Southover Nursery School

Weekly movement sessions, poems learned with actions and a garden used in wet weather give Southover Nursery School a recognisable character. This independent, family-run nursery in Lewes welcomes children aged two to four and has 30 places in total. Its open-plan classroom supports children choosing their own activities, while a smaller, quieter room offers space for games with fewer children and a drawer for each child's belongings.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Southover Good and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. The strongest practical features are its varied play programme, individual key-person relationships and detailed arrangements for supporting children with additional needs. There is also a specific improvement point: younger children needed clearer visual help when moving between parts of the day.

Attendance is term-time, with morning sessions throughout the working week and full-day or separate afternoon sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That pattern makes the nursery's timetable as important to a family decision as its activities.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides planning and assessment: play develops language, physical skills, relationships and early understanding of words and numbers. Adult-led activities sit alongside children's own choices; the named activities add to this foundation.

Jumping Beans & Gym includes weekly occupational-therapy-inspired sessions: small groups use a peanut ball, beanbags and balance beams to practise awareness of their bodies, others and space. Whole-group gym adds stretching, balancing and movement to music. Weekly Yoga provides 15 minutes of balance, stretching and relaxation.

Language gets a similarly varied treatment. The Poetry Baskets programme supplies poems and rhymes, with a Poem of the Month often linked to a topic or season and shared with families. Children learn the words and accompanying actions, then recite the poems daily. Daily singing is complemented by Music Time, when percussion instruments let children explore sounds and feelings; some songs include simple Makaton signs. Christmas and end of term shows provide occasions to share the music with families.

Age-related group times include stories, games and conversation. Older children practise a register, counting, show and tell, phonics and early writing. These smaller-group activities sit alongside free choice in the curriculum and timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large garden is used daily, including in rain. Children grow vegetables and sunflowers, giving them living things to tend alongside space for balancing, climbing and riding. Indoors, construction materials, role-play areas and sensory tables provide different routes into exploration: counting blocks, making marks or investigating how materials feel.

Life cycles become tangible through incubating eggs, caring for chicks and watching caterpillars develop into butterflies before releasing them. Visitors who help others explain their work, while fruit and vegetable tasting gives children direct experience of unfamiliar foods. These are practical encounters, with something to observe, handle or discuss.

In June 2025, children investigated fossils in sand and explored sea creatures in a water tray. A treasure hunt created a reason to make marks, while scales in the sand introduced weight and capacity. Those examples show how an interest can become a language or mathematics activity, rather than a separate lesson imposed on play.

Relationships and Communication

Each child's key person leads settling, records development in a special book and plans next learning steps. Parents can talk informally or arrange formal discussions, and receive a daily activity summary.

For difficult separations, parents and staff can gradually extend time apart. Southover recommends parents stay no longer than half an hour to avoid unsettling other children. An annual Taster Day introduces incoming families to the setting, staff and peers before the academic year.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO oversees individual support plans developed with parents and specialists, including speech therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Targets and strategies are reviewed, and one-to-one key-person support depends on need. Families have a named role coordinating that planning.

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND made good progress, supported by collaboration with families and outside agencies. In June 2025, an interactive bucket was used to encourage shared attention, and children who needed it had access to a sensory tent and space. However, visual prompts during changes of activity did not consistently give younger children enough help to understand what would happen next. That concern deserves attention alongside the positive support findings.

The premises have a level side entrance and, where needed, a ramp into the flat garden. A classroom and large hall provide space for accessible activities and individual exercise programmes. Medical support depends on appropriate training and sufficient staffing for individual care; prescribed medicines require suitable training and written parental permission. These conditions matter for families planning care around health needs.

Two designated safeguarding leads provide on-site cover, and staff undertake child-protection training with annual safeguarding and Prevent refresher courses. Staff are also trained in paediatric first aid. These are arrangements for managing responsibilities, alongside the dated safeguarding judgement above.

Sessions and Attendance

Southover operates at Southover Church Hall, St. James Street, Lewes, BN7 1HR. Morning sessions run from 8.30am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, families can book a separate afternoon from 12.30pm to 3pm or combine morning and afternoon into a full day from 8.30am to 3pm. Thursday and Friday finish at lunchtime.

For enquiries, use the contact form, call 01273 486435 or email hello@southovernursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Southover offers EYEE (Early Years Education Entitlement), including the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds and eligible entitlements for two-year-olds and working families. The universal offer starts in the term following the child's third birthday. The entitlements described are up to 15 or 30 hours weekly over 38 weeks, but Southover's offer permits a maximum of 21 funded hours a week, subject to eligibility and availability. A 30-hour entitlement therefore does not mean 30 funded hours can be used here.

Funding is allocated through set blocks: a three-hour block from 8.30am to 11.30am on Monday to Friday, or a five-hour block from 8.30am to 1.30pm on Monday to Wednesday. Attendance beyond the funded allocation is charged privately, and a valid funding code is required before a funded place can be offered. Session length and funded time are separate matters. The fees and funding page explains the structure; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Parents supply snacks and packed lunches. During snack time, children practise pouring milk and cutting fruit with adult supervision. Invoices arrive at the start of term, with the option to pay in two instalments, and at least six weeks' notice is required to leave or reduce sessions. The nursery also participates in tax-free childcare.

Moving on to School

During the summer term, school preparation includes managing coats and shoes, recognising and writing names, washing hands independently and putting lunch boxes away. Staff meet Reception teachers to discuss each child's special book and transition report, compiled with parental input, and arrange visits to and from the children's schools. For children with SEND, the SENCO and key person meet the next school's staff to explain individual needs and support strategies. This gives the next school information about the child's learning and support needs.

• Younger children's routines. In June 2025, visual support during changes of activity was inconsistent for younger children. On a visit, ask how prompts now help a two-year-old understand the next part of the day.
• Funding within shorter days. The nursery offers up to 21 funded hours weekly, subject to eligibility and availability, even where a child qualifies for 30. Match the funded blocks and any private hours to the sessions you intend to use.
• Term-time and lunchtime finishes. Thursday and Friday end at 12.30pm, while separate afternoons and full days are offered earlier in the week. This pattern needs to work with employment and holiday care.
• Individual care planning. Medical support depends on training and staffing, and meals come from home. At a visit, discuss any health or allergy needs and which non-food supplies your child should bring.

Southover suits families seeking term-time mornings, separate afternoons or full days earlier in the week. Poetry Baskets and hands-on life-cycle activities give the play programme substance, with key-person contact keeping parents involved.

The June 2025 Good judgement sits alongside an improvement point about younger children's transitions. Lunchtime finishes on Thursday and Friday, and the limit on funded hours usable here, are the practical considerations.