Daisy Chain Nursery Crawley

A pirate ship outside, a separate place for babies to sleep and an art studio for preschool children give Daisy Chain Nursery Crawley a character built around play, exploration and growing independence. Its three rooms offer different environments as children grow, with quiet spaces alongside more active play.

At its January 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged inclusion and behaviour, attitudes and routines to be at the strong standard, with achievement, welfare and wellbeing, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance at the expected standard; safeguarding standards were met. Those are area judgements, rather than a single overall grade. The balance matters: routines and inclusion were stronger than curriculum delivery across the whole team.

Daisy Chain has capacity for 54 children, with a current age range from birth to five years; its childcare offer starts at three months. Morning, afternoon, school-day and full-day sessions give families several attendance patterns to choose from.

Rooms and Ages

Buttercups, for children from three to 24 months, combines sensory exploration with a separate sleeping area and a milk kitchen, allowing feeding and rest to have their own spaces alongside play. Activities follow babies' existing routines and interests, rather than a fixed timetable. Stories, songs, creative play and time outside can therefore fit around the needs of the children that day.

Poppies starts at 24 months and pairs physical and sensory exploration with quieter places for books or conversation, giving toddlers choices as their social and self-care skills develop.

Daisies is the preschool room, where independent choices and play with other children sit alongside creative, construction, role-play and small-world areas, an outdoor classroom, and access to an art studio and sensory room. Children can serve their own snacks and manage trips to the toilet, making everyday tasks part of preparation for school.

Room moves are discussed with parents and supported by visits before the change.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning and care, covering children's development through play, communication, physical activity, relationships and early literacy and mathematics. Alongside that shared framework, Daisy Chain draws on Reggio Emilia inspiration, using creative materials, music and sensory exploration to help children investigate ideas through their senses.

Hands-on resources make that approach concrete. Real food is used in role play, pots and pans are used in the mud kitchen, and staff extend activities in response to children's interests.

In January 2026, staff modelled words, gestures and basic signing for babies through songs and routines, while songs introduced counting and language about position. Older children explored dinosaur vocabulary and talked about the order in which dinosaurs and humans lived. These examples connect communication with children's interests, rather than separating language learning from play.

Small groups with a key person include songs, stories and opportunities to share something with the group. For preschool children, lunch at midday and tea at 4pm are the fixed points around which other activities remain flexible. That leaves scope for children to stay with a chosen activity and make decisions about their day.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden offers a pirate ship, a mud kitchen and a spare parts area, alongside a covered outdoor classroom used during the day. Children can move between indoor and outdoor play, with all-weather exploration part of the approach. A covered learning space makes the garden more than somewhere reserved for a separate playtime.

Climbing equipment and a bug hotel add physical and observational possibilities. Puddle jumping and exploring ice are also part of outdoor learning.

In January 2026, families contributed cultural knowledge and skills through activities including traditional cooking. Home languages and familiar cultural references also appeared in resources.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who becomes the family's main contact during settling and beyond. A secondary key person provides another familiar adult when the first is absent. This gives parents a defined relationship for sharing routines, discussing concerns and understanding their child's day.

Settling sessions are tailored to the child after a place has been confirmed.

Daily conversations are complemented by the famly app, which shares information including meals and naps, and termly parents evenings. Those channels serve different purposes: practical updates help parents understand the day, while a longer conversation allows time to discuss development. Regular parent surveys provide another route for feedback about how the nursery runs.

In January 2026, staff supported older babies to feed themselves and use open cups; older children practised cutlery skills and poured drinks. Independence was built into care routines as well as play. Staff also helped children find words for feelings, giving emotional communication a place in ordinary interactions.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO role forms part of the team structure. At the January 2026 inspection, Ofsted found responsive SEND support, including sensory breaks and targeted work with families and professionals, but identified inconsistent staff understanding of curriculum intentions and a failure to follow the notification process for a significant event, which leaders managed appropriately without an impact on children's safety and for which no action was intended. The curriculum's next step was clearer, more consistent implementation across the staff team.

Food is cooked at the nursery, with seasonal menus and provision for dietary needs; babies' feeding routines are followed, formula is provided, and expressed milk can be stored and prepared in the milk kitchen. Little Foodies brings foods from different cultures into meals, alongside self-serving and regular cooking activities with the chef.

Collection arrangements require adults to be authorised in advance, and entry is controlled through an intercom and staff acknowledgement. These are practical procedures parents need to follow, rather than substitutes for the dated safeguarding judgement. If a child becomes unwell, staff may contact parents to discuss monitoring or collection; after sickness or diarrhoea, children must be symptom-free for at least 48 hours before returning.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, school days from 8am to 4pm and full days from 8am to 6pm. Early starts are a separate 7.30am to 8am option.

Daisy Chain operates Monday to Friday across the year, closing on bank holidays and working days between Christmas and New Year. This combination allows families to consider shorter sessions as well as longer days. One-off session swaps are also offered under the nursery's session-swap arrangements.

Getting There

The address is 194 Three Bridges Road, Crawley, RH10 1LR. Enquiries can be made using the contact form, by telephone on 01293 533397 or by email at info@daisychaincrawley.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for children older than nine months. Private fees include meals, nappies, outings, trips and workshops.

Registration requires a completed form, a non-refundable registration charge and a refundable deposit. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Curriculum consistency. January 2026 brought a clear next step on ensuring every member of staff understands and delivers the curriculum's intentions. At a visit, ask how that work now shapes activities in the room your child would join.
• Funding arrangements. Funding starts above nine months, while the private fee includes meals and nappies. Ask for one written explanation of how funded hours fit your chosen sessions and how meals and consumables are treated within them.
• Baby routines and settling. Buttercups has separate sleeping space and a milk kitchen, and settling is tailored to each child. Use a visit to discuss how your baby's feeding and sleep routines would fit the day.
• Closure and illness planning. Bank holidays, the Christmas-to-New-Year closure and the 48-hour symptom-free rule after sickness or diarrhoea all affect childcare cover. Build those conditions into your family arrangements.

Daisy Chain suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as school-day or full-day attendance across the year. Its clearest practical strengths are the separate baby sleep and feeding spaces, gradual room transitions, creative preschool resources and accessible outdoor play.

The January 2026 area judgements give a balanced picture: inclusion and routines were strong, while curriculum delivery needed greater consistency. For parents drawn to sensory exploration, child-led choices and regular communication through a key person and famly, there is substantial detail to weigh.