Young Sussex Nursery, Shoreham

Buckingham Park gives Young Sussex Nursery, Shoreham its character: a detached building beside the park, two age-group spaces and outdoor areas with different uses. Babies have a first-floor base with their own kitchen and sleep room; older children use the ground floor. This is a nursery where the layout matters as much as the location.

At its March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, finding children eager to explore, increasingly independent and confident about their achievements. That judgement belongs to a dated visit. The current offer combines sensory play for younger children, opportunities for older children to choose their learning, and individual planning through a key person.

The nursery has capacity for 35 children, accepting ages from birth to five. Its address is 302 Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 6BA, and attendance is across the year rather than term-time only.

Rooms and Ages

Tweets, for babies and young toddlers, occupies the first floor, with a kitchen, sleep room and spaces for imaginative, creative and sensory play using materials children can manipulate. Separating sleep from the play spaces gives this youngest group a clear distinction between rest and activity.

Hoots, for toddlers and preschool children, uses the ground floor, where role play, an IT area, books, puzzles and model-making resources support exploration and independent choices. The emphasis is on children deciding what to investigate, with practitioners helping them develop those interests rather than selecting everything for them.

The building extends over two floors. Outside, the front play area can be used in different weather, while a smaller northern area offers protection from summer sunshine. These are separate nursery spaces alongside the neighbouring public playground, rather than a single outdoor area serving every purpose.

Learning and Activities

EYFS, the Early Years Foundation Stage, provides the framework for children's learning and care: activities and individual next steps connect play with developing communication, physical skills and social understanding. Here, the key person plans from observations of each child, adjusting resources, the location of an activity, its timing and the support needed. That makes the plan responsive to the child rather than simply to their age group.

Mindfulness and yoga form part of the current approach to personal, social and emotional development. Language and communication also have an explicit place in daily practice. These additions sit alongside the framework, while the room resources give children practical ways to explore, talk and make choices.

In March 2022, children tackled ribbon threading and wanted others to see what they had mastered. Stories, rhymes and songs helped extend vocabulary, and staff responded to babies' gestures and other non-verbal signals. The examples show how communication could run through an activity rather than being confined to a separate language lesson.

Outdoor and Community Life

Buckingham Park is an immediate part of the setting's surroundings, with its playground next door. The nursery's own outdoor areas provide another option for play, including the more sheltered northern space. Families should distinguish those nursery areas from the public park when considering the daily environment.

In March 2022, experiences included listening games with a visiting music teacher, football, planting trees in a park and shopping and cooking with older children. Role play used everyday objects, including teapots and china cups. These were practical experiences of handling objects, cooperating and taking responsibility, rather than only using toys that represented adult life.

Relationships and Communication

Settling-in sessions are unlimited and arranged around each child's needs. Parents share information through the Child Data Form and Celebrating Me, a document completed with the future key person to establish the child's individual needs. Familiar toys can be prepared for visits, and a Welcome Booklet containing photographs of the nursery and staff can go home. The process gives children something recognisable before they begin attending independently.

Communication continues through an online learning journal, daily feedback and termly parent meetings. The journal includes food, sleep and nappy-change information as well as photographs and developmental summaries; parents can contribute their own observations. Home learning bags can also be borrowed, extending activities beyond the nursery without requiring families to invent their own starting point.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described babies as settled with familiar adults, while children with SEND participated enthusiastically in learning. Those are inspection-time findings, rather than a current blanket assurance.

The current support arrangements give the key person a central role, backed by the SENCo/INCo, manager and Early Years Teacher. One Page Profiles and Individual Plans are used where needed, with termly reviews involving parents. Adaptations can change materials, timing, location or adult support, so the response is more specific than simply offering the same activity to everyone.

West Sussex Early Years Advisors review children's support needs with the manager and SENCo each term. With parental agreement, Targeted Setting Support can observe a child and help practitioners and families plan the next steps. Individual adult support may be arranged for an agreed period when local authority funding is available; that condition matters when families discuss a support plan.

Children with medical conditions have a Health Care Plan covering daily requirements and care routines. Medication can be administered after the necessary parental paperwork, with specialist training sought where administration requires medical or technical knowledge. Physical access needs careful consideration: the ground-floor play areas have limited wheelchair accessibility, and the premises lack accessible changing and toilet facilities.

School transition has a practical structure. The receiving teacher is invited to meet the key person, and a transfer document is completed during the child's final term. Where additional coordination is needed, the West Sussex Specialist Transition Team can bring the family, nursery and school staff together around a consistent plan.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.45am to 6pm on weekdays. Shoreham's attendance runs across the year, and term-time-only attendance is excluded here. This is an important distinction for families whose childcare needs follow school holidays.

For enquiries, the Shoreham nursery can be contacted on 01273 440777 or at shoreham@youngsussex.co.uk. Its street entrance is separate from the park: access is through the gate from the road, rather than through Buckingham Park.

Getting There

Free parking is provided in the adjacent lay-by. Shoreham Train Station is a short 8 minute walk south, down Buckingham Road, with trains towards Brighton via Hove and towards Worthing; bus services on Old Shoreham Road are limited, with further routes serving the High Street and station.

Funding and Paid Extras

At Shoreham, increasing attendance after the term's Headcount Day does not increase the funding awarded for that term, while reducing attendance reduces the funding. Families anticipating a change in their regular pattern therefore need to consider its timing, as extra attendance can have a different financial effect from the same pattern agreed earlier in the term.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The quotation should be considered alongside the intended attendance pattern, rather than as a single headline price.

• First-floor baby care. Tweets has its own sleep room and kitchen upstairs. During a visit, ask how the youngest children move between their room and the outdoor spaces, and what the day's group size will mean for your child.
• Physical accessibility. Ground-floor play spaces have limited wheelchair access, and accessible changing and toilet facilities are absent. Families needing these adaptations should discuss the proposed care arrangements before committing.
• Attendance and funding changes. Shoreham does not offer term-time-only attendance, and a post-Headcount Day increase in attendance does not increase that term's funding. Discuss the written quotation for your intended pattern, including meals and consumables, before choosing it.

Young Sussex Nursery, Shoreham suits families seeking year-round childcare in a park-side setting, with separate bases for younger and older children and a detailed process for settling, communication and individual support. Tweets' sleep room, Hoots' opportunities for independent choices and the school-transition arrangements give parents concrete features to weigh.

The Outstanding judgement dates to March 2022. The strongest current decision points are the room layout and support mechanisms, balanced against first-floor baby accommodation, limited physical accessibility and the absence of term-time-only attendance.