Treetops Nursery

A baby sleep room, a mud kitchen and woodland wellie walks give Treetops Nursery a clear character: practical care for younger children alongside plenty of outdoor exploration. At The Vic Forster Centre in Franklands Village, Haywards Heath, the setting overlooks fields and has trees around it. Its garden brings digging, plants and physical play into the nursery day.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 27 September 2022 inspection, while identifying two improvements: organising routines so they interrupted learning less, and making staff explanations more appropriate to children’s ages. That dated judgement is useful context, rather than a description of every aspect of today’s provision.

There is capacity for 60 children in total. Acorns, Chestnuts and Conkers organise the experience around babies, toddlers and children preparing for school, with morning, afternoon, full-day and School Day bookings offering different attendance patterns.

Rooms and Ages

Acorns, for children aged 0–2 years, has a light room, its own milk kitchen and a quiet, cool sleep room, giving feeding and rest dedicated spaces alongside play. The separation matters for babies whose sleeping and feeding patterns still shape much of their day.

Chestnuts, for children aged 2–3 years, uses the main hall for adult-guided and child-chosen activities, with toys and games supporting small hand movements and toilet training coordinated with parents. Rest takes place in a monitored sleep room. The practical emphasis is on helping toddlers develop independence at their own pace, rather than treating every child’s readiness as identical.

Conkers, the preschool group, combines play with a more structured day, introducing phonics, pencil control, name writing and number work alongside dressing, bathroom independence and following instructions. School preparation therefore includes everyday self-care as well as early literacy and mathematics. The main hall accommodates children over two, while low furniture and fittings make the surroundings more accessible to young children.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the framework for learning here: children develop through play, with communication, physical development and relationships alongside early reading, mathematics, creative expression and exploration of the world. It is the shared early-years foundation, rather than a separate branded programme. Planning takes account of children’s differing rates of development.

In September 2022, seasonal learning involved discussing leaf colours, painting autumn pictures and sharing the finished work. Another activity involved freeing toy dinosaurs from ice with spoons, giving children something concrete to investigate while practising taking turns. These examples show how ordinary materials can connect conversation, exploration and social learning.

There was also a limitation that month: changes between snacks, outdoor play and care routines sometimes cut activities short before children could become absorbed. Some explanations did not match the ages of the children hearing them. The issue was less the choice of activity than the time and language used to make it worthwhile.

Outdoor and Community Life

Herb and flower beds, a digging area and the mud kitchen provide materials for pretend play and conversation. Balancing beams and stilts add different physical challenges. This gives outdoor time several purposes, from experimenting with movement to making up shared games.

Regular outings reach the local playground, where children use slides and climbing frames. Woodland wellie walks include looking for fairies, adding an imaginative thread to exploring the surroundings. The nearby field and woodland are accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs; these are useful extensions of the garden rather than simply scenery around the building.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who plans around their needs and serves as the family’s main contact. Settling sessions before starting give children and parents time to build that relationship. For Acorns families, daily record sheets cover sleep, feeds, activities and nappy changes, making the handover about the details that affect the rest of a baby’s day.

The All About Me form gathers information about home life, interests, strengths and areas needing support. Learning Journals bring together photographs, artwork, observations and assessments, including the progress check for two-year-olds. These give parents concrete material for discussing development rather than relying only on a brief verbal update.

Termly parents’ mornings provide time to discuss next steps. Messy mornings, child-led productions and coffee mornings offer other ways for families to take part. The nursery also has an assistant manager with a SENCO role and a senior team leader associated with the baby room, alongside practitioners and an apprentice.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support starts with observations by the key person, followed by discussion with the manager and SENCO when additional help may be needed. Individual Education Plans can include parental input and are reviewed termly. Where appropriate, support funding can pay for resources or individual time with the key person, with parents involved in discussing its use.

West Sussex’s Early Childhood Service and the area Inclusion Coordinator provide routes to external support. On outings, a child can receive individual assistance from their key person, with visual timetables helping explain what will happen. The cosy book corner also provides a place for calm-down time. These are specific arrangements families can relate to their child’s needs, rather than a blanket promise about support.

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, recognised positive relationships between children and staff, and judged that children with SEND could participate throughout the curriculum and were progressing well. Those findings belong to that visit.

Kitchen staff freshly prepare meals at the nursery, with a two-course lunch and a lighter tea; parents can see the weekly menu. The dietary policy is to cater for requirements communicated by parents.

Moving to school is introduced through photographs and activities about the change, opportunities to visit the child’s school, and visits from teachers who discuss the child with their key person. An end-of-summer-term graduation includes families. The emphasis is on making the next setting familiar.

Sessions and Attendance

Treetops operates at The Vic Forster Centre, Franklands Village, Haywards Heath, RH16 3RS. Opening hours are 7.30am–6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks, with bank-holiday closures and a break between Christmas and New Year.

Morning Session runs 8am–1pm, Afternoon Session 1pm–6pm and Full Day 8am–6pm. School Day is 9am–3pm. Early Bird covers 7.30am–8am for an earlier start, and additional hours can be booked separately. The opening window and the standard full-day booking are therefore different: an early start is an extra arrangement.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01444 443 414 or by email to admin@treetops-day-nursery.co.uk. A visit-booking route is also offered.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare offers up to 15/30 hours per week over 38 term-time weeks, or 11/22 hours weekly when stretched across 51 weeks. Eligible working-parent entitlement starts in the term after the child reaches the qualifying age, from nine months onwards, and additional private hours are charged separately. The funding pattern needs to be read alongside the chosen session, rather than assumed to cover its whole length.

Private fees include breakfast, lunch, snacks and tea. Meals during funded hours are charged separately; parents can opt out of hot meals and supply a cold packed lunch and snacks instead. Packed lunches must follow the nursery’s healthy-eating policy; food cannot be reheated at the nursery.

Parents are asked to supply nappies, nappy cream and sun cream. Funded hours also carry a voluntary consumables charge that can be removed by emailing the manager, after which parents must provide the relevant extras. This separates routine supplies from the funded-hours charge rather than treating them as one inclusive package.

A non-refundable registration charge applies outside funded-only attendance. A deposit is required before starting for bookings beyond funded-only hours, with refund conditions tied to notice. Fees remain payable during illness or holidays, and the fees and funding page requires a month’s written notice to leave, with funded entitlement within the current cycle retained as part of that procedure. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Time to finish play. In September 2022, routine changes sometimes interrupted children before they could settle into an activity. During a visit, discuss how snacks, outdoor time and care routines now allow children to finish what they are doing.
• Acorns settling and sleep. Babies have dedicated sleep and feeding spaces, settling sessions and daily records. Discuss how your child’s home routine will be carried through into their nursery day, including how information is exchanged between carers.
• Funding and extras. Private meals are included, while funded meals are charged separately and the funded consumables charge is voluntary. Compare the written quotation with the session pattern you intend to use, including any Early Bird or additional hours.
• Dietary arrangements. Meals are prepared on site and dietary requirements are handled through information from parents. Families managing allergies should confirm current preparation and serving arrangements before their child starts.

Treetops suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day or School Day attendance, with a baby sleep room, practical toddler care and outdoor play giving the offer substance. The woodland walks and garden equipment add useful variety; key-person communication and documented support plans give families clear points of contact.

The September 2022 judgement was Good, but the routine and communication concerns deserve attention when assessing how the day works now. For parents who value outdoor exploration, a gradual introduction to nursery and flexibility between shorter sessions and longer days, this is a setting with concrete features to weigh against the booking and funding terms.