Angmering Day Nursery

A mini farm, a woodworking bench and shared spaces for children of different ages give Angmering Day Nursery a character far removed from a sequence of age-separated classrooms. Children grow produce, help care for animals and move between places for making, experimenting and quiet play. Practical learning has a clear place here.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding overall and judged safeguarding effective. The setting takes children aged two to five and has capacity for 30 children in total. Its detached house and garden in Angmering provide the physical setting; family pods give children a smaller, familiar grouping within the nursery day.

Full days, morning sessions and afternoon sessions are offered across the year. That choice matters for parents fitting childcare around different working patterns, while the mixed-age arrangement deserves attention from families deciding how they want their child to spend time with older and younger companions.

Rooms and Ages

Children share the nursery rather than being divided into separate rooms by age. The spaces instead serve different purposes, giving creative work, construction and quieter activities their own settings. For a younger child, that means sharing the environment with older children; for an older child, it means remaining part of a mixed-age community.

The creative conservatory combines painting, modelling and other making activities with sand and water exploration, so children can move between different materials. In the main room, changing role play follows children's interests, while construction resources, small-world play and a graphics area support imaginative stories and early writing.

Books, puppets, puzzles and sofas make the quiet room a place to pause. The discovery room supports work with an adult in smaller groups or individually, with a woodworking bench and light table adding opportunities to investigate materials. In the sensory room, adjustable coloured lighting, a bubble tube and resources for discussing feelings give children another way to explore and talk with an adult.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides learning through play, including communication, physical development and relationships alongside early literacy and mathematics. It is the shared framework for early years provision; Angmering's own detail lies in how those areas enter everyday activities. Shopping lists and invitations give writing a purpose, while making playdough and cooking introduce measuring and problem-solving.

Learning is planned around children's interests and developmental needs. Family pods bring children and key people together for meals, rest and small-group activities, creating recurring opportunities for conversation and personal support. Staff also try to use words from children's home languages, helping familiar language become part of the nursery day.

In January 2024, children tested their idea that sunshine would melt ice more quickly, returning to examine what happened. Cooking prompted discussion about the sequence of ingredients, while outdoor tools introduced new vocabulary. These are useful examples of learning through doing: children had something concrete to investigate, describe and explain.

The Promise Tree recognised considerate behaviour and achievements in January 2024, with children discussing and celebrating one another's actions. Sharing and turn-taking became subjects for group conversation, rather than simply instructions from adults. Singing, stories and opportunities to experiment with writing also featured during that period.

Outdoor and Community Life

The mini farm gives growing and animal care a physical home. Staff lead small groups to the allotment, where children tend fruit and vegetables, and to the chickens, guinea pigs and tortoises. Collecting eggs and caring for animals connect everyday tasks with responsibility; a handwash station supports the practical routine around these activities.

Elsewhere in the garden, the muddy kitchen encourages mixing and pretend play, while a minibeast area provides magnifying glasses for closer investigation. Herbs invite exploration through smell, and balancing beams, trikes and climbing steps give children different ways to practise movement. The garden offers both active play and reasons to stop and examine something small.

The farm school approach links growing produce with learning about food. Cooking and baking take place daily for groups of children, and seasonal harvests from the allotment are used in recipes. That gives measuring and weighing a purpose beyond an isolated maths activity.

In January 2024, children exchanged photographs and information about activities and festivals with a pen pal nursery in London. This introduced another community through children's own experiences, extending conversation beyond the immediate setting.

Relationships and Communication

Each practitioner has key person responsibilities, keeps children's Learning Journals and discusses development with parents. TAPESTRY, the online learning record, lets families see observations and contribute their own photographs and experiences. The All About Me completed when a child starts provides a starting point for planning around that child's interests and needs.

Parents can arrange consultation time with the key person as well as sharing information day to day. Written summaries cover development when children start, at the two-year progress check and before school. These create specific opportunities to discuss where a child is progressing and where additional help could be useful.

Settling can include a parent staying to play or watching through a one-way mirror while remaining unseen by the child. That offers a concrete way for parents to understand how their child is managing separation. Information about changes at home, routines and health also feeds into the relationship with staff.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that detailed planning and collaboration with physiotherapists and speech and language therapists supported children with SEND and their progress. Current arrangements include a SENCO role working with parents, key people and other professionals, with discussion before a child starts and agreement about specialist support.

For children learning English alongside another language, visual prompts, puppets, signing and multilingual books support communication. Staff seek useful words from home and use labels in children's languages. These are practical mechanisms for helping a child understand routines and make themselves understood.

Toilet training is supported through individual advice, and child-sized toilets give children equipment they can use as they develop independence. Behaviour is addressed through calm conversations about what happened and how people feel; sensory room resources provide a quieter setting for that work. All staff hold current paediatric first aid certificates, and professional development includes courses, staff meetings and training within the nursery.

Meals are prepared each day in the nursery kitchen, using a three-week seasonal menu cycle. Vegetarian, vegan and free-from options are catered for, including dietary requirements connected with allergies.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Mill House Croft, Station Road, Littlehampton, BN16 4HY, in the village of Angmering. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. The nursery closes between Christmas and New Year, and that closure is not charged; bank holidays are also not charged when they fall on a child's attendance day.

A Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm, a Morning session from 8am to 1pm and an Afternoon session from 1pm to 6pm. Morning bookings include breakfast, a snack and lunch, while afternoon bookings include a snack and tea. The two shorter sessions offer genuinely different attendance options alongside the full day.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form. Booking proceeds through an initial interest or waiting-list form, followed by contact from the manager, a formal booking form and agreement to the terms. Changes to attendance or leaving require at least four weeks' written notice; absences, including holidays and sickness, do not receive refunds.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible two-, three- and four-year-olds, including the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements. Funding is stretched across the year: the stated weekly allocations are 11 and 22 hours respectively, including school holiday periods. Funded hours are applied first, with subsequent attendance charged privately.

Private fees include meals, nappies, sun cream, toothbrushes and additional activities. For funded attendance, breakfast is free, while lunch, tea and snacks have separate contributions; nappies, wipes and sun cream are free. Contributions towards meals and additional services are not a condition of taking up a funded place, so the distinction between funded care and extras matters when comparing the total arrangement.

Enhanced activities include duckling hatching, animal experiences, cooking and school transition visits. An additional-services contribution also covers enhanced curriculum activities and extra sessions for funded children. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page sets out the charge structure.

Preparation for school begins in the final nursery year, with activities for the next stage and a developmental summary shared with the new teacher. This helps the receiving teacher understand a child's interests, strengths and support needs.

• Mixed-age daily life. Children share spaces rather than separate age rooms. During a visit, discuss how family pods, smaller activities and rest arrangements would work for your child's age and routine.
• Two-year funding contributions. The funding terms request contributions for eligible two-year-olds, while the FAQs say these families are exempt. Obtain written clarification of the arrangement before comparing funded and private bookings.
• Dietary requirements. The nursery caters for allergies and other dietary needs. Families affected by allergies should confirm the current preparation and serving arrangements for their child's specific requirements.
• Changing your booking. At least four weeks' written notice applies to attendance changes or leaving, and holidays and sickness do not attract refunds. Factor those terms into plans that may change during the year.

Angmering suits families seeking either full-day care or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with a mixed-age day and plenty of practical activity. The mini farm, discovery room and creative conservatory give growing, investigating and making a recognisable place in children's experience. Key person contact and TAPESTRY also give parents specific ways to follow and contribute to development.

The January 2024 Outstanding judgement is a strong inspection position. For a family choosing now, the decisive fit is the shared-age model, the attendance pattern and the funded-hours charge arrangement. Parents comfortable with those features have substantial reasons to consider this nursery.