Loveders Nursery School

A converted barn, a separate cottage for babies and a garden with its own play boat give Loveders Nursery School a recognisable character. Outdoor exploration runs through the offer, from growing vegetables to seasonal countryside outings. This is a nursery for children who enjoy doing things: handling instruments, experimenting with materials and taking their learning beyond the playroom.

At its 23 January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Loveders Outstanding overall. The nursery takes children aged 5 to 60 months, with Little Loveders providing the under-two setting and older children moving through the Nurture Room and Nursery. The distinction matters: babies have their own spaces for rest and play, while preschool children gradually encounter more organised group activities and everyday responsibilities.

Morning, afternoon and day sessions are offered, with different standard times for the youngest and older children. The standard session times differ between Little Loveders and the older rooms, although flexible starting options also apply.

Rooms and Ages

Little Loveders occupies a converted cottage with sensory and movement activities, a dedicated sleep room, a milk kitchen and its own outdoor play area. Separating those functions gives families a concrete picture of the baby day: play, feeding and sleeping each have a place, rather than being treated as interchangeable parts of one busy room. Waterproof clothing and shade support time outdoors.

For two- to three-year-olds, the Nurture Room combines construction, imaginative play and early mark making with messy materials, cooking and music. Children can move between activities according to their interests. A separate place for naps and help with toileting keep care routines alongside exploration, an important balance for children who are becoming more independent but still need substantial practical support.

The Nursery, for three- to four-year-olds, introduces more adult-led activity and group time within play areas arranged as workshops. Independence is practical here: children practise dressing, serving food and clearing up, as well as sharing and working through disagreements. Preparation for the next stage therefore includes managing ordinary tasks and relationships, rather than concentrating solely on formal learning.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development, with play and everyday experiences supporting children's communication, physical skills and understanding of the world. It is the common foundation; Loveders adds music, Spanish, visiting professionals and outdoor experiences to the day.

Music reaches children from babies through to those preparing for school. Instruments, movement and songs bring together listening, coordination and patterns. Spanish is offered to children in the Nurture Room and Nursery through games, rhymes and songs that introduce simple phrases and words. These are concrete additions, with activities parents can understand rather than a curriculum name left unexplained.

Kind Space Yoga brings sessions built around movement, mindfulness and emotional wellbeing. Zoolab visits introduce children to small creatures, while other visitors include musicians and people working in public services. The practical value is exposure: children meet animals, sounds and occupations that extend what they encounter in their own play.

In January 2024, babies selected song activities using decorated wooden spoons, and toddlers heard familiar stories during care routines. Outdoor storytelling also included discussion of unfamiliar vocabulary. These examples show how choices and conversation fitted into ordinary moments, rather than language work being confined to a separate lesson.

Outdoor and Community Life

HMS Loveders, the garden's play boat, gives imaginative adventures a physical setting. Elsewhere, bikes and scooters use a playground with a soft rubber surface, while climbing equipment offers opportunities to practise balance. The mud kitchen and sandpit make room for experimenting with textures and building, so outdoor time includes much more than running around.

Quieter areas allow children to read or pause with friends. The vegetable patch connects growing with food, and Pet Corner gives children opportunities to feed and handle guinea pigs while learning to take turns and be gentle. These different uses of the garden matter for children whose energy and preferences change during the day.

Seasonal excursions include spring visits to bluebell woods and summer experiences at Lordington Lavender farm, with tractor rides and alpacas among the examples. Other nursery outings have included Kingley Vale and Thorney Island beach. These are examples of excursions, rather than a fixed weekly timetable, but they give the outdoor emphasis a clear local shape.

The January 2024 inspection described children comparing photographs from repeated bluebell walks and making lavender oil after visiting lavender fields. They also weighed ingredients for bird feeders and shaped the mixture before hanging it outside. Those activities connected observation and making with early mathematical ideas.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with free visiting periods covering part of a session, with parents able to stay or their child able to attend independently. A Welcomer starts building a relationship during those visits. The arrangement gives a child some experience of the people and routines before their full starting date, and makes settling a practical part of joining.

Every baby in Little Loveders has a key worker who plans play experiences, records development and shares milestones with parents. Communication includes conversations about eating, sleep and activities, emailed photographs, learning journals and meetings with the key worker. This combination gives families both immediate information about the day and a longer view of their child's development.

Movement into the older nursery involves parents, the Key Person and the Two-year-old Co-Ordinator. Older babies begin spending some time with older children before that step, helping connect the two stages. Sleep follows the child's routine in Little Loveders, while the Nurture Room also accommodates children who still need a nap.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A lead SENCO supervises support for children with additional needs. Loveders makes adjustments to its operation and can involve speech therapists or educational psychologists, giving parents specific mechanisms to discuss rather than a general promise of inclusion.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and coordinated SEND support, including work with other professionals and parents when preparing an individual child for school. That transition example is useful: preparation included explaining the child's needs to the receiving setting and involving the family in the process.

Staff undertake safeguarding and paediatric first aid training regularly, and enhanced DBS checks form part of the staffing arrangements. Those are published procedures, separate from the dated inspection judgement. Room leadership and a nursery cook also give the team clear responsibilities across daily care and provision.

Meals are cooked from scratch on site by the nursery's kitchen team, with dietary requirements such as dairy or gluten intolerance catered for. Little Loveders has a milk kitchen for storing breast milk or supplying formula, and staff support the move to solid food.

Sessions and Attendance

Loveders is on Priors Leaze Lane, Nutbourne, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 8RH. It opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6pm for 50 weeks, closing on bank holidays and for two weeks over Christmas. Families can enquire by telephone, email or the contact form; booking forms cover Little Loveders separately from the nursery and Freezone.

For Little Loveders, standard sessions run from 8am to 1pm, 1pm to 6pm, or 8am to 6pm. Nurture and Nursery sessions run from 9am to 1pm, 1pm to 4pm, or 9am to 4pm. These differences are worth building into childcare planning, especially when siblings attend different stages.

Starts can also be arranged at half-hour intervals between 7.30am and 9am, with finishes at half-hour intervals between 4pm and 6pm. Freezone provides a separate before-school, after-school and holiday service for children aged 4 to 12; its after-school minimum session is 3pm to 4.30pm, with later finishes up to 6pm.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, the extended free entitlement for working parents, and two-year-old funded sessions. Private paid attendance is also offered. Families should obtain a current written quotation covering their chosen pattern and any additional charges.

Nappies, toiletries and formula are included in the fees; families supply spare clothing labelled with their child's name. That reduces the daily packing list for the youngest children. The funded booking and its charge structure deserve a separate discussion when agreeing attendance.

Cancelling or permanently reducing attendance requires notice covering the whole next billing period, which is four or five weeks. Without that notice, the booking is still charged even if the child does not attend. Booked absences are also payable, although full-time bookings carry an allowance of two weeks' holiday without fees. These terms make the booking commitment as important as the session clock times.

• Different sessions at different ages. Little Loveders and the older rooms use different standard hours. On a visit, discuss how the change of room will work with your family's preferred attendance pattern and the settling periods.
• The funded booking. Funded entitlements and paid attendance are both offered, while nappies, toiletries and formula are included in fees. Ask how your proposed funded pattern treats meals and consumables, and request the full charge structure in writing.
• Notice and absences. Permanent reductions or cancellation require the full next billing period's notice, and booked absences remain chargeable subject to the stated concessions. Consider how that fits changing work arrangements before committing.
• Outdoor and dietary routines. Countryside outings and garden activities are a substantial part of the offer, alongside food prepared on site. Use the visit to discuss your child's comfort with these experiences and, where relevant, confirm current arrangements for dietary needs.

Loveders suits families looking for morning or afternoon sessions as well as day attendance, with the precise choices changing between Little Loveders and the older rooms. Its strongest practical appeal lies in the separate baby cottage, substantial outdoor provision and activities that connect music, making and local excursions.

The January 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight to that picture, while the decision still rests on the child's needs and the family's booking pattern. For babies, the sleep arrangements and key-worker communication warrant close attention; for older children, the workshop play, Spanish and everyday independence offer a clear sense of the next stage. Notice terms and the funded quotation should receive the same care as the choice of room.