Cranbrook Independent Nursery & Pre-School, Ivy Cottage

Over an acre of outdoor space, an on-site Forest School and visits to Wykeham House Care Home give Ivy Cottage a character that extends well beyond its playrooms. Nature and community are concrete parts of the offer: children investigate compost, care for ducklings and join shared activities with care-home residents. For families who value outdoor experiences and contact across generations, these are substantial reasons to consider this Horley nursery.

Cranbrook Independent Nursery & Pre-School, Ivy Cottage has capacity for 72 children aged three months to five years. Its baby provision includes separate spaces for sleep and sensory experiences, while the toddler and pre-school rooms have their own developmental emphases.

At its August 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children's individual needs, including SEND, were addressed through purposeful planning and prompt support. The improvement priority was closer parental involvement in learning.

Rooms and Ages

The baby rooms include a separate sleep room and sensory room, giving rest and sensory exploration their own spaces. For families choosing baby care, a separate sleep room allows rest away from active play.

For children aged 18 months to three years, the toddler room has capacity for 25 and emphasises independence, curiosity and learning to interact through play. Its stated purpose fits a stage when children are exploring what they can do for themselves and beginning to negotiate relationships with others.

The pre-school room accommodates 32 children, with confidence and problem-solving developed through adult-planned experiences and play directed by children. The emphasis is on preparation for primary education through those skills, giving families a clear account of the room's purpose as children approach school age.

Room capacities are separate from the nursery's total of 72 places and daily attendance counts.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning and care; in August 2023, children explored books and textures, used imaginative-play materials and investigated nature outside. These examples make the framework tangible: early communication, exploration and practical discovery were part of children's experiences.

In August 2023, activity planning took account of children's existing abilities and what they needed to learn next. Babies examined picture books and experimented with materials of different textures. Outside, children put food on a bird table and waited to see which birds came to eat. Those examples connect learning to things children can handle, observe and return to.

The on-site Forest School adds practical outdoor experiences intended to develop resilience, cooperation and useful skills. Its presence within the nursery's grounds makes outdoor learning part of the setting's own environment. The compost wormery supplies another concrete learning resource: children explore sustainability through composting, while pet ducklings introduce the responsibilities involved in caring for living creatures.

Outdoor and Community Life

More than an acre of grounds gives children substantial space for exploration. In August 2023, toddlers practised balancing on a low beam in the garden, with staff helping them manage the movement safely. This was a specific example of supported physical challenge, with encouragement helping children try again after a successful turn.

A nursery minibus supports regular exploration of the wider area. Ivy Cottage's links with Wykeham House Care Home include visits for activities shared with residents, bringing children into contact with people beyond their usual nursery relationships.

Community participation also has a concrete example: children represented Ivy Cottage in the 2025 community carnival and received the Best Walking Float award. This was a past event, but it illustrates the nursery's involvement in local life alongside its continuing care-home relationship.

Relationships and Communication

In August 2023, children readily sought staff out to join their play, and those needing comfort received a quick response. Babies and children had established close relationships with practitioners. For parents, the practical significance is the connection between reassurance and participation: children could turn to adults for comfort and also involve them in enjoyable activity.

Parental involvement in learning was the unfinished element. In August 2023, home-learning packs were being introduced, including chatter boxes, while other ways of helping families extend learning were still developing. The improvement priority concerned parents' participation in children's learning, making the connection between activities at nursery and experiences at home a useful subject for a visit.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In August 2023, Ofsted found that staff supervision covered both indoor and outdoor play, practitioners understood how to raise safeguarding concerns, and children received appropriate help with their individual learning needs. This is a dated finding about practice, rather than a present-day assurance based on the nursery's facilities.

Daily health routines also had practical expression in August 2023. Babies were learning to deal with tissues after wiping their noses, while older children understood why handwashing and oral health mattered. Staff supported children in learning to manage risks during physical play. These examples describe care as something children gradually learn to participate in, as well as something adults provide.

In August 2023, children enjoyed healthy, nourishing home-cooked food at mealtimes.

Sessions and Attendance

Ivy Cottage is on Balcombe Road, Horley, Surrey, RH6 9SW. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, with an early-start option from 7.30am and a late finish until 6.30pm. It operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas.

Privately paid attendance includes full days, half days and hourly care, with separate arrangements for set bookings and ad hoc sessions. Those options support different attendance needs: a regular weekly pattern, shorter sessions or care booked on an ad hoc basis.

Funded extended-entitlement sessions run from 10am to 6pm or 11am to 6pm. Universal funded afternoon sessions run from 1pm to 6pm during term time. These clock times matter for work and collection arrangements, because funded attendance does not necessarily occupy the whole opening day.

Families can contact Ivy Cottage by telephone on 01293 825192 or email ivy@cranbrooknursery.co.uk. These provide direct routes for discussing enrolment and the attendance pattern a family needs.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible working families can access the extended entitlement from the term after their child reaches nine months, subject to an eligibility code and reconfirmation every three months; it is stretched over 51 weeks to a maximum of 22 hours weekly. To use the full stretched allocation, children must attend at least three days, with seven hours on two days and eight hours on one; attendance on two days receives 15 funded hours.

From the term after their third birthday, children can use the universal entitlement of 15 hours across 38 term-time weeks, allocated to five-hour afternoon sessions; receiving the full allocation requires attendance on at least three days. Morning attendance alongside those funded afternoons is charged, as are additional hours outside the extended-entitlement sessions.

Food and consumables are included during funded hours for children in the nine-month-to-two-year band; activities during those funded hours also incur no charge. Settling sessions are charged at the applicable hourly or session rate. A non-refundable enrolment charge applies unless the child attends solely for government-funded hours. For current prices, ask the nursery for a quotation.

• Baby-room arrangements. The youngest provision has separate sleep and sensory rooms. During a visit, ask how your baby's routines would work across those spaces.
• Funding and working hours. Universal funding occupies afternoon sessions, while the extended sessions start at 10am or 11am. Match those windows and the minimum attendance conditions to the hours your family needs.
• Learning at home. Closer parental participation was the August 2023 improvement priority. Ask how staff now share next steps and help families build on nursery experiences.

Ivy Cottage suits families considering full-day or half-day attendance who value substantial outdoor space and experiences beyond the nursery rooms. Its Forest School, wormery and ducklings give nature learning concrete resources, while visits to Wykeham House Care Home add a social dimension beyond children's immediate peer group.

For babies, the separate sleep and sensory rooms deserve attention. For families using funding, the deciding practical detail is the session structure: afternoon-only universal hours and later-starting extended sessions need to fit the family's day. The August 2023 Good judgement supplies a dated quality assessment, with parental involvement in learning the clear improvement priority to explore.