Cottage Pre-School

A spacious hall, a garden with raised flower beds and a parent-led charity give Cottage Pre-School its character. Based at St Mary’s Social Centre in Lewes, it combines room for physical play with smaller experiences such as choosing books and inventing role-play games. Children have ways to join in both independently and alongside others.

At its January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Cottage Pre-School Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), progressed well. Its capacity is 24 children in total, and its current offer is for children aged 2–5 during term time. The practical emphasis is on preschool life rather than baby care.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play supports learning alongside conversation, movement and growing independence. Here, the indoor hall accommodates creative activities, messy play, books and imaginative games. Children can choose activities, while staff adjust what they offer to children's interests and needs. That gives an interested child room to pursue an idea rather than simply move through a fixed sequence.

In January 2025, children used the role-play resources to invent games together. Adults drew them into conversations with playful questions and jokes, encouraging children to respond and keep an exchange going. For parents, this is a useful picture of how language learning can happen through ordinary play rather than a separate formal lesson.

Practical jobs were part of the experience too. During January 2025, children helped tidy resources and prepare produce for snacks, shared materials and assisted friends with lunch boxes. These are small tasks with a clear purpose: taking responsibility, waiting for a turn and noticing when someone else needs help.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden has an outdoor sandpit, a patio, raised flower beds and a grassy bank, with larger play equipment set on woodchip. Cottage aims to use it each day across different weather conditions. The combination gives children space for energetic play as well as opportunities to explore materials and growing things.

In January 2025, outdoor activity included running, climbing and dancing. Children also went to the beach and on outings around the local community, encountering situations beyond their familiar preschool surroundings. These examples describe that period rather than a fixed timetable of trips.

Cultural learning needs more depth. At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted identified that activities about cultural celebrations did not consistently connect with children's existing experience, and asked for stronger teaching about cultures, faiths and traditions. The issue was the meaning children could take from an activity, rather than simply whether an event was marked.

Relationships and Communication

A key person helps both child and parent settle, listens to concerns and builds the child's first relationship with a familiar adult. Once the child has settled, that practitioner observes development and plans what comes next. Families therefore have someone with a defined responsibility for understanding their child, rather than relying only on whoever happens to be nearby.

Tapestry is the platform used to share children's progress with parents and carers. It gives families a way to stay involved in what their child is learning. In January 2025, staff also discussed children's next learning steps with parents, helping them continue activities at home. The useful thread is continuity between preschool experiences and family life.

Parents can participate in running the charity through its committee. Members meet with staff about everyday operation and fundraising, with elections held at the autumn annual meeting. This gives interested families a practical route into supporting the setting beyond their own child's attendance.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a SENCO and a child protection lead, and all staff have paediatric first-aid training. These are defined arrangements, rather than a general promise about support. In January 2025, staff worked with families and other professionals to identify children's individual needs and plan help, while leaders considered how additional funding could be used.

During that same month, the team comprised six staff, including the manager. Health-related experiences included resources about caring for teeth and opportunities for active play. Staff supplied healthy snacks, while children brought packed lunches from home; staff worked with parents on their nutritional content. These are January 2025 meal arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

Cottage Pre-School operates at St. Marys Social Centre, Christie Road, Lewes, BN7 1PL. Attendance is term-time only. In January 2025, its opening hours were 9am–3pm, Monday to Friday; those hours describe the setting at that date.

Charges are organised around three-hour sessions. Registration forms can be obtained from the preschool, and returning a form puts a child's name on its waiting list. Places are allocated once children reach age two, as vacancies arise. This is a booking rule rather than a statement about spaces currently free.

Getting There

Parents and carers can use the on-site car park. That is a practical advantage for families bringing children by car, especially when carrying lunch bags or spare clothes.

Funding and Paid Extras

Cottage accepts Education Entitlement funding, including eligible two-year-old children. For the entitlement beginning in the term after a child's third birthday, it offers up to 15 funded hours weekly until their fifth birthday; the preschool's claims end when compulsory education begins. It also offers up to 30 hours where the child is eligible. Funded entitlement and additional paid attendance are separate considerations; the nursery also accepts childcare vouchers.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families should use that quotation to understand the cost of their chosen attendance pattern alongside any entitlement they qualify for.

• Term-time routine. Attendance follows term time, so this suits families able to organise care around that calendar. Consider how the preschool pattern fits the rest of the year.
• Cultural learning. The January 2025 improvement point concerned making cultures, religions and traditions meaningful to children. During a visit, ask for a recent example of how staff connect this learning to children's own experiences.
• Session costs. Fees are arranged around three-hour sessions and funded attendance depends on eligibility. When discussing a place, ask how your chosen sessions are charged, including meals and non-food consumables.

Cottage Pre-School suits families seeking term-time preschool sessions, opportunities to participate in a parent committee and a setting with substantial indoor and outdoor play space. The hall, garden and key-person responsibilities give its offer practical substance. January 2025 observations add a picture of conversation, shared play and everyday independence, while the cultural-learning improvement point deserves attention when families visit.