Artemis Nursery Hastings

A three-storey house, three age-group rooms and home visits before children start give Artemis Nursery Hastings a clear character. Care begins with getting to know the child, rather than leaving that relationship to develop entirely at nursery. The setting occupies 17 Calvert Road in Hastings, close to Ore train station, and has capacity for 47 children aged from 3 months to 5 years.

At its 28 January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The practical detail behind that judgement matters: children explored materials, practised counting through play and took part in local outings. Mealtime organisation was the improvement priority. Families should weigh the learning and care alongside that specific concern.

Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings provide different ways to use the nursery, including funded attendance patterns.

Rooms and Ages

Three separate rooms divide children by age within the house. That gives the youngest children and those approaching school different spaces for their day, rather than placing the whole age range together. The building itself is an important part of the choice: families considering care for a baby will want to understand how movement between floors works alongside the daily routine.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play and adult support help children build communication, physical skills, relationships and early understanding. It is the common foundation for nursery education, rather than an extra programme unique to Artemis.

In January 2025, activities connected children's interests with specific skills. Making pretend cakes from dough involved rolling and counting, while babies explored noodles with their hands. Older children squeezed pipettes to create bubbles. These are concrete examples of learning through handling materials, with adults helping children extend what they can do.

Number work also took different forms in January 2025. Children matched counted chopsticks with numerals and worked together to move shapes on an interactive board. The combination matters: early mathematics involved both physical objects and a shared screen activity, rather than a single kind of task.

Chinese New Year craft activities in January 2025 prompted conversations about friends' cultures. The celebration supplied a reason to make something and discuss other people's experiences. It was learning tied to an occasion, rather than a claim about a recurring events calendar.

Outdoor and Community Life

January 2025 outings included parks, the local library and the Sea life centre. These visits extended children's experiences beyond the nursery building and gave staff opportunities to introduce the surrounding community. No fixed frequency is attached to those outings.

Outdoor play in January 2025 included puddle jumping and pretending to be crocodiles with friends. That is a useful counterweight to the indoor activities: imaginative play and movement also formed part of the children's experience. The examples describe that period, rather than a timetable families should expect on a particular day.

A home visit takes place before a child starts at the Hastings nursery. Meeting a member of staff in familiar surroundings gives the child an introduction before care begins and lets parents see their interaction. Stay and play sessions also let parents spend part of the nursery day alongside their child. Both arrangements make the relationship with staff more tangible.

In January 2025, babies received physical comfort and joined familiar songs and rhymes with staff. Home visits were accompanied by detailed updates to parents, and families received help with weaning, toilet training and accessing funding. For parents, that connected everyday care with practical support at home, rather than restricting communication to what happened during a session.

At its January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND were supported well and made good progress, with individual development plans and cooperation with outside services, other settings and schools. The plans gave learning specific targets, while the links between professionals helped with transitions. That is a more useful account of support than a general assurance about inclusion.

Food is cooked freshly on the premises each day by chefs, and menus change between summer and winter. Meals therefore form part of the daily provision, with seasonal menus rather than one menu throughout the year.

Sessions and Attendance

Bookings include a morning session from 8am to 1pm, an afternoon session from 1pm to 6pm and a full day from 8am to 6pm. The application form allows families to select days from Monday to Friday, including part-day choices. These are actual attendance patterns, so a family needing an afternoon has a different option from one booking the whole day.

Funded hours can be used across a mixture of mornings, afternoons and full days. Once sessions are booked, charges apply even when a child does not attend. That makes the chosen pattern a financial commitment as well as a childcare arrangement.

Getting There

The address is 17 Calvert Road, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3NG, near Ore train station. Enquiries can be made by calling 01424 426178 or emailing artemischildcare@btconnect.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15-hour options for eligible disadvantaged two-year-olds and universal funding for three-year-olds, alongside working-family options. Eligible working parents of children from 9 months to under 5 can use a 30-hour offer. Eligibility remains a condition of those working-family and disadvantaged entitlements.

The funding arrangements include 30 hours a week over 38 weeks, with parents paying for the remaining 13 weeks, or a stretched offer of 25 hours across 46 weeks. The stretched arrangement can be all year or term time. The difference is important when matching childcare to work: the weekly funded allowance and the weeks it covers change with the package.

Meals are included in the session fees. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the attendance and payment structure. Fees are paid monthly in advance, and introductory visits are free of charge.

• Mealtime organisation. In January 2025, waiting during lunch began to affect children's attention and behaviour, and improving the routine was the stated priority. On a visit, ask how staff now organise serving and waiting while preserving opportunities for children to help themselves.
• A house across three floors. The Hastings setting has three age-group rooms in a three-storey building. During a visit, explore how your child's room, outdoor time and movement around the house fit together, especially for a baby or a child with mobility needs.
• Funding across the year. The 38-week package leaves 13 weeks for parents to pay for, while the stretched option distributes hours across 46 weeks. Ask for a written plan covering your chosen sessions, funded weeks, meal arrangements during funded hours and who supplies nappies, wipes and other consumables.

Artemis Nursery Hastings suits families seeking either morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with a home visit to introduce care before the first nursery day. Its house-based layout and age-group rooms give the practical choice a clear shape.

The January 2025 learning examples were hands-on and connected with children's interests, while individual plans and professional cooperation supplied substance to SEND support. Mealtimes deserve attention when deciding. For families who value an introduction at home and the chance to share part of their child's nursery day, there is a concrete basis for considering Artemis.