St Andrew's Pre-School

Mixed-age mornings and shared afternoons give St Andrew's Pre-School its character. At the Cants Lane setting in Burgess Hill, Woodland and Safari Classes run alongside each other in the morning before children come together later in the day. The arrangement makes the choice between a morning and a longer session about the shape of a child's day as well as its length.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Outstanding on 16 July 2024, with the same judgement across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. The learning examples give that judgement substance: in July 2024, children followed drawings to construct models, explored mathematics through play dough and harvested carrots they had grown. Practical experiences carried real learning.

The pre-school caters for children between two and five and has 85 places in total. It operates during term time, with morning-only, morning-with-lunch and full-day attendance patterns. This review concerns the church-based Cants Lane setting, where step-free rooms and accessible toilets are useful practical features for families needing easier access.

Rooms and Ages

Woodland and Safari Classes are the Cants Lane groups. Their morning sessions mix ages, rather than separating children into a succession of age-labelled rooms; afternoon attendance brings the groups together. For parents, that makes the social arrangement an important part of choosing a session: children encounter different ages in their morning group and a combined group later.

The church premises have no internal steps, two accessible toilets and children's changing facilities. These are concrete provisions for children who need help with mobility or personal care. In July 2024, the pre-school occupied two substantial rooms within the church community centre.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework: children develop language, physical skills, relationships and early understanding through play and everyday experiences. St Andrew's places practical independence and consideration for others alongside these areas of learning. Putting on shoes, handling coat fastenings and recognising toileting needs become opportunities to practise skills children use beyond pre-school.

The curriculum also connects communication with ordinary social situations. Children practise asking for help, talking about family experiences and explaining feelings. Circle time, clearing away and snack routines provide repeated occasions to listen, take turns and contribute. The value lies in using language for something children actually need to do.

In July 2024, activities were adapted to children's different stages. Fruit and vegetable play involved exploring shape and colour for younger children, while older children sorted produce and used money in pretend purchases. Play dough introduced some children to addition and others to fractions. The same resource supported different challenges rather than requiring everyone to complete an identical task.

Model-making supplied another example that month. Children matched blocks to design drawings and discussed the shapes and dimensions they were using. This joined construction with mathematical vocabulary and attention to a plan. It was purposeful play with a visible task to solve.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily movement includes outdoor and indoor opportunities, with climbing, riding, balancing and digging among the activities. Fine-motor practice sits alongside these larger movements through creative work and mark-making. Children therefore have ways to work on control and coordination across the day, rather than relying on one type of activity.

Growing food brought several ideas together in July 2024. Children remembered planting seeds, discussed what plants needed and examined their harvested carrots. A pretend produce market extended the experience into conversation and sorting. Learning about nature also included frog and butterfly life cycles. These examples show how one subject could connect observation, language and early mathematics.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person, providing a regular relationship between the family and the setting. Settling sessions are tailored to the child, with information gathered about routines, interests and support needs before attendance begins. This gives staff something specific to work from when helping a child become familiar with the group.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, carries photographs, video and written observations of children's experiences. Parents have secure access and can contribute observations of their own. That two-way exchange matters: a child's interests and achievements at home can inform conversations about learning at pre-school, while families can see more than a brief account at collection.

Email updates, newsletters and parent meetings supplement everyday conversations. Families participate in setting learning goals and reviewing progress, so communication has a practical purpose beyond sharing notices. The Cants Lane arrangements also include visual communication support for families who need it.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective and found exceptional support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including early identification, individual learning plans and coordination with families and other professionals. Those are dated findings; the current support arrangements explain how families can participate.

A SENCO works with key persons and parents on Assess, Plan, Do, Review: identify a need, agree support, put it into practice and revisit the child's progress. Possible adaptations include visual timetables, boards showing what happens now and next, quieter spaces and changes to routines. The practical benefit is a plan that can be adjusted as a child's needs become clearer.

Health needs have their own planning route. Individual care plans are developed with parents to cover medication, triggers, symptoms and emergency responses, with relevant professionals involved where appropriate. Opportunities to rest and conversations about feelings sit alongside active play. Stories and group discussions give children ways to name emotions and practise responding to them.

Preparation for primary school includes contact with receiving schools, transition activities and sharing relevant information with parental consent. The emphasis is continuity of support: the next setting can understand a child's needs and the approaches already being used.

Sessions and Attendance

The Cants Lane address is St Andrew's Church, Burgess Hill, RH15 0LG. Attendance runs for 38 weeks during term time. Full days last from 9am to 3.30pm on Monday through Thursday; Friday's full day finishes at 2.30pm. Morning-with-lunch sessions run from 9am to 1pm each weekday, while morning-only sessions finish at noon.

These choices create materially different routines. A morning-only booking provides a shorter period in the morning group; staying for lunch extends that session, and full-day attendance includes the combined afternoon arrangement. Friday's earlier finish needs its own place in a family's collection plans.

Applications go through the pre-school's waiting-list form, which asks about the desired start and session preference. The admissions policy orders the waiting list by children's dates of birth rather than simply by when a form arrived. Fees are invoiced termly, and payment plans can be discussed during admission.

Getting There

Accessible parking is provided in the church car park. Burgess Hill railway station and Wivelsfield railway station are nearby rail options, and local buses stop on Junction Road.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding includes the universal entitlement of up to 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, starting from the relevant fixed term after a child's third birthday, and the West Sussex scheme for eligible two-year-olds. Working Families funding is also accepted for eligible children aged two to four, with up to 15 or 30 hours during term time depending on eligibility.

For Working Families funding, parents must provide their eligibility code so the pre-school can claim the entitlement. Additional private hours are charged separately. This distinction matters when a family's chosen attendance exceeds its funded hours: entitlement and paid attendance are separate parts of the arrangement.

The mid-morning snack has a voluntary contribution. The fees and funding page explains the funding structure; current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation.

• Morning groups and shared afternoons. Woodland and Safari run parallel mixed-age mornings, then combine for afternoon sessions. During a visit, ask how the change works for your child, especially if they benefit from a consistent group or quieter routine.
• Lunch and daily supplies. Morning-with-lunch attendance is a separate booking choice, and the snack contribution is voluntary. Ask how lunch and personal-care supplies are arranged, and how the voluntary snack contribution applies to funded attendance.
• Term-time collection plans. Attendance covers 38 weeks, and Friday's full day ends at 2.30pm rather than 3.30pm. Families need a routine that accommodates both the holiday periods and that earlier finish.

St Andrew's suits families choosing between a shorter morning, a morning that includes lunch and a full pre-school day during term time. Its mixed-age organisation, practical approach to independence and two-way learning journal give those choices substance. The July 2024 examples of construction, growing food and differentiated mathematics add a convincing account of learning through activity.

For children needing additional support, the accessible premises and individual planning arrangements are useful reasons to consider Cants Lane. The deciding practical fit is the family's preferred session and the child's response to the morning-group and shared-afternoon structure. This is a pre-school with several attendance patterns, rather than a single routine every family must adopt.