The Meadows Nursery School, Langney

An outdoor classroom and preschool learning on Eastbourne beach give The Meadows Nursery School, Langney a clear practical character: children have places to explore beyond their indoor play spaces. Natural materials and resources with several possible uses shape the environment inside, too. The emphasis is on children investigating, making and finding things out.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding across all judgement areas. Concrete examples included children changing a tower design, making habitats after a story and building a shelter for a snail. These give parents a clearer picture of the learning than the grade alone.

The nursery accepts children aged 10 to 60 months and is based on Rotherfield Avenue in Eastbourne. Its weekday opening hours run from 7.30am until 6pm.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday language, that brings learning and looking after children together: play, conversation and growing independence are parts of the same day.

In September 2025, staff extended children's ideas through questions and shared activities. A story about a worm led to habitat making, while a tower-building task prompted children to rethink their design. The important connection is between an initial interest and what happens next. Children were doing more than completing an isolated activity; they were trying ideas, talking about them and making changes.

For babies, September 2025 practice included schematic play, with repeated patterns of exploration given room to develop. Toddlers made bowls from play dough and took ownership of their creations. Younger children also practised everyday self-care, including cleaning their faces after painting. These small tasks let children participate actively rather than having adults do everything for them.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor classroom extends the nursery's learning space, while beach school takes preschool learning to Eastbourne beach. Its value for families is the change of setting: exploration is part of the nursery experience beyond the indoor rooms. Beach learning is a specific addition alongside the early years foundation stage, rather than a replacement for it.

In April 2022, the nursery introduced a heated woodwork area intended for use throughout the year, alongside a petting area with chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs. A mud kitchen supported scooping, measuring, shaping and imaginative play. These developments show a practical interest in materials and living things, giving children different reasons to use their hands, talk and investigate.

The Summer Fete brings families into nursery life through games, food and time together. In its May 2019 description, the nursery set out an annual event, often on a July weekend. That gives the occasion a social purpose as well as an activity programme: parents and children can spend time with one another outside the usual nursery routine.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENDCO role sits alongside speech and language coordination, a specialist lead for two-year-olds and teaching and learning coordination. The SENDCO works with practitioners to develop their knowledge and support their work with children. These are identifiable mechanisms for organising support, rather than a general promise that every need will be met in the same way.

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND made sustained progress through coordinated support and work with external agencies, and that safeguarding arrangements were effective. A sensory room supported children with complex medical needs. The physical space matters here because it was linked to particular children's support, rather than simply being another room on a facilities list.

All staff have Makaton training, and the nursery holds the Makaton friendly award. In September 2025, practitioners used simple signs alongside conversation and questions to help children communicate. The combination gives parents something concrete to consider about how their child may express themselves and join in.

Relationships and Communication

September 2025 practice included adults listening to children's feelings, helping them communicate and supporting them to resolve disagreements together. Expectations were reinforced gently. That approach made social learning part of ordinary interactions, rather than something reserved for a separate activity.

School transition also has a practical shape. In May 2019, the Bluebell Leavers programme included visits from receiving teachers, a transition report, a school passport and activities such as trying school uniform. Children moving to the same school could form buddy groups. These arrangements aimed to make the next setting more familiar and pass useful information to the adults who would teach them.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year, with closures for bank holidays, one week at Christmas and two weeks in August. For families organising work and childcare, those holiday closures matter alongside the length of the ordinary weekday.

Getting There

The address is 1 Rotherfield Avenue, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 8JZ. General enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01323 741811 or by email to office@meadowslangney.com; viewing requests use a separate form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education formed part of the nursery's provision in September 2025, for eligible children. Eligibility remains part of that statement: receiving funding is not a promise that every family's proposed childcare arrangement will qualify.

• Beach learning for preschool children. Beach school takes learning to Eastbourne beach. On a visit, discuss how outings are organised and how your child's needs would be accommodated.
• Individual communication and support. The SENDCO and speech and language coordinator provide clear points of responsibility. Families with a child who needs additional support should discuss how those roles would contribute to an individual plan.
• Childcare across the year. Christmas and August closures need to fit the family's wider arrangements. Ask for a written quotation covering your proposed attendance pattern, funded hours, meals and consumables.

The Meadows suits families who value hands-on exploration and want preschool learning to extend to the beach, alongside an outdoor classroom at nursery. Its September 2025 examples show children testing ideas, developing communication and taking increasing responsibility for small everyday tasks.

For children needing additional support, the SENDCO role and speech and language coordination make the support structure tangible. The weekday opening window gives working families a useful practical starting point, while the Christmas and August closures deserve careful planning. The strongest reason to consider this nursery is the connection between its exploratory spaces and the children's active participation in learning.