26 model included five-hour morning and afternoon blocks and a ten-hour full day. These gave families different ways to assemble their attendance, with places dependent on operational capacity.

Settling begins before regular attendance. Nursery entry includes taster days, settling visits and a meeting with the nursery head. Those steps give children an opportunity to become familiar with the setting before their usual sessions begin.

Food was a separate choice for families using funded hours in 2025/26. The optional package included a cooked lunch and snacks for the morning and afternoon; parents declining it supplied packed food in line with the school’s food rules. Opting into a package meant committing to it for each attended session throughout that term.

A safeguarding lead has specific responsibility for Nursery & Early Years. For children with additional needs, admission depends on the school being able to provide suitable support. Acceptance of children with an EHCP involves an enhanced interview with the SENDCo and remains conditional on meeting the child’s needs. Where a Learning Support Assistant is required, parents bear the additional charge.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Confirm Reception entry arrangements directly with the admissions team. Children join Reception in the September following their fourth birthday. Familiarity with the school should not be treated as an entitlement to a place.

For 2026/27, Claremont offers Universal 15-hour early years funding for nursery children, starting in the term following their third birthday. Funded sessions, optional packages and unfunded attendance need to be considered separately when planning childcare. Ask the school for current charges.

Booking commitments. The 2025/26 arrangements required attendance forms half a school term ahead, with changes dependent on capacity and the same notice period. Families need to plan session changes ahead of time.

Pre-Reception children wear school uniform, available through School Blazer or The Friends of Claremont School shop. Collection and drop-off are monitored for Pre-Reception. Enquiries go to admissions@claremontschool.co.uk or 01424 751 555, and families can book a private tour.