Southdown Nursery

A vegetable patch, a sensory garden and children choosing between indoor and outdoor play give Southdown Nursery a clear character. Outdoor learning is part of the everyday arrangement here, with Forest School adding planned experiences in nature. For families who value exploration and practical independence, the garden deserves as much attention as the hall.

Ofsted rated Southdown Outstanding at its May 2023 inspection, with the same judgement across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. The nursery has 26 places in total and operates from Gervays Hall in Steyning. Children attending in May 2023 were aged two to four; that is the age range at that visit.

Southdown runs as a charity supported by volunteer trustees, parents and staff. Its attendance choices include morning sessions, afternoon sessions and whole days, within a term-based calendar. This is a setting where family involvement has a practical expression: gardening, repairs and fundraising help maintain the spaces children use.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage framework shapes the nursery's educational provision: children develop communication, physical skills, relationships and early understanding of literacy and mathematics through play. Southdown combines activities guided by adults with play children initiate themselves. Its free flow arrangement lets children choose the experiences they join and move between the indoor space and garden.

In May 2023, staff used children's interests to extend activities rather than sticking rigidly to a plan. A passing helicopter became a reason to listen closely, discuss the sound and consider where it came from. Signs and gestures also supported communication. For a parent, the useful detail is how an ordinary interruption could become a conversation, rather than simply ending the activity already under way.

Water play in May 2023 involved counting and comparing containers as children poured and filled them. Elsewhere, children tried writing their names and created dinosaur islands. These examples show how early number work, mark-making and imagination could share the same day. Cooking, science and sport sessions also formed part of the experiences at that time.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School is an approach to learning outdoors through practical experiences with the natural environment. Southdown runs sessions for older children at least once a week for six weeks, while incorporating outdoor principles and activities into daily routines for everyone. The programme emphasises caring for the local environment, working together and respecting agreed rules. It adds a planned strand to the freedom of garden play.

The physical spaces support different kinds of activity. An awning shades the large sandpit; the vegetable garden gives children opportunities to grow produce and eat it afterwards. A summer house supports imaginative play, while the tarmac area accommodates toy cars, water activities and messy play. Children can choose between movement, making and quieter exploration rather than relying on a single outdoor activity.

A bug hotel provides another reason to look closely at wildlife. This part of the garden also hosts Forest School. Alongside the sensory garden, these features make nature accessible within the nursery's own grounds, so outdoor learning need not depend entirely on an outing.

Community experiences extend beyond the garden. In May 2023, children regularly explored the local area and talked with village shopkeepers about their work. In March 2024, a visit to Love to Move involved showing Easter crowns and singing songs. That is a concrete example of children sharing something they had prepared with people beyond their usual nursery group.

The Summer Fair takes place in the garden every year, with games, stalls and family activities. Garden and Fix it mornings are termly occasions for families to contribute to the grounds. These events give parents a way to participate in the setting as well as bringing families together outside ordinary sessions.

At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised personalised SEND support, including work with parents and other professionals and careful use of additional funding. Those are dated findings about practice, rather than a promise about any individual child's experience now.

In May 2023, children developed close attachments to staff and sought help when they needed it. On balancing beams, they could attempt a challenge with adults nearby; at the slide, they waited for their turn. The combination matters: independence involved both having a go and recognising when support was useful.

Daily care also created opportunities to practise doing things independently in May 2023. Children prepared snacks, served their own drinks and managed coats and wellies. Handwashing followed muddy garden play. These were small, repeated tasks with practical value for the next stage of learning, rather than school preparation confined to writing or counting.

Parents received updates about learning and the next steps being worked on in May 2023, and their contributions were listened to. Southdown also provides settling-in information and an all-about-me form for joining families. These give parents a starting point for sharing a child's routines and needs before attendance begins.

A SENCO role and designated child protection officer roles form part of the staff structure, and all staff have first-aid training. The current SEND information includes a Local Offer and links to parent support resources. Families needing additional support have both a named responsibility within the team and information to begin the conversation.

Southdown provides healthy packed-lunch guidance, and children grow salad and vegetables at nursery. Growing food gives children a practical connection to healthy eating.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions, afternoon sessions and whole days are paid attendance options. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm from Monday to Thursday and 9am to noon on Friday. Early drop-off can extend the opening window to 8.30am, with collection extensions to 3.30pm from Monday to Thursday or 1pm on Friday.

Fees and funded entitlement are calculated across 38 weeks each year. The term calendar includes holiday breaks, so this attendance pattern needs to fit the family's arrangements outside term time. The Friday finish is also earlier than on the other weekdays, including when the collection extension is used.

Getting There

The address is Gervays Hall, Jarvis Lane, Steyning, West Sussex, BN44 3GL. Parking immediately outside is restricted, with nearby alternatives at Fletcher's Croft car park and on Holland Road. The nursery is only a five-minute walk from the high street.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01903 814581 or by email at info@southdownnursery.co.uk. An application form is part of the joining arrangements.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered alongside privately paid sessions. The nursery's funding terms include 30 hours free entitlement funding for eligible working families with three- and four-year-olds, delivered on its 38-week basis. Eligibility conditions apply; entitlement does not itself guarantee a place or a particular attendance arrangement.

The fees page sets out the charge structure, including a statement that there are no hidden consumables costs. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and fees are reviewed annually.

Paid fees remain due when a child is absent, and Bank Holidays are charged too. For families comparing the cost of different attendance patterns, those terms matter alongside the usual session charge.

• Term calendar and Friday finish. Attendance is calculated over 38 weeks, and Friday opening ends at noon with an extension to 1pm. Consider how both fit your working week and holiday arrangements.
• Choosing a session pattern. Morning, afternoon and whole-day options sit alongside early drop-off and later collection. When booking a visit, ask how your proposed sessions would work with settling in and your child's outdoor experiences.
• Lunch and consumables. Southdown provides healthy packed-lunch guidance, while the fee terms rule out hidden consumables costs. Ask how lunch works and for a sample quotation explaining what to bring and how funded and privately paid attendance would be charged.

Southdown suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as whole-day attendance during term time, especially those who value outdoor choice and hands-on learning. Forest School, the vegetable garden and family gardening mornings give that preference a concrete setting.

The Outstanding judgement from May 2023 is a substantial part of the case for Southdown, but the practical fit deserves equal weight. Its term calendar and shorter Friday shape family life just as surely as the garden shapes children's play.