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Early years · Report card

Lenham Nursery School CIO

Inspected 28 Apr 2026 · URN 2777361

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Kelly Hawkins

What we read, and from where

Click a reading to see it highlighted in the report.

  • Achievement verified

    Strong standard

  • Behaviour, attitudes and routines verified

    Strong standard

  • Children's welfare and wellbeing verified

    Strong standard

  • Curriculum and teaching verified

    Strong standard

  • Inclusion verified

    Strong standard

  • Leadership and governance verified

    Strong standard

  • Framework verified

    Report card

  • Group verified

    Lenham Nursery School CIO

  • Inspection datesingle source

    28 Apr 2026

  • Inspectors verified

    Kelly Hawkins

  • Postcode verified

    ME17 2LL

  • Name on report verified

    Lenham Nursery School CIO

  • Safeguarding verified

    Met

  • URN verified

    2777361

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of the report

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

  • AchievementStrong
  • Behaviour, attitudes and routinesStrong
  • Children's welfare and wellbeingStrong
  • Curriculum and teachingStrong
  • InclusionStrong
  • Leadership and governanceStrong

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

+88Very positivemore positive than 85% of reports of this type

Reads more warmly than most reports of this type.

Praiseextremelypositiveexcellentexceptionallyfeel safeskilfulhappysuccessfully
Criticismconcerns

How the report reads, start to finish

Every paragraph in order, sized by length. Tap one to see it on the page.

FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical
  • Findings1085w+91
  • Leadership184w+64
  • Safeguarding51w−11
  • What needs to improve63w0

Strengths

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Concerns

Quoted from the report. Tap to see it on the page.

No strong criticism found.

Next steps

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What the report dwells on

Topics by how often they come up, coloured by how they are described. Open one for an example.

Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages
8
Words of findings
1,383
about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level
Hard
Flesch 43, typical 43
Average sentence
15 words
Next steps
2
typical 3
Hedged sentences
0%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 55%Leadership 9%Safeguarding 3%What needs to improve 3%About the inspection 30%

Full report text

Lenham Nursery School CIO

Unique reference number (URN): 2777361 Address: Lenham Primary School, Ham Lane, Lenham, Maidstone, ME17 2LL Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 10/02/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Lenham Nursery School CIO

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children make impressive progress in relation to their starting points. They develop skills to support them to be ready for their next stage of learning, including being extremely independent. Children learn more complicated concepts. For example, they use words such as 'circumference' when talking about size. Children's learning and wellbeing are very secure. They develop excellent knowledge and skills within all areas of learning and development. This includes a key focus on communication and ensuring that they can manage and regulate their feelings and emotions.

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Achievement Strong standard

All children develop new skills to support their future learning and gain vital life skills. They benefit from skilful help from staff to prepare for their eventual move on to school. For example, children of all ages are highly independent and fully understand what is expected of them. They are extremely mature. This includes confidently reminding the school children that visit the nursery how to respectful handle the setting's chicks.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

All staff support all children to behave exceptionally well with maturity. Children remind each other of the rules. They problem-solve together and work maturely as a team. Children are competitive in a friendly way, and encourage and inspire each other. Children are extremely kind and thoughtful. For example, they make sure that one another are feeling happy, and are kind and considerate. Staff prioritise children's welfare and ensuring they promote an inclusive learning environment.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

All children have consistently high attitudes towards their behaviour and play harmoniously together. Staff reinforce this through highly impactful teaching of behaviour and routines. All staff are highly positive role models. Children engage in activities for extended periods of time and persist in activities that are more trickier. All children remain engaged throughout all activities and show high levels of patience and concentration.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Managers regularly monitor children's attendance and swiftly follow up any unplanned or unexplained absences. They share information with parents and carers about the benefits of regular attendance. This includes helping families to prepare for the transition to school routines, where attendance is mandatory.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff have successfully embedded an effective key-person system. This supports all children to have a high sense of belonging and positive levels of wellbeing and self-esteem. This is evident when children arrive excitedly to the setting, and are enthusiastic and excited to learn.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

All children know the importance of following through health and hygiene routines and follow them through with high independence. Children discuss the importance of washing away germs during handwashing and the benefits of brushing their teeth. Children learn about more complicated aspects of health, such as the impact of sugar content and the consideration of allergies. Staff support children to manage their emotions in safe and appropriate ways. This includes providing activities where their different feelings are discussed and validated.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff are very knowledgeable, skilful and are highly responsive to the varying needs and changing circumstances of individual children and families. This includes adapting practices and teaching techniques to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They share helpful strategies and ideas with parents and carers, attend meetings and make plans together. Staff share resources with parents to provide all children with a high consistency of care and teaching between home and the setting.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

All staff have a comprehensive knowledge of all children. They successfully embed a highly engaging curriculum. This is carefully thought out and adapted well to support all individual children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children flourish in the individualised care and learning opportunities that staff provide. Staff fully understand what makes each child truly unique. This informs their plans incredibly well and helps children to have a highly positive attitude towards their learning. All children, including those with SEND, make rapid progress in relation to their established starting points.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff teach children about how to meet their needs and know their routines extremely well. All children are very settled and staff ensure all children, including those with SEND, feel safe and secure. There are thorough settling-in sessions with children and families. Staff go above and beyond for families, such as providing them with additional settling-in sessions and support to meet the individual needs of children. Children use more-complex mathematical language, such as discussing circumferences, volume and measure. They learn literacy skills, such as writing ingredients and reading rules on the boxes of board games with confidence.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff ensure that the organisation of all learning environments is inviting and effective in ensuring all children are included and engaged. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). All children feel extremely safe and secure, including those with SEND. Staff fully understand needs of all children. This is embedded in practice as children learn about the needs of each other. For example, staff discuss how children have allergies and are empathic about what they need to be aware of to help them stay safe and healthy.

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Inclusion Strong standard

All staff fully understand how to minimise barriers to children's learning, such as knowing who to seek advice and what support to provide children. This includes participating in individualised training and adapting and implementing communication strategies, such as using signing. Staff communicate with families and outside agencies and professionals incredibly well and share helpful strategies routinely. Managers and staff closely monitor the progress of children. They swiftly highlight and minimise any barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. Staff know who to contact to seek advice regarding any developmental concerns. They are knowledgeable in how they support individual children to thrive and reach their full potential.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Managers and staff are extremely evaluative and reflective on practice. They fully understand their roles and responsibilities. Managers and staff are dedicated, committed and passionate about the quality of care and teaching they provide for children. All staff are proactive in continuing to develop practice, such as extending and building on their outdoor learning opportunities. They are keen to attend additional and beneficial training specific to meet the needs of children who attend, such as signing training. Managers ensure that they prioritise staff's wellbeing and ensure that their work load is manageable.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

All staff establish a very positive partnership with parents and carers. For example, they keep them informed of their children's learning and next steps, and share helpful ideas and tips. This includes sharing activity ideas and key findings during training with them.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The entire team, including managers, is highly reflective and evaluative on its current practice. The team swiftly highlights any areas they intend to continue to enhance. For instance, staff have developed the outdoor learning environments and intend to enhance it even further by widening their already impressive range of resources.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

All children are very confident, settled and happy in the inviting and safe environment. Children enthusiastically arrive at the setting and are excited to see staff. They become instantly enthralled and show high interest and engagement during high-quality interactions and learning experiences. All staff know all children, including fully understanding their needs and personality traits. Staff have high expectations of all children. They plan a variety of engaging learning opportunities that they are confident will motivate children to learn. For example, children are excited to create and participate in an obstacle course that extends their physical skills. Children make estimations, use a timer to time themselves and then aim to beat their personal 'lap times'. Children recap their learning, such as referring to their lap times from the previous day and discussing the concept of time.

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About this setting

All staff plan accordingly to ensure they meet children's individual needs. Children demonstrate highly positive attitudes towards their learning. Staff are highly skilful in adapting activities to engage children of all abilities to successfully build on their knowledge. For instance, when children do not feel confident to participate in the physical obstacle course, they are offered another aspect of the activity so they can remain part of the group activity.

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About this setting

All children develop very positive relationships with each other. They support and encourage each other and play harmoniously together. Children remind each other of the rules and work together as a team to complete tasks. Children problem-solve together with high levels of maturity, such as working together to create an obstacle course. There is an excellent partnership with staff at the settings that children also attend. This supports children through a positive and consistent approach. This includes observing children with staff there and sharing next steps and achievements. Although, children do not have unsupervised access to the internet, they use it for educational purposes with staff. Staff talk to children about the importance of how to stay safe online and the impact of screen time.

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Next steps

Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of disadvantaged learners, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator, parents and carers and children during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage. Unique reference number (URN): 2777361

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Address:

Lenham Primary School Ham Lane, Lenham Maidstone ME17 2LL

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Lenham Nursery School CIO

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 16:30

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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