Bluebells Day Nursery

Natural materials, a garden and neighbouring fields give Bluebells Day Nursery its character. Children handle real objects, make things and spend time outdoors each day; the emphasis is on exploration rather than toys with a single prescribed use. For babies, the Maple Room adds a practical detail that matters just as much: a separate area for sleep.

Bluebells accepts children from 3 months to 5 years in Partridge Green, with its main address at 21 Littleworth Lane, Horsham, RH13 8JE. At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall, with Outstanding judgements for behaviour and attitudes and personal development, and found safeguarding effective. Those are dated judgements, rather than an assessment of today's practice.

Attendance includes full days and flexible hours, with funded childcare also offered. The preschool Willow Room operates within Jolesfield School, making the location of a child's room an important practical distinction.

Rooms and Ages

Maple Room accommodates up to 8 babies aged 3 to 21 months, combining a separate sleep area with instruments, blocks, sensory experiences and toys that respond to a baby's actions. That small published room cap gives parents a concrete measure of the youngest children's setting, rather than a whole-nursery total that says little about a baby's day.

Oak Room has 12 places for children from 22 months to 3 years, with large windows overlooking the garden and fields, and daily opportunities to use clay, paint and natural materials while practising independence, cooperation and resolving disagreements. The creative materials allow children to experiment, while the social emphasis addresses the everyday business of sharing space and making choices with other children.

Willow Room, within Jolesfield School, has 20 places for children aged 3 to 5 years and brings literacy, art, science and mathematics into shared play. Its school setting gives preschool families a different physical base from the younger rooms; these individual room caps should not be read as the number of children attending together across Bluebells.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning and care: children's play supports language, physical development, relationships and early experiences of reading, number and the wider world. Alongside it, Bluebells uses The Playbook, its own curriculum covering the framework's areas of learning, the ways children learn effectively and British Values. The named curriculum sits alongside the EYFS requirements.

Reggio Emilia influence means staff follow children's ideas through projects and activities with room for different answers. Montessori principles add practical skills, hands-on exploration and choice within clear boundaries. These influences describe how experiences are organised, rather than a claim that Bluebells follows either approach exclusively. Its ethos and pedagogy gives those influences their practical meaning.

Natural and recycled objects are central to that approach. A cardboard tube can become something different each time a child uses it; timber and planks provide material for building, climbing and balancing. Storytelling, movement, construction and early number activities sit alongside time for children to direct their own play. The useful thread is choice: children can try an idea, change it and try again.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden, mud kitchen and fields are used daily. Digging and looking for insects turn outdoor time into close observation and sensory exploration, while all-weather clothing makes it possible to take part through changing seasons. Forest School sessions add outdoor experiences involving teamwork, manageable risks and care for nature; their emphasis extends the nursery's interest in learning through the natural world.

In August 2022, babies explored lavender and food textures, while two-year-olds experimented with water and noticed the marks their wet feet left on the patio. Outdoor experiences that month included collecting acorns, observing nearby cows and growing vegetables used at lunchtime. These examples show the substance of the nature-based approach at that time: looking, touching and testing ideas, rather than simply spending time outside.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins around 8 weeks before a child's start date, with a visit to share routines, preferences and information about the child. Short introductory sessions are free, tailored to the child and extended gradually as confidence develops; additional sessions depend on availability. This gives families a staged introduction rather than requiring a child to begin with their complete attendance pattern immediately.

A key person works with parents to arrange settling sessions. Parents generally say goodbye at the door, but remaining on site can be accommodated when a child's emotional needs require it. If separation becomes difficult, parents may be called back. The practical value is the ability to adjust the introduction around the child, while keeping communication open between home and nursery.

In August 2022, staff followed babies' individual sleep patterns and accommodated mothers who breastfed. Families also took part in regular stay-and-play sessions, giving parents opportunities to join children's experiences. These are examples from that period, rather than a current events timetable.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) coordinates Individual Support Plans and works with families and relevant professionals. Support can involve adapting activities, providing help within the room and monitoring development. Health visitors, speech and language therapists and SEN specialists are among the professionals involved when needed, giving parents concrete mechanisms to discuss rather than a general promise of inclusion.

There is a Designated Safeguarding Lead, and staff receive safeguarding and paediatric first aid training. In August 2022, some adults spoke too rapidly and used sentences that were too long for babies to process consistently, prompting an improvement action on support for babies' developing speech. This is the important qualification to the positive inspection picture, especially for families choosing the youngest room.

A nursery chef cooks meals on site using a seasonal, three-week menu cycle. The allergy policy uses individual care plans and procedures intended to reduce cross-contamination, but limits provision to its specified dietary categories and may exclude partial restrictions within a food group.

When children prepare to leave for school, staff work with parents and the receiving school and produce a written transition report. That provides continuity of information about the child; it does not confer an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, over 51 weeks. Full Day attendance runs from 8am to 6pm throughout the year, while flexible hours are also offered. These are different attendance options: the opening window alone does not describe every family's booking.

Bank holidays are closure days. On 24 December, Bluebells closes at 4pm, reopening on 2 January. Families whose working arrangements continue over Christmas need to account for that break as well as the usual public holidays.

Interest can be registered through the contact form or by emailing info@bluebells-day-nursery.co.uk. The team then arranges a tour and discussion of the child's needs. The contact address is 21 Littleworth Lane, Partridge Green, Horsham, RH13 8JE; preschool attendance is based in Willow Room within Jolesfield School.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding includes Working Parents – 30 Hours Funding, Universal 15 Hours (For All 3- and 4-Year-Olds), and 15 Hours for Disadvantaged 2-Year-Olds, subject to the respective eligibility conditions. Bluebells stretches entitlement across 51 weeks: the funded weekly allowance is 20 or 10 hours, depending on eligibility, used for full days from 8am to 6pm. Extra attendance outside entitlement is charged privately.

Food is included in private childcare fees. Funded days have an optional separate consumables charge covering food, nappies, wipes and sun cream; families who opt out supply those items themselves, with food meeting the Healthy Eating Policy. Opting out takes effect for the following term and requires 4 weeks' notice. Parents also provide nappy cream when needed, so non-food supplies do not all follow one arrangement.

A refundable deposit is returned after the child starts and attends their first term, or at term-end when no consumables charge has applied. It is not a condition of accessing funded entitlement, and discretionary staged payments can be agreed. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding terms explain the structure.

Bluebells describes a relationship with Jolesfield School through Willow Room's school location, intended to familiarise children with school life. Attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Baby communication. In August 2022, adults' pace of speech and sentence length sometimes made listening harder for babies. During a visit, ask how staff now adapt conversation to babies' emerging language.
• Settling timetable. Settling-in sessions have differing timetables: one offers 9–11am or 2.30–4.30pm, while another offers shorter appointments between 9.30–10.30am and 2–3pm. Agree the child's introduction schedule before the start date.
• Dietary fit. The allergy policy works within specified food-group categories and may not accommodate partial exclusions. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice for their child's exact requirements, including food brought from home on funded days.
• Preschool location. Willow Room is within Jolesfield School. Include that room in the visit discussion, establish the child's attendance location and keep the separate Reception application in view.

Bluebells suits families choosing either full-day attendance or flexible hours who value daily outdoor learning, natural materials and practical independence. Maple's cap of 8 babies and separate sleep area are useful details for the youngest children; Willow's school location gives preschool families a different consideration.

The August 2022 Good judgement gives a positive dated foundation, with the speech-support improvement point deserving attention. The strongest reasons to consider Bluebells are concrete: an adaptable introduction, rooms with clear age bands, a SENCo coordinating support and a day that makes use of garden and fields. Funded families should weigh the optional supplies charge against providing food and consumables themselves.