Horsham nursery group wins award for its outdoor and mental health provisions during the pandemic

Little Barn Owls Nurseries won the ‘UK Nursery Group of the Year’ and attained a highly commended for ‘Enabling Environments’.

This is the second time the forest and farm school nurseries in Horsham and Southwater have scooped a prestigious Nursery World award, having also won the much coveted ‘UK Nursery of the Year’ in 2015.

Hayley Peacock, founder of Little Barn Owls, said: “We are absolutely blown away to be the winners of this award it means the world to us.

“This last year has been really tough but I think we have really shown our worth in providing not only a stunning set of learning environments but also for supporting our staff, families and children through a very difficult time.”

The team received the award on Thursday, February 4 via a live ceremony event hosted by the largest and most well-known platform in the early years sector ‘Nursery World’.

This year there was a record number of applicants, and the nursery group won for its ‘stunning environments’, for having an ‘innovative approach to education’, and for the ‘consistent and unrivalled high quality service across all three nurseries’.

Every nursery has its own private forest school and in Horsham the nursery runs a working farm for 20 animals with a small friendly pig who roams through the gardens with the children alongside quails, rabbits, guinea pigs and lots of wild ducks.

The nursery believes it was recognised for its ‘unique’ outdoor provision as it fits so well with the required practice during the pandemic.

The judges were also impressed with the Reggio Emilia inspired environments and mindful aesthetics of the settings.

The nurseries employ professional artists, called Atelieristas, who work in dedicated art studios on projects with children to bring alive their ideas; these have been shared throughout the world and sold as books and DVDs through the group’s training school for professionals.

To support well-being the nursery also encourages the children to partake in mindfulness and yoga sessions.

Following the success of Little Barn Owls, Hayley has since set up Atelier 21 Future School, the UK’s first progressive school for ages four-16 in Pease Pottage, as parents were crying out for the continuation of their child’s enquiry-based learning experience at school age.

The revolutionary school has a pupil led democratic approach to conduct, there is no school uniform and the children call the teachers by their first names.

It also offers ‘exceptional’ outdoor learning with weekly Wild Fridays on beaches, forests and wild spaces.

For more information, contact Little Barn Owls Nursery and Farm School Horsham on 01403 254 413 or email [email protected]