Beech Tree Childcare Angmering

A sand volcano and a sign for jellyfish capture the character of learning at Beech Tree Childcare Angmering. In April 2025, children’s own ideas became opportunities to explore how things work, practise counting and extend communication. The setting is within the grounds of Worthing Rugby Club, with care for children aged 4 to 60 months and 55 places in total.

At its 14 April 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The practical appeal is flexible contracted attendance, while the educational interest lies in the detail of staff’s interactions with children. Two improvement priorities deserve attention: explaining behaviour more positively and helping children prepare for changes in routine.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets expectations for children’s learning, development and care: here, play, conversation and practical exploration provide opportunities to build language, understanding and independence. It is the framework for the nursery’s work, rather than an additional programme.

In April 2025, babies searched through shredded paper and copied counting before throwing it upwards. A simple material held their attention through movement and repetition. Shared books provided another route into language, with adults adding vocabulary to children’s comments and talking about how pages fit together. These examples show the value of an adult joining an activity and extending it while the child remains interested.

Toddlers explored musical instruments, with staff introducing words for the sounds they made; nursery rhymes also gave children opportunities to remember and sing familiar language. Preschool children combined drawing with simple signs, including a request to learn the sign for jellyfish. Counting entered the same activity. Communication and number work were woven into something the children already wanted to do.

A child-chosen sand volcano prompted discussion about representing flowing lava. The useful detail is the question that followed the construction: staff encouraged children to think through how to develop their idea. In April 2025, observations of children’s development and interests also informed decisions about their next learning steps. Planning therefore connected what children enjoyed with what they needed to practise.

Outdoor and Community Life

Wellington boots form part of the kit for outdoor or wet play, alongside clothing that can cope with messy exploration. Parents supply changes of clothes too. This is a practical setting for children who enjoy getting involved with materials, and families should expect their nursery wardrobe to reflect that.

Relationships and Communication

The Settling In Process gives the room team leader responsibility for a new child’s first 6 weeks, including acting as their initial key person. Parent feedback contributes to settling records, and the team leader then introduces the permanent key person. That planned handover matters: the person helping a child establish their first relationships also takes responsibility for transferring what they have learnt about them.

Parents contribute starting information about their child’s development, and communication and language information is completed during those first 6 weeks. Feedback at the end of attendance is part of the settling arrangements. The emphasis is on building knowledge of the child alongside a working relationship with the family, rather than treating settling as a single introductory meeting.

In April 2025, families received day-to-day updates through an online system, with developmental information also shared through written reports and parents’ days. These offered different kinds of contact: immediate information about routines and more considered discussion of learning. The distinction is useful for parents who want to understand both how a day went and how their child is developing over time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2025 inspection, Ofsted found effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including referrals made promptly and collaboration with parents and professionals. The concrete mechanism matters more than a general promise of inclusion: staff sought advice and coordinated with those involved in a child’s care and education.

Sleep follows each child’s routine, with a sensory/sleep room containing cots and individual bedding; older children can use soft areas and bedding for rest. A separate space for sleep gives families a tangible point to consider alongside their baby’s own pattern.

Respect was visible in everyday care in April 2025, including staff asking babies before helping with face wiping or nappy changes. Behaviour support was less consistent. Adults sometimes missed opportunities to explain how an action might affect the child or someone else, and changes of activity could come before children had enough preparation. These are specific aspects of practice to explore on a visit.

Sessions and Attendance

Flexible contracted hours are charged hourly, with a minimum attendance of 11 hours each week. This allows families to build an agreed pattern around the hours they need. It should be considered alongside the funded-hours window, which has its own limits.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and a week at Christmas, so holiday care planning remains part of the decision even for families using regular contracted hours.

Getting There

The address is Worthing Rugby Club, Roundstone Lane, Angmering, Littlehampton, BN16 4AX. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by email, and families can arrange an appointment to meet the team and look around.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes provision for eligible 9-month-olds and 2-year-olds, plus universal entitlement for all 3- and 4-year-olds and extended entitlement for eligible working parents of children those ages. Funding is stretched across 51 weeks; the stated delivery of the 15-hour entitlement is 11 hours weekly, with funded hours usable from 10am to 3.30pm on weekdays. Eligibility conditions still apply to the relevant entitlement.

Private hours are charged separately from funded entitlement, and a reservation deposit is deducted from the final invoice. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees and funding information explains the hourly charging structure.

Hot meals are available for a separate charge through Zebedees, while families may bring healthy food from home. The dietary arrangements allow for religious requirements and allergies, with individual needs discussed with the team.

Parents are encouraged to supply nappies, wipes and bags, despite a small nursery reserve, and are asked to provide sun cream for reapplication. These are items to include in the family’s regular nursery kit rather than assume are included in childcare fees.

• Behaviour and routine changes. In April 2025, staff did not consistently explain the effects of children’s actions or prepare them for the next activity. On a visit, ask how positive explanations and warnings before transitions now work in practice.
• An hourly contract with a minimum. Attendance has an 11-hour weekly minimum, while funded hours sit within the weekday 10am to 3.30pm window. Compare the proposed contract with the actual hours your family needs, including any private hours around funding.
• Settling and communication. The team leader acts as the initial key person for 6 weeks before handing over. Ask how that transfer will work for your child and how you will receive routine and developmental updates.
• Food and allergy needs. Zebedees hot meals attract a separate charge, and food from home is also supported. Families managing allergies should confirm the current handling arrangements for their child’s meals and snacks.

Beech Tree Childcare Angmering suits families seeking an agreed hourly attendance pattern and those using stretched funded childcare within the daytime funding window. Its strongest educational examples are small and concrete: a musical sound turned into vocabulary, a drawing linked to signs and counting, a sand construction developed through discussion.

The planned settling handover adds practical value for families starting nursery. The balanced decision rests on that care structure, the contract’s fit with family routines, and the two April 2025 priorities around behaviour explanations and preparation for change.