Lancing Day Nursery & Pre-school

A Baby Snug, a garden used throughout the day and learning shaped around children's interests give Lancing Day Nursery & Pre-school its character. The setting serves children from three months to five years at Lancing Children and Family Centre on North Road. It has capacity for 54 children in total.

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with Outstanding judgements for behaviour and attitudes and personal development, and found safeguarding effective. The strongest examples involved children taking responsibility: helping one another move construction materials, preparing the lunch table and serving their friends. Those observations belong to January 2023, but they give parents a useful picture of the independence that was being encouraged.

The current nursery day combines indoor exploration with access to the garden. Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Snug takes children aged three to 27 months, combining movement such as crawling and supported climbing with singing, sensory play and responsive conversation. Physical exploration and early communication sit together here. For a baby beginning to move independently, that means opportunities to practise movement alongside interaction with adults.

Toddler Room covers 27 months to three years, with imaginative play, creative work and early mark-making supporting communication, growing independence and managing feelings. These experiences give children ways to express ideas before writing becomes part of their learning.

Preschool serves children aged three to five years, bringing science, number work, reading and writing into play while encouraging children to make choices about their learning. The emphasis shifts towards the next stage of education, while children's interests continue to shape activities.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS, the early years foundation stage, provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: children develop language, physical skills and understanding through play and everyday experiences. Lancing adds in the moment learning, an approach in which practitioners follow children's interests and use their discoveries as opportunities to teach. This makes a child's question or experiment a starting point for learning.

In January 2023, conversations were a clear part of the nursery day. Adults asked questions and allowed children time to work out their answers. Children also had a say in activities and the organisation of their surroundings. When they wanted vegetables added to outdoor pretend play, staff made the change. That example gives substance to child-led learning: children's ideas affected the materials they could use.

There was a weaker point in January 2023, too. Staff were less certain about the intended learning behind some early literacy resources and activities. The distinction matters for preschool families: enjoyable play needs a clear educational purpose as children develop reading and writing skills.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden offers daily opportunities for digging, climbing, balancing and noticing seasonal changes. Children can use the outside space throughout the day, with natural resources available for investigation. Outdoor learning is therefore part of the ordinary routine, rather than an occasional change of setting.

In January 2023, outings to the local beach brought sensory exploration and mathematics together. Children handled different textures and tested whether pebbles would fit into bottles, comparing size through something they could try themselves. On one walk, a railway crossing sound became a prompt for children to listen and consider what it meant. These were practical ways to connect learning with the surrounding area.

In January 2023, babies' interactions included adults changing the volume of their voices and using scarves to encourage movement and interest. Older children took on small responsibilities around lunch. Together, these examples show how care routines and play could create opportunities for participation at different ages.

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that the special educational needs coordinator worked effectively with families and staff, with adapted communication helping children with identified learning delays make good progress. Practical adjustments included allowing longer for children to understand instructions and offering gentle prompts when waiting for a turn. The current offer also includes support for children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language.

Communication with home needed attention in January 2023. Staff exchanged some daily information, and some families used online communication, but not every parent received enough detail about learning or how to support it at home. For parents, the useful distinction is between hearing what a child has done and understanding what they are developing. Both matter.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm. It operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year. That opening window gives families the span of the working day to consider; the holiday closures also need to fit their childcare plans.

Getting There

The address is Lancing Children and Family Centre, 42 North Road, Lancing, BN15 9AB. On-street parking is available.

The branch telephone number is 01903 756703. Families can enquire directly by telephone, and visits can be booked.

• Early literacy. In January 2023, staff needed clearer learning aims for early literacy activities. During a visit, ask how Preschool now connects play with specific steps in reading and writing.
• Information for home. The January 2023 improvement point concerned making children's progress and home learning clearer to every parent. Ask to see the kind of learning update families receive and how it translates into something useful at home.
• Attendance and the written quotation. The nursery opens across the year and closes over bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Ask which booking pattern fits your required days, and request a current written quotation covering funded hours, meals and consumables.

Lancing suits families seeking care from babyhood through the preschool years, with daily garden access and an interest-led approach to learning. Baby Snug's combination of movement and communication, followed by imaginative toddler play and preschool learning, gives the offer a clear progression.

The January 2023 picture was strongest in children's independence, cooperation and participation. Early literacy planning and useful communication with home were the points requiring attention. For families considering the nursery, those are concrete topics to explore alongside how attendance fits their week.