The Meadows Nursery School, Hastings

The children's full scale kitchen, front and back gardens and an outdoor classroom give The Meadows Nursery School, Hastings a practical, domestic character. There is space for play indoors and out. For families who value everyday experiences alongside stories and conversation, these are useful features to weigh against the attendance arrangements.

The nursery takes children aged 1 to 5 and has 57 places in total. At its 31 January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and judged safeguarding effective. The important reservation concerned stretching older children's learning and allowing children longer to answer questions, rather than simply keeping activities moving.

Full-year attendance and funded term-time attendance serve different family routines here. The choice affects both the length of the day and how funded hours are allocated.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play, conversation and practical activities contribute to their development. In January 2024, younger children joined rhymes supported by puppets, while older children explored quantities using oats and recalled Goldilocks and the Three Bears. A familiar story became a starting point for talking about size and number.

Colour Monster gave children another way into conversation in January 2024. Younger children explored feelings through puppets; older children painted emotions and discussed responses to sadness or anger. That puts an abstract subject into forms children can use: a character, a picture and a conversation about what to do next.

Practical independence also featured in January 2024. Younger children located their outdoor clothes, while older children used the stair handrail and practised fastening their shoelaces. These are small tasks with a clear purpose: children take part in getting themselves ready rather than having every step done for them.

There was a limit to the learning extension in January 2024. Counting activities sometimes stopped before staff helped older children take their number knowledge further, and questions during reading sometimes came with too little thinking time. Enjoying an activity and being sufficiently challenged by it are separate considerations. Both matter for children approaching school age.

Outdoor and Community Life

Front and back gardens, together with the outdoor classroom, give outdoor activity a place in the nursery's physical layout. The children's full-scale kitchen adds a substantial indoor feature. These spaces matter for families choosing between settings because they shape the environments available across the day, rather than relying on a single play area.

Small-animal encounters happen from time to time, with caterpillars, ducklings and chicks included in the parental consent arrangements. Families supply information about animal allergies, and a risk assessment describes the steps taken to manage these encounters. The frequency is occasional, so this should be understood as an experience within nursery life rather than a weekly programme.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children using English as an additional language received effective support and that communication with parents was strong. Staff had learned words from children's languages, and families received learning books. The combination matters: support for participation during the day sits alongside something parents can use to follow learning at home.

In January 2024, shared play sometimes needed adult help, with sand timers used to organise turns. Children also chose books from a story space to share at home. These concrete arrangements made social expectations and the connection between nursery and home part of ordinary activities.

Individual information is collected before attendance, including dietary needs, additional support, home language, familiar words and sleep patterns. Parents can identify an external agency already supporting their child. This gives families a structured way to explain what their child needs and how they communicate, rather than treating those details as an afterthought.

Collection arrangements use photographs and a password, with children released to authorised adults. Parents also give consent for photographs and recordings used to document learning and development, and for email communication covering newsletters and emergency closures. These are practical mechanisms for keeping the nursery informed and maintaining contact with families.

The food policy excludes nuts and sesame-containing foods and specifies how items such as fruit should be prepared. Nursery food is charged separately when parents do not supply it.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 18 St. Helens Crescent, Hastings, TN34 2EW. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 50 weeks of the year, excluding national bank holidays. Full-year attendance runs on a repeating weekly booking; the attendance pattern is chosen for at least a term.

For all-year attendance, the full-day session runs from 9am to 5pm, with wraparound bookings from 8am to 9am and from 5pm to 6pm. Term-time families can book a full day from 8am to 6pm or the shorter alternative from 9am to 4.30pm, with afternoon wraparound to 5pm or 6pm. Term-time attendance requires government funding eligibility and agreement of the requested booking.

Enquiries go to hastings@meadowsnurseries.co.uk or 01424 422611. A waiting-list request form starts the process; sessions, funding and the start date receive separate confirmation. Reducing or cancelling regular bookings requires six weeks' written notice. Illness and family absences do not produce refunds, and holiday discounts do not apply.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal and extended funding can be used term-time across 38 weeks or stretched across 49 weeks. The term-time weekly maxima are 15 universal hours or 30 extended hours; stretching distributes the annual entitlement over a longer period. Funded care and the nursery's 50-week opening year are therefore different measures.

Private hours beyond the funded allocation, or outside funded periods, are charged separately. Full-year bookings can include payable days when funding does not cover a complete week. For term-time attendance, regular sessions outside funded periods require a separate paid booking. The annual pattern matters as much as the weekly timetable when comparing costs.

Nursery-supplied breakfast, lunch and tea are charged separately, as are nursery-supplied snacks during funded sessions. Nursery-supplied nappies, wipes and cream carry separate charges when parents do not supply them. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation covering the chosen hours, food and consumables together.

• Challenge for older children. In January 2024, learning was not always extended far enough and children sometimes had insufficient time to answer. During a viewing, ask how staff now build on counting activities and allow thinking time during stories.
• Full-day booking terms. Hastings offers full-day patterns, but its booking forms express minimum attendance as two four-hour sessions for all-year care and two five-hour sessions for term-time care each week. Ask how those minimums apply to the full-day timetable before agreeing a repeating booking.
• Funding across the year. The nursery opens across 50 weeks, while stretched funding covers 49 weeks. A written quotation should distinguish funded time, payable hours and food or consumable charges so that the annual commitment is clear.
• Food and allergies. The food policy restricts nuts and sesame as well as specifying preparation requirements. Confirm current allergy arrangements and how home-supplied lunches are handled, especially where your child needs a restricted diet.

The Meadows suits families seeking either full-year attendance with a 9am to 5pm core day and wraparound care, or funded term-time attendance with a choice of 8am to 6pm and 9am to 4.30pm days. Its children's kitchen, separate front and back gardens and outdoor classroom provide tangible reasons to consider it.

The January 2024 picture combines stories, emotional learning and practical independence with specific teaching points to address. For parents of older children, the key decision is whether today's activities provide enough extension and thinking time. For every family, the other substantial consideration is the fit between the repeating booking, the funding calendar and separately charged extras.