Forest Preparatory School

Forest has nurtured and cared for our son both emotionally and cognitively. They are a family-driven support network for every pupil and I can’t stress the positive impact Forest has had on my son and our family!

We have 2 Children currently at Forest school age 5-6 and 3-4 and have been impressed by the standard of teaching, enthusiasm and friendliness of staff from headmaster to caretaker. A special mention to Head of Early Years, who has looked after both our children at early stages who has instilled a willingness and hunger to learn, whose pastoral care is exceptional, and provides insightful comments at parents evening. We are also very grateful to the other teachers for his dynamic approach to ‘after school’ on the rare occasions we have required it. Both children have settled in well, socialise well with peers and other children, and have both been awarded ‘pupil of the week’ at some stage which has really boosted their confidence. I am very impressed with the many initiatives to encourage and promote learning, Monty the dog amongst others!

The early year’s provision at Forest is, largely, a feeder for the main school. I have experience of the kindergarten (pre-school) year, which manages to deliver a caring and nurturing environment, but with a strong early introduction to education. By the end of kindergarten, the children are more than ready to start reception. They’re aware they are part of the bigger school community, and they can’t wait to be more involved – to the extent that you hardly even notice they’ve started ‘big school’! My children have thoroughly enjoyed their preschool experience at Forest, and I would certainly recommend it to others.

I am so pleased with my choice for my daughter’s school, I wouldn’t send her anywhere else. My daughter started preschool (Kindergarten) in September 2021 and we have had only positive experiences with the school. The school has incredible caring staff with so much experience, they challenge every single child to grow and develop more and each child receives a personalised plan for learning and development. My daughter developed confidence, self-esteem, learned so much (phonics, maths, she can even write and read simple words, and a lot about the world), and made amazing friends. She absolutely loves going to school.

My son is excited to turn up to school every day which is lovely for us to see. His speech has been coming along well since starting at Forest Preparatory School as has his listening skills. It’s comforting to know that he is being nurtured well whilst he is at school and we look forward to seeing how he comes along each year. The staff are brilliant we could not ask for more, and find the small class sizes suit our son well.

After moving nurseries I was anxious about my daughter settling in especially since she started a term later than the rest of her class. My mind was instantly put at ease on her first day by the caring and nurturing staff. Since starting her language skills have improved dramatically as well as her independence. My husband and I love the sense of community throughout the school and couldn’t be happier that our daughter is a part of it.

We have 3 children, our eldest two attend the school and our youngest is the first to go through the nursery. Our son settled immediately due to the caring staff and nurturing environment. He talks excitedly about his days and often asks if he can go in on the days he does not attend!

There are a variety of multi sensory and engaging experiences on offer – for example this term they have played with baby lambs and will be meeting birds of prey. They eat lunch in the main dining hall which I feel is good preparation for school transition. Communication with parents is very good. Wrap around care is flexible and comprehensive. Easily the best of the three settings we have experienced for nursery care and the others were also very good. Thank you!

The nursery staff know the children very well. They are very academic.
They bring in animals including birds and lambs for the children to play with.
Very interactive environment with lots of music, texture, fabric and information.
Teachers are very dedicated and reliable.
Children feel safe and valued.

This nursery is wonderful, so warm and welcoming. My daughter settled in here extremely quickly when she started last Easter. The nursery is in a lovely, safe setting within the school and the staff are very kind and caring, putting both myself and my daughter at ease. Being within a school environment has been invaluable to my daughter, learning from the older students and building friendships. There are many events throughout the school year that nursery students can participate in as well as an excellent dance and movement class which my daughter loves. I can’t recommend this nursery highly enough.

The main difference I would say is that this nursery is focused on education from the start and this is a huge difference from other nurseries where children just play, the children start learning using different smart learning ways.