Fennies Horley, Albert Road

An airport den, a growing area and a garden accessible from every room give Fennies Horley, Albert Road a clear character: play has room to spread outdoors, while practical experiences sit alongside stories, art and preparation for school. This is a nursery for children aged three months to five years, with purpose-built spaces on Albert Road in Horley.

At its 10 June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children made good progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), whose social development received effective support. The detail matters more than the headline. Children practised doing things for themselves, staff helped them communicate through words and gestures, and relationships supported their emotional security.

There were also clear improvement priorities: more precise planning for individual learning and stronger monitoring of staff practice. Those qualifications belong alongside the praise. Standard days and an additional Early Start provide different options for the beginning of the day.

Rooms and Ages

Three nursery rooms divide the setting into stages, with the youngest children in Explorers, toddlers in Creators and older children in Inventors. The baby space uses furniture and soft dividers to create smaller activity areas within a spacious room. That arrangement makes the room's organisation more relevant to families than its overall footprint: a large space can contain several separate places to play.

Explorers includes a sensory corner and nearby facilities for preparing milk and changing nappies, with sensory experiences supporting early movement and communication. Creators, for children aged two to three years, emphasises imagination, friendships and growing independence, with direct garden access. Inventors, for ages three to five, combines practical projects and resources drawn from everyday life with problem-solving and preparation for school, also extending into the garden.

The room progression is practical as well as educational. Helping with meals and tidying belongs to the toddler experience, while the older children's projects provide opportunities to make decisions and work together. These are recognisable steps towards managing more of the day independently.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation: children learn through exploration and play across its areas of learning. Alongside that foundation, Fennies' group-wide Fennies Inspire enhancements bring specialist-led experiences intended to develop language, creativity and practical thinking. At Horley, learning includes art, physical education and experiences involving science and technology.

Two group-wide initiatives give that offer concrete shape. Book of the Month uses stories to encourage early literacy; Artist of the Month introduces creative techniques and exploration of culture. The Lending Library extends reading into family life by allowing books to go home. For parents, this creates a useful connection between an activity at nursery and something they can share with their child later.

Inventors also uses a STEAM-inspired curriculum, bringing science, technology, engineering, art and maths into practical projects. Its value lies in what children do with those ideas: exploring resources, trying approaches and solving problems. The programme name alone is less useful than that hands-on emphasis.

In June 2025, staff helped younger children communicate by combining speech with signs and gestures, while older children practised expressing ideas and recalling vocabulary. Teaching generally had a clear next step, but planning did not consistently build closely enough on each child's existing learning. The distinction is useful: an engaging activity and a precisely chosen learning challenge are related, but each needs attention.

Outdoor and Community Life

Fennies Airport is a role-play den in the garden, giving shared imaginative games a recognisable setting. A sandpit, growing area and water feature add different ways to explore materials and movement. Every room has free-flow access to the garden, and children spend time outdoors daily. Outdoor play is part of the day rather than a separate occasional excursion.

Regular outings include visits to the local library and nature walks around Horley. These widen the children's experiences beyond the nursery's own resources, connecting books and outdoor exploration with places in their community. The garden and outings complement one another: one provides familiar daily play, the other introduces changing surroundings.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with a gradual introduction planned with parents, using personalised sessions to establish familiar routines. Each baby has a key person. For a family beginning childcare, the combination matters: the introduction can be paced around the child while a particular practitioner develops knowledge of their needs.

The Famly App carries updates about eating, sleep and learning, alongside announcements and reminders. It gives parents concrete details to discuss at home, rather than leaving communication at a general account of how the day went. The Lending Library offers another connection between home and nursery, with stories available to share beyond the setting.

In June 2025, children who had recently joined received help to settle, and staff handled care routines sensitively. Key-person relationships also helped children identify feelings and work through small disagreements. Consistent expectations around tidying and handwashing gave everyday routines a predictable shape.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support includes access to a regional SENCO and inclusion role for children with additional needs and those learning English as an additional language. In June 2025, staff worked with parents and other professionals and set individual targets for children with SEND. This is a concrete mechanism for tailoring support, rather than a general statement about inclusion.

Staff development includes coaching and training connected to their roles, with paediatric first aid included in induction. In June 2025, regular staff supervision took place, but it did not consistently help practitioners examine and develop their own work. Stronger monitoring of practice was therefore an important part of the improvement agenda.

An on-site chef cooks daily using seasonal ingredients, and menus change twice a year. The nursery's dietary policy accommodates allergies, intolerances and family preferences; families affected by allergies should discuss current arrangements for their child before starting.

Preparation for school also runs through ordinary routines. In June 2025, children practised putting on coats and using cutlery, while older children served lunch and cleared away afterwards. Such tasks make independence tangible: school preparation includes managing belongings and meals, alongside learning and conversation.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Albert Road, Horley, RH6 7HS. The standard day runs from 7.45am until 6pm; an Early Start, charged separately, runs from 7am until 7.45am. The earlier option therefore changes the beginning of the day rather than extending the evening.

Attendance operates Monday to Friday across the year, with closures for bank holidays and the Christmas period. The monthly fee structure covers attendance on two, three, four or five days. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the nursery's contact form, and tours can be booked.

Getting There

On-site parking is included among the nursery's facilities, and a buggy store provides an option for families bringing pushchairs. Horley Train Station is a 5-minute drive away. These practical details are useful when fitting nursery around a journey to work, although families should weigh the nursery's session start against their own travel arrangements.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both privately paid childcare and government-funded childcare are offered, including 15 and 30 hours free childcare for working families, subject to eligibility. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Monthly invoices are issued ahead of the next month, with payment due before that month begins.

For privately paid attendance, food and personal-care consumables are included in the fee, covering meals, snacks and drinks alongside nappies, wipes and sun cream. Funded attendance has separate food and consumables supplements, incorporated into the quoted fees; these supplements are voluntary, and parents wishing to supply their own items arrange a meeting with the manager to discuss the relevant policies.

Joining involves a non-refundable registration charge and a deposit credited against the first month's fees; the registration charge does not apply to funded-only attendance. Joining the waiting list is free. These terms make the distinction between private and funded-only attendance relevant before any payment is made.

• Explorers age boundaries. Explorers is described with both a three-to-18-month range and a three-to-24-month range. Ask which room your baby would join and how the timing of the move into Creators is decided.
• Individual learning and staff development. In June 2025, planning for each child's next steps and the monitoring of practitioners' work needed greater precision. At a visit, ask for an example of how an observation becomes a planned activity and how staff review its effect.
• Funding supplements and early starts. Food and consumables supplements apply to funded attendance, with a voluntary opt-out arrangement, while Early Start carries an additional charge. A written quotation should distinguish these elements for the attendance pattern you choose.

Fennies Horley suits families choosing between a standard day and a day beginning with Early Start, who value daily garden access, practical independence and a connection between nursery learning and home. Fennies Airport, the Lending Library and the monthly story and art initiatives give that offer substance.

The June 2025 judgement supports a positive assessment, with specific reservations about the precision of individual planning and staff development. For babies, the organisation of Explorers and the timing of room changes deserve close attention. For older children, the combination of practical projects, outdoor access and everyday responsibilities gives school preparation a useful, concrete shape.