Southwick Pre-School Playgroup

A bright playroom with visual signs and a garden children can move into freely gives Southwick Pre-School Playgroup a clear character: play follows children's interests, with outdoor activity woven into the day. Based at Southwick Community Association, it has 24 places in total. Its appeal lies in the combination of space to explore and an individual key person who connects home interests with activities at playgroup.

Ofsted rated the setting Good on 4 July 2024 and found safeguarding effective, with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receiving helpful support and making good progress. Children attending at that time were aged 2 to 4. The current offer includes term-time opening and funded childcare for that age range.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning and care: play, communication and everyday experiences contribute to their development. Here, each child's key person uses observations and assessments to plan around individual interests and needs, including things that capture their attention at home. That gives parents a practical part in shaping what their child explores next.

In July 2024, birthday-party experiences became pretend celebrations, with singing and make-believe candles. Books also provided a starting point for exploring nature, including discussion of mould and what a fungus is. These examples show how familiar experiences and unexpected discoveries can become opportunities to extend language, rather than activities being detached from children's lives.

Children also had opportunities to influence shared activities in July 2024, voting for a story and discussing kindness and inclusion. Superhero play became a way to reinforce safe behaviour indoors. The practical value is straightforward: choosing, listening and understanding boundaries sit alongside the imaginative play.

Mathematics needs closer attention. At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted asked staff to develop more precise ways of helping children understand mathematical vocabulary and ideas. That is a specific teaching priority, and an important counterweight to the positive account of play and language.

Outdoor and Community Life

The setting sits among the older buildings around the Barn, with gardens nearby. Inside, visual signs support exploration; outside, children can choose between the playroom and garden through the free-flow arrangement. For a child who enjoys moving between quieter indoor activities and physical play, that choice is a meaningful part of the day.

In July 2024, the garden's climbing frame and scooter ramps gave children opportunities to practise movement and judge manageable risks. The equipment provided different challenges: climbing required control, while riding over ramps called for coordination. These are concrete examples of outdoor learning, rather than outdoor time serving only as a break from indoor activity.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person. Settling sessions give that practitioner time to learn about the child's routines, abilities and interests, while parents contribute to an initial developmental starting point. Settling times are agreed around the child, so the process begins with information about the individual rather than a single expectation for everyone.

The relationship continues through regular observations and planning. Parents can contribute interests from home and take part in activities that help staff understand what has changed or caught their child's attention. Each child has a learning journal that parents can view and add comments to, alongside regular meetings about progress. This gives families several ways to contribute, rather than relying on an occasional formal update.

In July 2024, communication also included daily conversations and an online app, with books and healthy-eating information shared for use at home. Six staff worked at the setting then. Those are dated details of how the playgroup operated at that point, while the current key-person arrangements provide the continuing structure for communication and planning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) works with the key person to adapt resources and activities and develop personal plans around a child's abilities and interests. With parental consent, the SENCO can involve Speech and Language Therapists, Health Visitors and Early Years Inclusion Officers. Plans are reviewed with parents, allowing support to be adjusted as needs change.

Families using another language at home are encouraged to share important words with the key person. The premises are on ground level, with wheelchair access and accessible routes to the toilets, exits and garden. Together, these arrangements address communication and physical access through specific mechanisms.

In July 2024, children practised washing their hands before helping with snack preparation, and conversations about food extended to how ingredients could be used. School transition has its own practical preparation: new teachers are invited to meet children and their key person, and supporting documents are passed on. The emphasis is on sharing knowledge of the child as they move into their next setting.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. This is a calendar-led option for families whose childcare needs fit those hours. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email.

Getting There

The address is Southwick Community Association, 24 Southwick Street, Brighton, BN42 4TE. Ground-level access and accessible routes through to the garden are useful practical details for families who need step-free movement around the setting.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children aged 2 to 4, including 30-hour funded places for working parents of three- and four-year-olds and extended funded places for two-year-olds. The playgroup operates during term time and also offers unfunded places. These are separate routes to arranging childcare; eligibility should not be assumed from the age range alone.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The key practical decision is how the term-time opening window fits a family's routine, alongside the entitlement that applies to their child.

• Mathematical learning. More precise support with mathematical ideas was the improvement priority in July 2024. During a visit, ask how staff now build number, comparison and mathematical vocabulary into play.
• Individual settling. Settling sessions involve parents and the child's key person, with timing agreed around the child. Discuss how this approach would work with your child's routines and your own return-to-work plans.
• Funded-place costs. The offer includes funded and unfunded childcare within a term-time setting. Ask which meals, snacks and non-food consumables are included in your proposed arrangement and which you would need to pay for or supply.

Southwick Pre-School Playgroup suits families seeking term-time childcare with a free-flow garden, play shaped by children's interests and a clear key-person relationship. Its inclusion arrangements are concrete: personal plans, professional liaison and regular parental involvement all have a defined place. The July 2024 mathematics priority deserves attention when judging the learning offer. For families whose routines fit the opening hours, the strongest reasons to consider it are the connection between home and playgroup and the freedom to move between indoor and outdoor activity.