Roadend Farm Nursery

A 700 acre farm gives Roadend Farm Nursery its defining character: muddy puddles, outdoor exploration and play with a working countryside backdrop. In Udimore, near Rye, this is a setting for children aged two to five, with an emphasis on children trying things for themselves rather than learning through tests.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 8 January 2025 inspection. The strongest practical attraction is the connection between play and the farm: children can explore materials, make food and encounter the processes behind everyday things. Opening hours are 8.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, with attendance during term time.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: here, play gives children opportunities to practise language, movement, creativity and everyday skills. Bread-making, preparing vegetables for soup and experimenting with jelly or slime turn those opportunities into concrete activities. Fastening a coat gives independence a practical purpose, too.

The learning approach leaves room for exploration. Adults supply materials and support while children investigate, create and play together. Sand, mud and cooking ingredients offer different textures to handle; pretend play gives children a way to try out ideas. These are experiences with something to do, rather than tasks built around a test.

In January 2025, younger children made patterns with paint and building bricks. An interest in winter led to penguin creations and model snowmen assembled using buttons and sticks. The connection matters: an idea children were already interested in became a starting point for making and experimenting.

Outdoor and Community Life

Farm life gives the outdoor experience more substance than open space alone. In January 2025, children watched sheep being shorn and horses receiving new shoes, and explored the grain shed to learn about flour production. Those encounters connected animals and food with processes children could observe.

That January, children also gathered apples and blackberries for fruit crumbles, used ladders and climbed trees. Harvesting and cooking linked ingredients with the finished food, while climbing brought physical challenge into the day. The farm is therefore relevant to both what children learn and how they move.

Forest school is a separately charged, optional extra. Families can distinguish that extra from the nursery's broader farm-based play when considering the attendance costs.

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities good, including cooperation with external professionals and visual cues to help children communicate. This gives the support judgement a concrete basis: staff used practical strategies alongside professional advice.

Relationships also had visible everyday expressions in January 2025. Children comforted upset friends and brought them tissues; shared reading and lunchtime conversations gave them opportunities to exchange ideas. Staff extended children's vocabulary, including during ordinary conversation rather than only during an organised activity.

Communication with families included updates about children's learning and their next steps in January 2025, alongside advice on healthy eating. For parents, that connected the nursery day with things they could understand and support at home.

Two aspects of independence needed attention at that visit. Changes between activities sometimes prevented children from revisiting unfinished creations, and adults sometimes completed jobs children could have managed themselves. These are meaningful qualifications to the play-led approach: exploration works best when children have time to finish and room to attempt a task.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Roadend Farm Nursery, Udimore, Rye, TN31 6BY. Opening hours run from 8.30am until 3.30pm on weekdays; the nursery operates in term time and closes for school holidays. This calendar is a substantial consideration for families needing childcare throughout the year.

An early drop-off at 8.30am carries a separate charge for the half-hour. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01797 226116 or by email to enquiries@roadendnursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15 hours two year funding, the 30 hours for two year olds, the 15 hours for three year olds and the 30 hours for three year olds. Each of these entitlements carries no extra charge for the funded hours themselves; additional hours beyond a child's funding are paid privately.

Snacks have a separate, non-mandatory charge for funded three- and four-year-olds. Forest school is an optional extra with its own charge, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page sets out the charge categories.

• Term-time calendar. School holidays fall outside the nursery's operating calendar. Families needing year-round care should weigh that against the weekday opening window.
• Time to finish. In January 2025, activity changes interrupted unfinished play, and adults sometimes took over tasks. At a visit, ask how routines now protect sustained play and children's chances to do things themselves.
• Funded-place extras. Funded three- and four-year-olds have a non-mandatory snack charge, while Forest school is optional and separately charged. These are separate decisions from paying for additional childcare hours.

Roadend Farm Nursery suits families seeking term-time childcare for children aged two to five, with farm exploration and practical play shaping the experience. Its January 2025 Good judgement supports that appeal, while the concerns about interruptions and adult intervention give parents specific points to explore. The strongest reason to choose it is the relationship between the working farm, everyday making and children's own investigations.