Buntings Nursery

School grounds, a weekly dance class and activities shared by funded and paying children give Buntings Nursery a clear identity. Based at Balfour Primary School in Brighton, it has capacity for 24 children and welcomes children from 12 months. Its practical appeal is straightforward: snacks, activities and outings carry no extra charge, while families can choose between bringing lunch and paying for a school-canteen meal.

At its November 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Buntings Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised the use of individual support plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. That judgement sits alongside concrete examples of children experimenting, practising practical skills and building language through play.

Morning, afternoon and afterschool sessions can be combined, within a term-time pattern supplemented by specified holiday-club dates.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, sessions make room for play chosen by children, shared activities, outdoor experiences and eating together. This gives the day several different rhythms rather than treating learning as a separate lesson. Session boundaries remain fixed even when families combine them, helping protect those periods of play.

In November 2023, children practised using scissors and tape by wrapping boxes of different sizes. The task gave small-hand skills a practical purpose, with adults demonstrating how to use tools before children persisted with their own attempts. In preschool, a water tray became a place to explore weight and test which objects stayed afloat. Children could connect a new word with something they had just tried.

Stories, songs and games also supported language in November 2023. Repeated rhymes gave children opportunities to join in and practise vocabulary. These examples show the substance behind the curriculum: handling materials, trying an idea and talking about the result.

The November 2023 inspection also identified three improvements: broader planning for the youngest children, more thinking time after adults' questions, and stronger support for older children to settle small disagreements independently. These matter in different ways. A settled toddler needs planning that moves beyond settling; a child answering a question needs space to think; and an older child needs practice negotiating with friends.

The weekly dance class is included for children attending on its scheduled day. Funded and non-funded children have access to the same activities and outings, so participation does not depend on paying for an additional activity package.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor experiences form part of the session pattern. In November 2023, Buntings occupied separate accommodation within Balfour Primary School's grounds, giving it its own nursery space on a school site.

The Parent Volunteer programme invites families to contribute a hobby, a skill, work experience or cultural knowledge during group activities. It gives children opportunities to hear from adults beyond the nursery team, while giving parents a concrete way to contribute to the day.

Relationships and Communication

In November 2023, younger children explored their playroom confidently, and staff responded attentively to their needs. Children chose activities and sought out friends. Those observations give useful substance to the care picture: adults helped children feel secure enough to become absorbed in play.

Communication now includes emails, messages and videos, alongside conversations at handover. Parents can also share photographs from home through the nursery software. This creates a route for home experiences to become part of staff's understanding of a child, rather than communication travelling only from nursery to parent.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The deputy manager also holds the SENCO role. In November 2023, children's individual needs informed curriculum planning, and SEND support plans were in use. The combination of a current named responsibility and dated examples of planning gives families something concrete to discuss when considering support for their child.

Turn-taking was supported with sand timers in November 2023. Staff intervened when children disagreed over resources, although helping older children resolve those disagreements themselves remained an improvement point. The distinction matters: stopping an argument and teaching children how to handle the next one are different tasks.

Sessions and Attendance

Buntings is at Balfour Primary School, Balfour Road, Brighton, BN1 6NE. Opening hours are 8.45am to 4.15pm, Monday to Friday.

The morning session runs from 8.45am to 12.30pm; the afternoon runs from 12.30pm to 3.15pm; afterschool runs from 3.15pm to 4.15pm. Families may join sessions together, but must keep the stated start and finish times. That makes the offer useful both for a shorter nursery session and for attendance extending through the afternoon.

The main pattern is term-time attendance with extra holiday-club dates. For summer 2027, the holiday club is scheduled for 19 and 20 July. Funding can be spread into the extra weeks when these are booked in advance, so the holiday provision needs to be planned alongside term-time attendance.

Enquiries can be made through the nursery's message form, by telephone or by email. Buntings occupies a school site, but nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding options include support for eligible two-year-olds, working-parent funding from nine months to school age, and the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds. The working-parent entitlement's starting age does not change Buntings' own starting age of 12 months. Funding may be used across its sessions, with private charges applying to hours beyond a child's weekly funded allowance.

Snacks are included in session fees and carry no extra charge for funded children; lunch is either a packed lunch from home or a separately charged hot meal ordered from the school canteen, with meat and vegetarian choices. Non-food consumables and additional activities carry no separate charge for either funded or non-funded children.

There is no registration charge or deposit. A reduction in booked sessions requires one month's notice, which matters if working arrangements change after a pattern has been agreed. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; its fees and funding page explains the charge structure.

• Planning for younger children. Broader curriculum planning was an improvement point in November 2023. On a visit, ask how staff now build on a toddler's interests once settling is complete.
• Fixed session boundaries. Morning, afternoon and afterschool sessions can be combined, but their start and finish times remain fixed. Match the whole pattern to work commitments rather than assuming flexible collection times.
• Term-time care and extras. Holiday-club provision supplements the main term-time pattern, and extending funding into extra weeks requires advance booking. Plan school-holiday care around the actual dates.
• School-site expectations. Being based at Balfour Primary School does not guarantee admission to Reception. Treat the nursery decision and the school application as separate choices.

Buntings suits families seeking morning or afternoon nursery sessions, as well as those combining sessions with the afterschool extension. Included snacks, shared access to activities and a weekly dance class make its funded offer easy to understand, while the Parent Volunteer programme gives family involvement a practical form.

The balance is clear. The November 2023 Good judgement is supported by examples of purposeful play and attentive care, alongside specific improvements in younger children's planning, adult questioning and independent conflict resolution. Fixed session times and a term-time calendar are central to deciding whether this nursery fits family life.