ABC Day Nursery

A south-facing garden, a detached building and a key worker chosen after relationships begin to form give ABC Day Nursery its character. This Aldwick Road setting in Bognor Regis takes children from birth to five and has 38 places in total. Its age-separated areas allow babies, toddlers and older children to have their own spaces within the same nursery.

At its July 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with positive support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and good progress from their individual starting points. The qualification matters: staff needed to use conversations more consistently to stretch children's thinking. Care and relationships were strengths; the next step concerned the depth of learning during play.

Flexible hours are offered throughout the year. For families, the combination of adaptable attendance and a relationship-led key worker system is the practical appeal.

Rooms and Ages

Children are organised into areas for ages 0–2, 2–3 and 3+. The building has two floors, with the younger age groups upstairs and an open-plan ground floor. That layout is an important part of choosing this nursery, especially for a younger child with mobility needs: access upstairs is by stairs, and wheelchair access for under-threes is restricted.

Outside, the large south-facing garden includes a covered area. The covered area adds sheltered outdoor space to the large south-facing garden.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared framework for learning and care: children's activities cover language, physical and emotional development alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding their surroundings. Here, learning journals bring together children's experiences and are shared with parents, connecting nursery activities with what families see at home.

In July 2023, children chose activities, recognised their name labels and used their own pegs, while helping put resources away. Those small responsibilities gave them opportunities to practise independence within familiar routines. Drawing at an easel prompted conversation about favourite characters; moving oats between containers became imaginative play about feeding bears.

The same July 2023 observations included bubble play and peekaboo with babies, accompanied by staff talking and singing. Outdoors, children rode bicycles, climbed and practised balancing on tyres. These are concrete examples of the nursery day at that time, rather than promises about a fixed activity timetable today.

Relationships and Communication

A key worker is allocated after a child starts, once a connection has developed with the child and family. That makes the relationship itself part of the allocation process. Parents can discuss concerns through an open-door policy, while settling arrangements can be adapted if a child finds the change difficult.

Communication has several forms. Under-threes have a communication book, and learning journals contain photographs, observations and children's creative work. Next Steps records the learning priorities discussed with parents, who can contribute before signing. The practical value is continuity: families can see both what their child has done and what staff plan to support next.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support planning follows an assess, plan, do and review cycle. The SENCO works with the key worker and parents, using observations, progress discussions and advice from outside professionals. One Page Profiles summarise individual needs, alongside individual plans and regularly reviewed action plans. These give practitioners a common account of the support a child requires.

Makaton signing is used as a communication tool, alongside visual timetables and now-and-next boards. Small-group work and individual support can be used when needed. Adapted resources, sensory equipment, accessible toilets and ramps to outside areas are part of the support arrangements, although the upstairs layout remains a separate consideration for younger children.

Health support can include a personal health plan and training to meet a child's needs. Regular prescribed medication requires parental permission and signatures when the child is brought in and collected. For transition to the next educational setting, planning involves parents, the receiving setting and external agencies; the SENCO or key worker can meet the new teacher to discuss strengths and needs.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 217 Aldwick Road, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO21 3QG. Opening hours are 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, with flexible-hours bookings across the year. Bank holidays are closure days and are not charged for.

The contact form provides an enquiry route, and the nursery can also be contacted by telephone. Settling is adaptable to the child rather than governed by a single fixed period. Families can therefore consider attendance and the transition into nursery together, rather than treating the first booked day as the whole settling process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered from the term after a child's third birthday, up to 570 hours annually, stretched across 51 weeks as 11 hours each week, subject to a funded place being allocated. The offer introduced in September 2024 also provides 11 funded hours per week for children aged nine months and over whose parents meet the entitlement criteria. Additional hours are paid for by parents. This is a year-round funding pattern, so families comparing it with term-time attendance should consider how the weekly allocation fits their childcare needs.

Private fees are divided by age band: under two, two-plus and three and over. Fees are subject to an annual increase in September; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. A payment arrangement may be offered to parents experiencing financial difficulty, within the nursery's financial constraints.

• Upstairs care for younger children. The baby and toddler areas are reached by stairs, with a stated restriction for wheelchair users under three. During a visit, discuss how this layout would work for your child's movement and care needs.
• Stretching learning through conversation. The July 2023 improvement point concerned making staff interactions more effective at extending children's ideas. Ask how practitioners now develop a child's thinking during drawing, imaginative play and other chosen activities.
• Funding and everyday extras. Funding is stretched across the year and extra hours are paid privately. What would the written quotation include for meals and non-food consumables under your intended booking?

ABC Day Nursery suits families seeking flexible-hours care across the year, with separate age areas and a key worker relationship allowed to develop before allocation. Learning journals, communication books and individual support plans give parents concrete ways to stay involved.

The garden and covered outdoor area strengthen the physical offer. The upstairs accommodation for younger children deserves careful consideration, as does the July 2023 recommendation about extending learning through staff conversations. The clearest reasons to choose this nursery are its adaptable arrangements and the detail of its parent communication and support planning.