Little Acorns Bersted Green

Indoor and outdoor play connect at Little Acorns Bersted Green, with access to Bersted Green Primary School’s outdoor provision adding to the preschool’s own spaces. Its charity model gives it another clear point of character: income goes back into resources, learning spaces and staff development rather than being distributed as profit.

Ofsted rated the setting Good at its 27 May 2021 inspection. Little Acorns has 40 places in total and accepts children from age two. Its opening hours follow school terms, making the calendar an important part of the choice for families.

Free-flow play is the central practical feature here. Children have opportunities to use both indoor and outdoor spaces, with the school’s outdoor provision extending the environments they can use. For parents who value outdoor play, that access is a more useful detail than a general promise of stimulating activities.

The EYFS is the required early-years framework, covering children’s learning and development through play. It provides the educational foundation; Little Acorns’ indoor and outdoor arrangement gives children different spaces in which to explore and learn. Access to both settings is the concrete feature to weigh when comparing the preschool with other options.

Charitable income supports equipment, improvements to learning spaces, staff training and experiences for children. Those are practical uses of the preschool’s funds. A volunteer committee oversees the organisation, with parents and members of the local community often involved, giving families a potential connection to how the preschool is run as well as to their child’s day.

The manager’s role includes both designated safeguarding lead responsibilities and the special educational needs coordinator role, or SENCO. That identifies a point of contact for safeguarding matters and additional learning needs; it does not, by itself, establish the effectiveness of support for an individual child.

A Local Offer provides a route into discussion about additional needs. Little Acorns also directs families towards West Sussex support services, including SEND information, advice and support. For a family considering how preschool will fit around existing support, the SENCO role and Local Offer are useful starting points for a conversation about their child.

The charity’s spending also includes staff development. This connects its operating model with the people caring for children, rather than limiting reinvestment to equipment alone.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time only. These are opening hours rather than a specified session timetable. Families need to weigh both the daily closing time and the term-time calendar against their working arrangements; holiday cover is a separate consideration in choosing this preschool.

To apply or join the waiting list, parents complete an application-of-interest form and email it to littleacorns@berstedgreen.school. The same application route handles enquiries about a place, so there is a concrete first step rather than a general expression of interest.

Getting There

The address is Bersted Green Primary School, Laburnum Grove, Bognor Regis, PO22 9HT. Sharing a school site does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority’s school admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Little Acorns accepts 15- and 30-hour government funding and also charges for private childcare hours. Its funding information covers two-year-olds and children aged three and above; the universal entitlement for three-year-olds begins in the term after their third birthday, while working-family funding depends on eligibility.

The 30-hour working-family entitlement is described across 38 weeks of the year, consistent with the preschool’s term-time operation. Families can use the fees and funding page to understand the structure, with current prices supplied in the nursery’s written quotation. The distinction between funded entitlement and privately paid hours matters when planning attendance and the household budget.

• Term-time timetable. The preschool opens from 9am to 3pm on weekdays during term time. Consider how that calendar fits work and holiday childcare before choosing it.
• School-site setting. Access to the primary school’s outdoor provision is a practical attraction, but preschool attendance does not guarantee a Reception place.
• Later regulatory record. Ofsted’s records list a concern dated 21 September 2022; its outcome is not published, so families may want to ask the nursery about it.

Little Acorns suits families seeking a term-time preschool from age two, with indoor and outdoor play and a charity structure that reinvests income in provision. The school outdoor access and identified SENCO role are concrete reasons to consider it. The weekday opening window is the key practical test: this choice needs to fit a family’s arrangements beyond the preschool day and during school holidays.