Bright Horizons Hove Day Nursery and Preschool

A garden growing area, a Mud Kitchen and space for sensory play give this Cromwell Road nursery a practical, hands-on character. Bright Horizons Hove Day Nursery and Preschool welcomes children from 6 months to 5 years and has capacity for 122 children across the setting. That total describes the whole nursery, rather than the size of any child's daily group.

At its August 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Those judgements belong to that visit. A later organisational safeguarding notice is material to a decision today and is covered below.

Weekday opening runs from 8am to 6pm, with funded childcare stretched across the year. The combination of outdoor facilities, provision from babyhood to preschool and year-round attendance gives families several practical reasons to consider Hove.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, learning sits alongside play and the routines through which children become more independent. Alongside it, Hove uses the group-wide Bright Beginnings Curriculum, which supports development through activities and preparation for changes such as moving rooms or starting school. The framework and the additional curriculum have separate roles.

In August 2023, staff used children's interests to shape their next learning steps. Older children experimented with paint colours, while babies recognised familiar book characters and practised emerging words. Adults gave children time to respond to questions. These examples show how conversation and exploration could become learning opportunities, rather than activities being treated simply as something to fill the day.

Creative resources also mattered. In August 2023, older children made pictures using tablets and light boxes, but younger children's paper was too small to allow sufficiently free movements while making marks. The improvement requested was practical: materials needed to give younger children greater scope to move, explore and create. For a child still experimenting with how their hands and arms work, room to move while making marks matters as much as the activity itself.

Outdoor and Community Life

The landscaped garden includes a growing area, giving children opportunities to care for plants. Water Play and the Mud Kitchen add further ways to explore outdoors, while an All Weather Area supports use of the garden beyond fine days. These are concrete features families can weigh against their child's appetite for outdoor play.

In August 2023, older children had room outside for energetic movement and manageable physical challenges. Babies and younger children used a smaller garden daily, but the planning there needed more variety and stronger learning opportunities. The current garden facilities are a useful part of the offer; the younger children's outdoor experience remains a specific topic for a visit.

Relationships received close attention in August 2023. Staff gathered information as children started, then used it to help them form attachments and feel that they belonged. Adults talked babies through care routines and helped children discuss emotions and solve disagreements. Independence developed through ordinary tasks, including choosing resources, dressing and eating.

Communication with families was also substantial in August 2023. Information moved between parents and staff about children's development and the next steps in their learning, and parents took part through evenings at the nursery or sharing books in their home language. Those examples matter because they connect home experience with nursery life, including the languages a child already knows.

A Sensory Room and Sleep Room are part of Hove's current facilities. In August 2023, quieter spaces with sensory materials gave children a break from busier surroundings. That is a concrete example of adapting the environment to different needs, rather than expecting every child to cope with the same level of activity.

On 22 June 2026, Ofsted described organisational safeguarding weaknesses and a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring Bright Horizons Family Solutions Limited to strengthen leadership oversight, consistent procedures, escalation of concerns and staff support, with actions due by 1 August 2026. The notice concerns organisational arrangements and expressly distinguishes these from concerns at every individual nursery. Its latest published position is that the organisation had not demonstrated consistently effective safeguarding across its provision; it is not a new inspection grade for Hove.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 46 Cromwell Road, Hove, BN3 3ER. Opening is Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, across the year, with closures for bank and public holidays, an inset day and the period between Christmas and New Year. Families need to allow for those breaks when planning annual childcare.

Funded attendance uses 10-hour sessions starting when the nursery opens. The charge structure accommodates different numbers of days each week, including a single day or a full working week. Additional childcare hours are charged separately, and buying them is not a condition of taking a funded place.

Enquiries can be made directly by telephone. Personal tours can be booked using the nursery's visit form, offering a practical opportunity to discuss a child's needs before joining.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use 15 or 30 funded hours, stretched over 50 weeks. This spreads the entitlement beyond term time, so the funded allowance needs to be read alongside the actual attendance pattern. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

On privately paid hours, meals and snacks are included in fees, alongside nappies and wipes; the included essentials carry a qualification that a small number of nurseries may vary. Food during funded hours is charged separately, but that charge is non-mandatory and is not a condition of accessing a funded place; the nursery supplies the consumables associated with funded hours.

A registration charge applies, and fees are collected monthly in advance by direct debit. Separating funded hours, extra childcare and food makes it easier to understand what a family's payment covers.

Getting There

Hove Train Station provides a rail connection to Brighton City Centre. For families combining childcare with a train journey, that named connection is a useful part of the nursery's location.

• Organisational safeguarding notice. The 22 June 2026 notice required actions by 1 August 2026 across the organisation. Ask how those actions have been implemented at Hove, including escalation of concerns and oversight of staff practice.
• Younger children's play. In August 2023, the smaller garden needed more varied learning opportunities, and mark-making materials restricted younger children's movements. During a tour, look at the current baby garden activities and whether mark-making materials allow younger children to move freely.
• Funded attendance and charges. Funding is stretched over 50 weeks and used through 10-hour sessions. Request a written quotation separating funded entitlement, extra hours and the non-mandatory food charge, including the essentials covered for your child.

Hove merits consideration for families seeking care from babyhood through preschool, with practical outdoor facilities and attendance across the year. Its arrangements accommodate families booking a single day each week as well as those using the full working week, subject to the agreed booking.

The August 2023 judgement provides a positive assessment of care and education at that time. The later organisational safeguarding notice must also inform the decision. A visit centred on current safeguarding practice and younger children's play would address the most consequential questions for this particular nursery.