The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School

6 Woodmansterne Lane, Banstead, SM7 3ES
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9.7 75 Reviews
  • The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School, Banstead
The Old Barn Day Nursery & Pre-Prep is a private day care Nursery situated in a beautiful listed building on Woodmansterne Lane. At The Old Barn Day Nursery & Pre-Prep, children have the opportunity to explore the outside world. There is a Forest School on site and it is an inspirational process that offers all learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees. A day in the life of a child at Forest School includes; Going on a bear hunt and finding the bear in the woods, making perfume and potions in the outdoor mud kitchen, whittling pieces of wood to make equipment for the session and enjoying hot chocolates/marshmallow round the fire pit.

The Old Barn Day Nursery & Pre-Prep was awarded a Good Ofsted rating in March 2023.

The Nursery is open full-time from 8:00am – 6:00pm caring for children from 3 months to 5 years.

The Nursery and staff's philosophy is that every child they care for deserves a calm, caring, safe and stimulating environment in which the children can learn through a robust curriculum. They provide opportunities based on children's interests and plan for their development on an individual basis throughout the terms.

The Old Barn Day Nursery & Pre-Prep have an onsite working Chef who prepares all the meals from fresh ingredients and plans balanced seasonal menus.
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Laura Malthouse (Nursery Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 24

Total Places for Children

  • 42

Age Range

  • from 0 years 3 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Funding & Fees

  • Please contact us for a copy of our current fees or for any information on funding.

Opening Times

  • Monday 08:00-18:00
    Tuesday 08:00-18:00
    Wednesday 08:00-18:00
    Thursday 08:00-18:00
    Friday 08:00-18:00

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays & 1 week at Christmas

The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School Reviews (75)

9.7

The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School has a Review Score of 9.7 (9.734) out of 10, based on 26 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School has 75 reviews.

Overall Experience
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Date Published
  • 75
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Reviewer Connection to The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School
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Total of 75, showing 61-75
Review from Lucy W (Mother of Child) published on 3 May 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Would highly recommend. My daughter is really happy at The Old Barn, the staff are great and I feel so comfortable leaving her in their care.
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Review from Jovan M (Father of Child) published on 2 May 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son has been attending the nursery since January of this year and we are just so delighted with where he gets to spend his days when he's away from us. The staff are second to none - it must be exhausting spending all day with small kids - but their enthusiasm, patience and fondness for the children
does not cease to amaze me. The facilities are fantastic to inspire their young minds, there seems to be a huge variety of activities and the excursions are such an added bonus.


Most importantly, we see our little boy grinning from ear to ear every single day when we pick him up and he can't wait to tell us about his day, his friends, and what he's done, which gives us such comfort that we made a great choice with his nursery.

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Review from Mark P (Father of Child) published on 1 May 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We have used The Barn now for a number of month's for our daughter, I can't think of a bad word to say about The Barn. I would thoroughly recommend it to any parent as a place to send their child to nursery. Parking is a little bit of an issue at peak times, but aside from that its very conveniently
located too, near Banstead High Street. I have found the staff engaging and genuinely interested in our daughter. I always feel reassured that she will be well looked after when I drop her off, and when I pick her up there's always staff on hand to tell me about my daughter's day.
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Review from Helen O (Mother of Child) published on 1 May 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son has been attending The Old Barn since January 2018 and we couldn't be happier with his experience there. The staff are lovely and so attentive, which really helped my son to settle in quickly. He has progressed fantastically since being there, learning new things all the time and growing in confidence.
There is a huge amount on offer at the Old Barn, not only the onsite activities and garden but lots of trips away from the nursery too, which is great. As a parent, I feel so happy that my son is having a positive experience each day that he goes to The Old Barn, and couldn't recommend it highly enough.
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Review from Marianne (Mother of Child) published on 30 April 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The Old Barn Day Nursery has been a great place of learning, development and fun for my two little ones.
They are treated as indivuals and the staff go to great lengths to meet their individual needs.
The facilities and garden space are brilliant and they often go on outside trips of exploration too.
The
Manager is also always available and all staff are very friendly.
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Review from D M (Father of Child) published on 30 April 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has been attending The Old Barn since October 2017 and is currently in the baby room.
She thoroughly enjoys coming to nursery and is happy and content at drop off times and has great relationships with the staff in her room, especially her key person.
The nursery has a homely feel and
all the staff are very friendly and welcoming at all times.
They offer great extracurricular activities across the nursery, as well as everyday activities that my daughter does in the baby room.
We receive a detailed handover every evening, alongside a daily care information book that is completed by staff to tell us about our daughter's day and what she has been up to.
I would highly recommend The Old Barn to family or friends as it is a great nursery.
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Review from Emily I (Mother of Child) published on 10 March 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Lovely nursery. Warm and friendly. My son is 2 years old and very much a mummy’s boy but is very settled here and thoroughly enjoys his time here. There are lots of activities for the children and the staff are great!
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Review from B.C. (Mother of Child) published on 9 February 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
We joined The Old Barn back in 2013 when our first son joined after a recommendation. Its warm and friendly atmosphere won us over. Our second son now attends, with our third due to join soon! What has kept us coming back to the Barn time and time again? The staff. They build strong bonds with the children
and genuinely care for their every need. The key worker system means that I receive detailed verbal feedback about how they have spent and enjoyed their day. At the morning handover, the staff take on board any queries to ensure a smooth day ahead. The Barn accommodates for additional needs and the SEN Coordinator is proactive in adapting activities and resources to ensure all children can access them. Having its own in-house chef is a treat - a big hit with our boys! Our eldest son moved on to Primary School with confidence after also gaining many key skills needed through the pre-school.
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Review from Sallie V (Mother of Child) published on 29 January 2018 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We have been very happy with The Old Barn our son joined in May 2017 and we have had no problems at all.
The staff are kind, friendly and very good with the children.
Our son is very happy here and we are very pleased with the progress he has made.
Would highly recommend.
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Review from Nicky G (Mother of Child) published on 18 January 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
I love The Old Barn! My older daughter grew up there before school and now my son is doing the same.


I do have a slight worry/sadness about the large turn over of staff seeing some of the amazing ladies leave which is a real shame. Sometimes it feels like the place has lost its village/friendly/relaxed

feeling.


I can see having a manager in place works and communication has improved but there still seems to be an element of being disorganised. Communication going out is great and I know what's going on, communication in response to a query is still quite bad.

Reply from Kelly Walton, Manager at The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest SchoolThank you so much for your review and we’re so pleased that you love our Nursery! We too are always sad when staff leave us, and by offering a fantastic salary and benefits package along with funded training and development opportunities, we try and retain the best staff team members. We strive to maintain the friendly ‘village’ feel which is so much a part of what makes The Old Barn Day Nursery special but we are also making improvements to the infrastructure with continued investment for the benefit of the children. Parental feedback is invaluable to us and we will continue to improve our communications systems, both outgoing and in response to queries.
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Review from Mark L (Father of Child) published on 11 January 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
Both my children attend The Old Barn Nursery and Old Barn preschool. My wife and I are very happy with how our children are developing and we are very grateful to the staff for all their hard work. Thank you.
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Review from G L (Mother of Child) published on 13 December 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
A lovely nursery with a family feel, completely happy and confident leaving my child in their care.


Friendly, professional, caring and understanding staff who go the extra mile. I have been treated with respect and kindness by all the staff who truly care about my personal circumstances and needs.

My one year old absolutely loves being there.
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Review from S J (Mother of Child) published on 12 December 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
A very warm and friendly environment. The lovely staff all ensured our daughter settled in quickly which was a relief. The amount of activities they do is brilliant, including cooking, visits out, making things and learning with play. The food choices are good and it is excellent to be able to see in
our child’s diary each day what she has done. Would recommend.
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Review from Becky K (Mother of Child) published on 5 December 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
My daughter loves attending this nursery. It is set up as a 'home from home' with friendly staff, helpful management and excellent facilities.
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Review from Debbie A (Mother of Child) published on 8 November 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I chose the nursery after a recommendation from a parent who said how well her son had developed since joining. I took up this recommendation also because of the friendly family feel and approach experienced on my visit. The layout, room sizes, transition programme and getting the children ready for
school really impressed me. It was also good to see children from different rooms mixing and playing together. I was impressed to see that the structure The Old Barn Day Nursery takes to educating pre-school children is in line with mainstream school lead facilities. Knowing the team are always happy to chat to parents about any questions they may have about any area of their child’s development or nursery issues. My son has also really enjoyed the latest Chatterbox project and loves to bring in things he has found while we have been out. As a parent, it is lovely to hear that these items have been used with all the children and everyone benefits from what each other has to share.
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Current Review Score: 9.7 (9.734)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.7 (9.734) out of 10 for The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.7 out of 5 from 26 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 25 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.734 for The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School is calculated as follows: ( (271 Excellents x 5) + (23 Goods x 4) + (6 Satisfactorys x 3) + (12 Very Poors x 1) ) ÷ 312 Ratings = 4.734
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School is based on 25 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 20 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews, 0.05 Points for the next five Positive Reviews, and finally 0.025 Points for the next ten Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.050, 7th = 0.050, 8th = 0.050, 9th = 0.050, 10th = 0.050, 11th = 0.025, 12th = 0.025, 13th = 0.025, 14th = 0.025, 15th = 0.025, 16th = 0.025, 17th = 0.025, 18th = 0.025, 19th = 0.025, 20th = 0.025) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 + 0.025 = 4
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 42 number of registered child places is 8.4, which has been reached with 25 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (8)

Meet the Team (2)

Laura

Laura Malthouse

Job Title: Nursery Manager Joined: 2023

My name is Laura and I have over 10 years experience working in the Early Years sector. I have roles such as Designated Safeguarding Lead, SENCo and Fire Warden. I pride myself on creating stimulating, enabling environments which allow children to learn through their play and have the freedom to express themselves in a supported environment.


I aim to ensure that the setting is a warm, natural and a home from home environment so the children are comfortable to explore. I love the outdoors and feel that the children should always have the freedom to choose if they would like to be indoors or outdoors. I take pride in always putting the children at the centre of everything we do here at The Old Barn Day Nursery & Pre-Prep.

Amber

Amber Gower

Job Title: Deputy Manager Joined: 2013

My name is Amber and I have over 10 years experience working in the Early Years Sector. I pride myself in working closely with families to support the children with reaching their milestones across all ages at the setting. I keep myself up to date with all legislation and trends within the nursery sector and I imbed these across my whole team. I am a qualified Designated Safeguarding Lead for Surrey County Council and I use this training to ensure all children, families and staff are safe within the Old Barn Day Nursery and Pre Prep.


My main focus is to provide a calm, warm and homely environment where children and families feel comfortable and safe whilst they are with us. I am incredibly strong on parent partnerships and throughout the year I organise events to have the parents involved in their child's journey.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. The Old Barn Day Nursery & Forest School has an Enhanced Service - more info.