Explorers Seaford Nursery

Mud kitchens, weekly art and Forest School activities give Explorers Seaford Nursery a clear character: children have plenty to explore, with stories and practical independence woven through their day. Based at Seaford Baptist Church, it takes children aged two to five and has capacity for 36 children. Two adjoining rooms connect to the garden, giving outdoor play a place in the everyday routine.

At its February 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, finding that carefully ordered learning and close relationships helped children become settled, inquisitive learners. The detail behind that judgement matters: children investigated ideas, developed language through stories and used practical resources to prepare their hands for writing.

For parents, the appeal combines substantial outdoor experiences with free, child-paced settling sessions. Families can remain alongside their child during free settling sessions, with the pace determined by the child. Attendance choices include funded morning or afternoon sessions, privately paid full days and an extended day.

Rooms and Ages

Two spacious, adjoining rooms have continuous access to the garden, while a main hall provides space for daily activities. The premises are entirely on the ground floor and wheelchair-friendly. A shared kitchen is equipped for cooking and food activities with children, adding another practical setting for exploration.

Nursery attendance covers ages two to five. Holiday Club caters for ages two to eight, with groups organised around age and need.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning here: children develop skills through storytelling, music, movement, outdoor exploration and practical tasks such as pouring drinks and managing clothing. The curriculum places emphasis on emotional wellbeing and creativity, alongside opportunities to investigate the world around them.

Colour Explorers is a weekly art class introducing materials, techniques and tools. It gives children a recurring opportunity to experiment creatively. In March 2026, Jack and the Beanstalk became a core-book project, with plans to grow seeds, measure their growth, construct beanstalks from different materials and act out the story. The link between a familiar story and those proposed activities gives families a concrete example of how language, number and imaginative play can connect.

In February 2025, water play with syringes and pipettes developed hand control for writing, while revisiting stories, acting out ideas and practising vocabulary supported communication.

As a champion for 50 things to do before you are 5, the nursery promotes inexpensive family play ideas, including planting, making playdough and sharing stories.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School takes place at Seaford Primary, reached by a walking bus. Activities include den building, making tipis, rope swings, tyre swings and lighting fires. The fees structure provides for six sessions in a term, with a separate charge for participation. This is an additional experience alongside the nursery's garden access.

Closer to the playrooms, the garden has mud kitchens and natural areas. Nature sessions can involve clay prints, bug hotels or sensory tea. Continuous access allows children to move between the rooms and garden through the day, so outdoor exploration can follow their interests.

In February 2025, the day also extended into the community: staff planned visits to meet a local orchestra and choir, while professionals including firefighters, dentists, police and paramedics discussed their work at the nursery. These encounters gave children real experiences to talk about and helped introduce the roles people play beyond nursery life.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is shaped around the individual child. Sessions are free, have no fixed limit and allow a parent to stay until their child is ready. That gives families a gradual route into attendance, especially when separation needs time.

Termly stay-and-play sessions help parents understand the day and get to know their child's key person. Communication also includes daily conversations and an online learning journal. A March 2026 update described daily photographs on Tapestry, linking children's creations with the core-book work. Together, these channels give parents both everyday contact and examples of learning to revisit with their child.

Families can contribute reading, home-language words or personal skills. The nursery has a Christian ethos and welcomes families of every belief and background.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

An on-site SENCO provides a named role for coordinating special educational needs support, and the ground-floor layout offers wheelchair access. At the February 2025 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding arrangements and highly effective support for children with SEND, including work alongside parents, local-authority services and outside specialists to identify appropriate interventions and use funding beneficially.

Everyday independence has concrete outlets: children help with spreading and cutting food, pour their own drinks and practise dressing. Oral-health activities include a toothbrush for each child. These routines give children opportunities to manage small tasks themselves and learn about caring for their bodies.

Meals follow a rolling arrangement, allowing children to eat while others continue playing; breakfast is offered before 8.30am, and hot meals are available with a separate charge. The nursery operates a nut-free policy and caters for dietary preferences and special diets.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Seaford Baptist Church, Belgrave Road, Seaford, BN25 2EE. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 5pm, across the year, with term-time nursery provision and a separate Holiday Club during school breaks. Families can enquire by telephone or contact form, and nursery tours can be booked.

Privately paid nursery patterns include a morning session from 8.30am to 11am, an afternoon from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, a full day from 8.30am to 3.30pm and an extended day from 7.30am to 5pm. Short early-morning bookings run from 7.30am to 8am and from 8am to 8.30am; an afternoon extension runs from 2.30pm to 5pm.

Holiday Club operates during half terms except Christmas, with opening hours of 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Its booking choices include half days of 8am to noon or noon to 4pm, a Popular Session of 8.30am to 3pm and a full day of 8am to 4pm. Holiday Club viewings are not offered.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use the EYEE 15-hour offer through weekday morning sessions or afternoons from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, for the stated two-to-three and three-to-four age bands. The working-families 30-hour offer is delivered Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 2.30pm, for parents working at least 16 hours a week; funding starts from the term after a child turns nine months, although this nursery accepts children only from age two.

Funded places have no top-up fees. For both funded and privately paid attendance, hot meals are charged separately, parents can provide lunchboxes, and snacks carry a voluntary contribution with the alternative of bringing a healthy snack. Forest School is a separately charged, non-compulsory extra. Registration and joining the waiting list are free, with no upfront deposit.

The funding and fees page sets out the attendance options and extras. For current prices, ask the nursery for a quotation.

Getting There

The nursery is close to the town centre, train station and bus routes, including the number 12. It describes relationships with local primary schools, including Seaford Primary, where Forest School takes place. Attending the nursery does not guarantee a place at Seaford Primary.

• Funded and paid mornings differ. The funded and privately paid mornings have different finishing times. Compare the appropriate pattern with your collection arrangements.
• Forest School is an extra. Six sessions per term carry a separate, non-compulsory charge. During a nursery tour, ask how participation fits your child's attendance pattern.
• Allergies need an individual discussion. The nursery has a nut-free policy and caters for special diets. Confirm current practice for your child's allergy before agreeing meal arrangements.
• Holiday care has its own format. Holiday Club serves children aged two to eight and has different hours and booking patterns from nursery sessions. Viewings for the club are not offered, so consider how its structure fits your child's needs.

Explorers Seaford Nursery suits families seeking funded morning or afternoon attendance as well as those choosing privately paid full or extended days. Garden access, practical independence, weekly art and Forest School give its offer substance, while child-paced settling and regular parent contact make the care arrangements useful to understand.

The February 2025 Outstanding judgement supports that appeal. Families should weigh the different funded and paid session boundaries and the separate Holiday Club format.