Kookaburra Playgroup

A purpose-built playgroup beside the playing field gives Kookaburra a clear identity: independent, family-run and organised around term-time attendance. Its Hills Farm Lane setting in Horsham has capacity for 30 children, with the scout hut and neighbouring ball court providing useful landmarks.

At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Kookaburra Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made good progress. Later safeguarding action matters alongside that dated judgement and is covered below. The accepted age range is one to five years.

Fee-paying families can book mornings, afternoons or whole days; funded attendance has separate morning and afternoon times. This is a nursery with several attendance patterns rather than a single daily booking.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care, with play providing opportunities to develop language, physical skills and understanding. Kookaburra's activities give that framework concrete expression: construction, stories, practical tasks and outdoor exploration all feature.

In November 2022, children made vehicles with magnetic construction pieces and explored three-dimensional shapes. Pouring drinks also became a chance to discuss quantities. These examples show how everyday play and routines can introduce mathematical ideas, rather than reserving learning for an adult-led activity.

Books had an active role in November 2022. Older children used illustrations to retell stories, while younger children practised handling books. Staff also used signs within activities and routines to support interactions with children learning English as an additional language. These were practical ways to give children more than one route into communication.

Current activities include Car Wash, where children use water, sponges and brushes to clean cars outdoors, and Bug Hunting in the garden, including watching ladybirds. Raising caterpillars and observing their transformation into butterflies adds another encounter with living things. These activities bring observation and hands-on exploration together.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supports movement as well as investigation. Children practise walking on stilts and use an obstacle course; an outdoor chalkboard provides space for mark making with chunky chalk. Gloop and shaving foam offer other materials for making marks, giving children different ways to experiment before pencil work becomes familiar.

In November 2022, community experiences included bus journeys to shops, conversations with shopkeepers and visits to parks and a playground. Children also became familiar with primary-school settings through local links. That is useful transition work, rather than evidence of an admissions advantage.

A personal key person gives each child an identified adult responsible for supporting their learning and development. Parents are treated as partners in that work. For families, this offers a clear point of contact rather than leaving responsibility spread across the whole team.

In November 2022, settling arrangements helped staff establish relationships with families, and parents received spoken updates each day alongside activities to try at home. Children practised everyday independence too: younger children fed themselves, while older children managed lunch boxes and poured drinks. These small tasks make care routines part of learning.

There were two practical weaknesses in November 2022. Younger children sometimes spent group transitions waiting rather than participating, and some adults used shortened or inaccurate words instead of modelling clear speech. The improvement priorities were better organisation of larger-group activities and more consistent language modelling. Both matter for children who need help staying engaged or developing their vocabulary.

Following regulatory visits in November 2023 and November 2025, Ofsted required safeguarding changes concerning staff responses and recruitment in 2023, then the recording and reporting of welfare concerns in 2025; the actions from both events were subsequently recorded as met. The repetition deserves attention even though those actions were completed. The 2022 safeguarding judgement should therefore be read as a dated assessment.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. This calendar suits families organising childcare around school terms; holiday cover needs to fit around it.

For fee-paying parents, AM runs from 8.30am to noon, PM from noon to 3.30pm, and all day from 8.30am to 3.30pm. Government-funded morning sessions run from 9.30am to noon, with afternoons from noon to 3.30pm. The later funded morning start is a meaningful distinction for parents planning their working day.

There is no lunch-club charge, and funded hours can be used continuously across the midday break. A whole day counts as two sessions for the consumables charging structure. Telephone, email and a contact form provide enquiry routes, and visits take place by arrangement during opening hours.

Getting There

The address is Hills Farm Lane, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1TZ, behind the scout hut beside the playing field. A car park sits next to the field, with nearby bus stops and access to the A24 providing alternatives for the journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

Kookaburra accepts nine-month funding, two-year funding, working-families two-year funding, universal 15-hour funding for three- and four-year-olds, and 30-hour funding. These sit within its term-time operation, while hours beyond funded attendance are charged privately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the charging structure.

Snacks and post-meal wipes are covered by an optional weekly consumables charge, which also includes cooking activities and additional services, including for funded attendance. Parents who opt out supply their child's snack and wipes for each session, with snacks following the healthy-eating policy.

• Repeated safeguarding action. The November 2023 and November 2025 actions were met, but they concerned safeguarding on separate occasions. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how recording, reporting and staff responses now work in practice.
• Different morning starts. Fee-paying mornings begin at 8.30am, while funded mornings begin at 9.30am. Choose the attendance pattern against the time childcare needs to start, as well as the number of hours required.
• A dog in the nursery. An office dog attends on two days of the week. Discuss how animal contact is managed for your child, including supervision and any allergy or anxiety concerns.
• Term-time attendance. Kookaburra closes outside its term-time calendar. Families needing care throughout the year will need a separate holiday arrangement.

Kookaburra suits families seeking a family-run playgroup with morning, afternoon or whole-day attendance during term time. Its garden activities, practical play and personal key-person arrangement give parents concrete reasons to consider it. The separate funded session times and optional snack-and-wipes charge also make the booking decision more specific than simply comparing opening hours.

The Good judgement dates to November 2022. Repeated later safeguarding action, although completed, belongs in the decision alongside the appealing everyday activities. Families should weigh both when judging whether the setting fits their child and their weekly routine.