Robertsbridge Children's Services

A nursery for up to nine babies, a covered soft play area and access to neighbouring school fields give Robertsbridge Children's Services a clear physical character. This is a purpose-built village setting on George Hill, caring for children from birth to five. The baby provision's published maximum deserves attention: it describes the size of that part of the nursery, rather than the number of children attending on any particular day.

Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding on 29 July 2025, with the same judgement across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. The detail behind that judgement is more useful than the labels alone. In July 2025, children were preparing to pick blackberries for a crumble, making bird boxes with tools and progressing from balance bikes to bicycles. Learning connected practical skills with experiences children could talk about and remember.

A board of trustees runs the charity, while a manager or deputy manages daily provision with a bursar. The setting combines its own outdoor areas with access to Salehurst Primary School's playgrounds and fields. For families, that means outdoor space extends beyond the nursery garden. Attendance options include term-time and longer-year bookings, with different rules for the younger and older groups.

Rooms and Ages

RCS Caterpillars, for ages zero to two, occupies a self-contained nursery unit where interactive play sits alongside care and rest, with some shared play and relaxation helping children move towards preschool. RCS Butterflies, for ages two to five, uses activities shaped around each child's interests and stage of development, supported by a key person. The wider building has a baby nursery for up to nine children aged zero to 24 months and a preschool room for ages two to five.

The separation is useful, but it is not complete isolation between age groups. In July 2025, babies could see older children and siblings through low fencing between adjoining gardens. Babies explored textures as their movement developed, while older children practised balancing on raised surfaces and climbing trees. These were different experiences for different developmental stages, rather than one activity applied across the nursery.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play, covering children's communication, relationships and physical development alongside literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding their surroundings. It is the shared early-years framework, rather than an extra programme unique to this nursery. Here, children help shape activity planning, and the routine combines freely chosen play with adult-led experiences indoors and in the gardens.

In July 2025, blackberry picking connected several experiences: children had followed the fruit's ripening, planned to make crumble and listened to a related story. The point was the connection between doing, remembering and talking. Woodwork offered another practical example, with children making bird boxes and learning to handle tools with attention to their dangers.

Physical learning also had a clear progression at that visit. Children moved from balance bikes towards riding bicycles independently. Rhymes, poetry and conversations about earlier learning gave them opportunities to practise sounds and extend their vocabulary. These examples give parents a more concrete picture of the curriculum than a list of learning areas alone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Covered soft play supplements the nursery's outdoor areas, and access to school playgrounds and fields adds further space for movement. Current routines include outings around the local community, bringing experiences beyond the building into children's learning.

In July 2025, village experiences included a museum visit to learn about ironmongery and participation in the village Remembrance Day service through laying a wreath. These examples linked learning to local work and community occasions. They should be read as activities described at that visit, rather than a fixed timetable of future trips.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who observes development, plans next steps and discusses concerns with parents. Information from previous settings and professionals can contribute to that planning. Parents can contribute to their child's Learning Journey, which records development, and join Stay and Play sessions to spend time alongside their child in the setting. This gives families a role beyond receiving progress updates.

Settling begins with a session to help the child become familiar with the setting and key person. Parents can share information about their child and remain for as long as they feel they need, with staff supporting the gradual separation. Moves within the nursery are discussed with families. That makes settling and room changes a shared process rather than a single handover.

Communication can include a home contact book, meetings with the key person or SENCO, and discussion of advice from outside agencies. Children also look through their Learning Journeys and have their comments recorded. The mechanisms give parents several ways to contribute information, including concerns that arise between planned reviews.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support is organised through the key person and SENCO, with written plans setting out targets, resources and consistent strategies. Depending on need, children may receive individual support or work in small groups, with arrangements reviewed alongside parents. With parental permission, the SENCO can seek advice from East Sussex Children's Integrated Therapy Service or the Inclusion and Special Educational Needs and Disability early years service.

Makaton supports spoken communication through signs and symbols. The building is on one level, with wheelchair access, accessible toilets and changing facilities, and access to outdoor play areas. These are practical arrangements families can assess against their child's needs, rather than a general promise that every need will be met in the same way.

At the July 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and highlighted prompt extra help for children's communication, alongside staff's detailed knowledge of children and families. Current arrangements include safeguarding and first-aid training for all staff, with lead practitioner roles for both; most practitioners hold NVQ level three or higher childcare qualifications. Collection uses authorised adults and a parent-supplied password, giving families a specific procedure to follow when someone different collects their child.

When a child moves to another setting or school, staff make contact to discuss transition support and share relevant strategies and professional involvement. An assessment goes to the receiving setting, and parents receive their child's Learning Journey. This carries information about the child forward, rather than leaving the receiving staff to start afresh.

Sessions and Attendance

The main opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 5.30pm. Bookable periods cover breakfast from 8am to 9am, a daytime session from 9am to 3pm, an additional period from 3pm to 3.30pm and a tea session from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. A further paid period runs from 5.30pm to 6pm; the relationship between that period and the main closing time is a decision point below.

Butterflies bookings can cover 38 or 50 weeks, while Caterpillars bookings cover 50 weeks only. A switch between the two Butterflies calendars must be requested by the end of April for the following academic year. Changes to booked sessions generally take effect from the following term with at least four weeks' notice, except when adding sessions. The 38-week calendar includes a half-term break from 26 to 30 October 2026.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children can access funding from the first full term after reaching nine months, two years or three years. Up to 15 or 30 funded hours a week can be used within the 9am-to-3pm sessions, subject to availability, over 38 weeks or stretched across 50 weeks. Private hours are charged separately, and extra sessions outside a regular booking use the ad hoc rate. Tax Free Childcare is accepted towards fees.

The breakfast, daytime and tea session prices include their respective meals, with hot lunch included in the daytime session that can also use funded hours. Zebedees supplies lunch. Families receive current prices in a written quotation; the fees page sets out the booking and payment structure.

Invoices arrive monthly in advance, with payment due within seven working days, and booked sessions remain payable when a child is absent. Deposits are not refunded when a child leaves before moving to primary school. These conditions matter when comparing the total commitment, rather than just the attendance timetable.

Getting There

The nursery is on George Hill in Robertsbridge, East Sussex. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01580 881466, by email at info@robertsbridgechildrensservices.co.uk or through the contact form. There is no parking on the school site; George Hill and village car parks are the suggested alternatives.

The nursery describes its trustees as working in partnership with Salehurst Primary School. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Later collection. Main opening hours end at 5.30pm, while the booking table includes a paid 5.30pm-to-6pm period. Establish how that later period operates before building it into a working day.
• Calendar and cancellation commitments. Caterpillars uses a 50-week calendar; Butterflies offers 38 or 50 weeks. Withdrawal terms give both one month's notice and four weeks' written, paid notice, so obtain the applicable cancellation wording with the booking agreement.
• Finding the setting. The inspection address uses TN32 5AX, while the contact address uses TN32 5AY. Both identify George Hill; use the nursery's directions when planning a visit, and account for parking away from the school site.
• Your child's care routine. The baby nursery has a published maximum of nine, and settling allows parents to remain while their child adjusts. At a visit, how would staff organise your child's rest and communication support?

Robertsbridge Children's Services suits families seeking play-based learning with practical outdoor experiences, an explicit key-person system and structured support planning. Its baby provision's size and access to additional outdoor space are useful reasons to look closely.

The attendance choice is broader than a single long day: older children can attend on a term-time or 50-week calendar, with daytime sessions and breakfast or tea periods serving different routines. Younger children need the 50-week model. The July 2025 Outstanding judgement adds weight, while closing-time and cancellation details deserve attention before a booking is agreed.