The Beachside Montessori Nursery

Sandpaper Letters, a garden kitchen and Beach School give The Beachside Montessori Nursery a recognisable character: practical learning indoors, with the coast part of the educational offer. This Lancing setting welcomes children aged two to five and has capacity for 30 children. Its appeal lies in what children can handle, try and do for themselves.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that collaboration with speech and language therapists supported children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There were also clear points requiring attention: teaching did not consistently sustain children's engagement, and information needed for suitability checks had not been supplied.

Attendance is organised around full-day options, with optional wraparound care.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the common framework for children's learning and care, covering communication, physical development, relationships and later skills such as literacy and mathematics. Alongside it, The Montessori Method uses a prepared environment and hands-on materials that children can explore with some freedom within agreed limits. The main hall contains wooden learning equipment, while painting, dressing up and craftwork give children other ways to express ideas.

Practical Life makes ordinary tasks part of learning. Children practise serving drinks, preparing something to eat, getting dressed and looking after their surroundings, using familiar objects including trays and jugs. These are useful steps towards doing more independently. Preparing a snack for friends and washing their own plate give that approach a concrete place in the day.

Sensorial activities let children compare texture, colour, sound and shape. Some equipment enables them to recognise and correct a mistake themselves, reducing the need for an adult to supply the answer. Language materials include Sandpaper Letters, which connect touch with learning about letters; small activities involving children of different ages also create opportunities to listen and interact.

Mathematics is equally tangible. The Spindle box introduces zero, while Long Rods help children compare lengths and their order. Counting and mathematical vocabulary also enter everyday activities. Families can see the approach in greater detail on the curriculum page.

The Cultural area brings together work about living things, places and creative expression. A monthly continent table uses objects from different countries to support exploration of a chosen continent. Experiments, animal puzzles and visiting animals offer further starting points for questions, while singing and instruments allow children to explore sound. This gives the curriculum several routes into a subject, rather than relying solely on spoken explanation.

Outdoor and Community Life

Beach School runs at least weekly and follows a structured curriculum delivered by a practitioner trained in Wild Beach. Activities include examining beach finds and measuring tides. The coast therefore serves as a place to investigate, rather than simply a destination for exercise; participation sits within the optional enrichment arrangements described below.

Back at the nursery, the Sensory Garden contains rosemary, lavender and thyme that children can use in the Mud Kitchen. The Fairy and Elf garden supports imaginative play, and the beach hut provides a place for drawing or a story. Water and Sand trays add materials to pour, combine and explore. These physical features give outdoor play several different purposes, from pretend cooking to quieter activity.

In September 2025, adults introduced vocabulary during water-and-petal play, while stepping stones encouraged stretching, balance and jumping: practical activities linked to language and movement.

Relationships and Communication

Daily reports cover children's activities and what they have eaten, helping parents connect the nursery day with conversations at home. In September 2025, families described regular contact with their child's key person and suggestions for extending learning beyond the setting. Take-home resource bags addressed topics including dental care and healthy food, giving parents something practical to use alongside that advice.

Settling support in September 2025 included reassurance, shared books and help joining play with other children. Adults also talked through sharing and turn-taking during construction activities. For a child new to group care, these are concrete ways to make relationships and expectations understandable.

In September 2025, adults sought children's agreement before nappy changes and encouraged them during toilet training, making conversation part of developing independence with personal care.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Speech and language collaboration formed part of the September 2025 support described above. Staff assessed children's development together and used that understanding to plan experiences, including cooking and beach visits. This provides a useful basis for discussing how an individual child's learning needs will shape their day.

The team includes qualified early years educators and apprentices trained in paediatric first aid, safeguarding and food hygiene. In September 2025, staff received supervision and targeted training, including children's physical development.

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted required information for suitability checks by 24 October 2025 because people with significant business involvement had not been notified; those people had no contact with children and no role in recruitment or operational decisions, so there was no significant impact on children at that time. The requirement deserves attention alongside the positive findings, with its dated scope kept clear.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery operates from South Hall, Lancing Parish Hall, 96 South Street, Lancing, West Sussex, BN15 8AJ. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm from Monday to Thursday, with a 4pm finish on Friday. It opens for 51 weeks, closing on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas.

Full-day attendance is the booking model. The options are 9am to 3pm, 9am to 4pm and 8am to 5pm; optional wraparound runs from 8am to 9am and from 4pm to 5pm. The earlier Friday closing time matters when considering the longer options. Contact is through the nursery's enquiry form, email or telephone.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible children aged two, three and four. The universal entitlement provides 15 hours per week for 38 weeks a year for three- and four-year-olds. Eligible working families may qualify for 30 hours per week, while qualifying two-year-olds may receive 15 funded hours. Funded hours can be used within the full-day options, and families may use entitlement alone without purchasing extra hours or services. Tax-Free Childcare payments and most major childcare vouchers are accepted.

For funded days, hot lunch, dessert and snacks are covered by a separate optional enrichment contribution. That contribution also supports cooking, community outings, Beach School and specialist learning resources; children who do not participate continue to receive EYFS education and care on site, although some outings and Beach School activities may be excluded.

Parents supply personal care items such as suncream, nappies and wipes. Activity consumables are covered by the enrichment contribution, so their charging arrangement differs from the items brought from home. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and sessions page explains the attendance and contribution structure.

Getting There

A car park serves the nursery, with parking restrictions requiring drivers to enter their vehicle registration details. That is a practical part of organising collection and drop-off by car.

• Attention during activities. In September 2025, adults did not consistently use teaching methods that held children's attention, and some children left activities quickly. At a visit, ask how practitioners now help a child stay involved when interest fades.
• Suitability information. The September 2025 requirement had a deadline of 24 October 2025. Ask what happened after that deadline and how the nursery now keeps notifications up to date.
• The funded-day package. Meals and enrichment sit within a separate optional contribution, while personal care supplies come from home. Discuss how the day works for a child whose family uses funded entitlement alone, including food arrangements.
• Friday collection. Friday closes at 4pm, earlier than the other weekdays. Establish how the full-day and wraparound options work across your intended attendance days before agreeing a booking.

Beachside suits families drawn to hands-on Montessori learning, practical independence and regular coastal activity. Its materials and outdoor spaces give that preference substance: children can work with letters and lengths, help prepare snacks and investigate beach finds.

Full-day attendance and optional wraparound care suit families seeking different lengths of day, subject to Friday's earlier finish. The September 2025 Good judgement is positive, but teaching to sustain attention and the suitability-information requirement deserve consideration alongside the distinction between funded care and optional enrichment.