Glenhurst Nursery & Pre-School

A covered veranda, a walled garden and a separate building for younger children give Glenhurst a clear practical character: outdoor play is part of the day, with sheltered space for wet weather too. Based on Beechworth Road in Havant, it cares for children aged three months to five years and has capacity for 80 children in total.

At its July 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Glenhurst Good and judged safeguarding effective. That dated judgement sits alongside two concrete improvement priorities: more precise teaching through better staff understanding of the curriculum, and more consistent teaching of personal hygiene. Both matter to the everyday experience, rather than simply to the inspection label.

Younger children use the purpose-built Nursery building, while the Rising 3 Class and Pre-School Class occupy the main building. Attendance includes term-time and year-round care, with shorter preschool mornings as well as longer funded days.

Rooms and Ages

The Nursery building combines an open-plan, air-conditioned interior with a sleep room and covered veranda; its activities emphasise exploration and growing confidence through instruments, simple cooking and creative play. Those physical arrangements give younger children space for both active experiences and rest.

The Rising 3 Class is based in the main building, and children with autumn birthdays may spend a year there before their final preschool year. The Pre-School Class also uses the main building, with learning extending from language, movement and relationships into early reading, number, creativity and understanding the world.

For children aged two to three, Glenhurst gives its usual staffing as one adult to four children, compared with the legal minimum of one to five. That is a meaningful staffing difference for this age group; it does not tell families how many children share a room.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum shapes the day through play, exploration and active learning, beginning with communication, physical development and personal, social and emotional development. As children grow, activities also develop literacy, mathematics, expressive arts and understanding the world. This is the common early-years framework, rather than a separate educational programme unique to Glenhurst.

Free flow play means children move between activities and quieter spaces, with staff supervision. Books and rest have a place alongside cooking, crafts, messy play and physical games outside. The practical value is choice: children can take part in different kinds of activity rather than remain with one task throughout.

In July 2023, children explored floating and sinking by predicting what objects would do and testing their ideas in water. Other examples included making play-dough creatures and working out how shapes fitted together. These are useful illustrations of how conversation and hands-on activity can turn play into an opportunity to think, try and explain.

The limitation was precision. In July 2023, staff understanding of the curriculum varied, and some activities did not extend learning as purposefully as they could. Interesting materials alone were not enough; adults needed a clearer grasp of what each activity should help a child learn next.

Outdoor and Community Life

A sandpit, construction and reading areas, bikes and a secure playground give the walled garden several uses. The veranda adds sheltered outdoor space for younger children, so wet weather need not move every activity indoors. Gardening, exploration and sport also form part of the outdoor offer.

In July 2023, children assembled a tyre obstacle course and kept trying as they balanced around it. This example captures the practical challenge available through physical play: children could attempt something difficult, adjust and try again.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a Key Person who follows individual learning goals and shares progress with parents. For younger children, families contribute information about naps, meals, comfort items and favourite songs. That gives staff concrete details to use when supporting a child’s familiar routines.

Communication includes a secure parent app carrying daily information about sleep, meals, nappies, activities and wellbeing, alongside photographs, observations and messages. The younger children’s daily communication form also covers care routines. These details are useful because they connect the practical parts of a nursery day with what happens at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received effective support and made good progress, with small-group work and sensory resources helping participation, attention and emotional regulation. This is evidence of practice at that visit, rather than a promise about every future child’s experience.

In July 2023, staff supported communication with technology and words familiar from home, while demonstrating vocabulary and sentence construction for children learning English. The approach addressed a concrete barrier: helping children communicate with adults and take part in activities.

Personal hygiene was less consistent. In July 2023, handwashing before food was established, but adults did not reliably teach children to manage noses or cover coughs. Some children consequently coughed over toys. This deserves attention alongside the positive care findings because hygiene depends on repeated adult guidance throughout the day.

Sessions and Attendance

Glenhurst’s address is 16 Beechworth Road, Havant, PO9 1AX. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with both year-round and term-time attendance.

The funded options distinguish between age and entitlement. For the 30-hour offer from nine months, day patterns run from 8am to 4pm or 8am to 6pm. The supported two-year-old 15-hour option uses 8.30am to 4pm over two days. For preschool children aged three and above, funded patterns include daily mornings from 9am to noon and days from 9am to 3pm.

Flexible additional hours and a choice of hours are also offered. That gives families more than one attendance model to consider: a preschool morning, a school-length day and an extended day serve different routines. The contact form provides an enquiry route, and the prospectus and fee guide can be sent by email.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding includes 30 hours from nine months, 15-hour support for eligible two-year-olds whose families receive support, and 15 to 30 hours for preschool children aged three and above. Entitlements can be taken during term time or spread across the year; eligibility remains a condition of the relevant offer.

Funded-only attendance is offered, and Glenhurst does not charge top-up fees or service charges for funded preschool care. Additional private hours can be added. The funding and fees page sets out the attendance options, and families receive current prices in the nursery’s written fee information.

Meals booked with funded preschool care are charged separately. A resident chef prepares them fresh each day in the nursery kitchen.

• Teaching precision. In July 2023, staff understanding of the curriculum was uneven and some activities lacked a clear next learning step. On a visit, ask how the team now plans and reviews activities for an individual child.
• Everyday hygiene. In July 2023, adults were inconsistent about teaching nose care and covering coughs. Ask how those habits are reinforced during play and care routines.
• The younger-child day. The Nursery has a sleep room, sheltered outdoor space and individual routine information from parents. A showaround is a useful opportunity to discuss how your child’s naps and activity preferences would fit together.
• Funded attendance and extras. The timetable differs between the nine-month, supported two-year-old and preschool offers, while booked preschool meals carry a separate charge. Ask for a written breakdown for your intended pattern, including arrangements for nappies and other consumables.

Glenhurst suits families looking for either shorter preschool mornings or longer day patterns, with term-time and year-round options. Its practical strengths are clear: a separate younger-child building, sheltered outdoor play, a walled garden and communication that covers daily care as well as learning.

The July 2023 Good judgement supports a positive assessment, but the detail deserves equal weight. Teaching precision and personal hygiene were the areas needing attention. Families who value outdoor choice and individual routines have substantial reasons to consider Glenhurst, with those two everyday questions shaping the visit.