The Farmyard Nursery

A mud kitchen, a willow den and walks through woods, ponds and fields give The Farmyard Nursery its rural character. Outdoor play reaches beyond a single playground: babies have a garden of their own, while older children can move between indoor activities and the grounds. This is a setting for families who value messy exploration and regular time outside.

At its 28 May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found safeguarding effective. The detail behind that judgement is useful: in May 2025, children investigated living ladybirds, built insect homes from natural materials and worked together with diggers to shift mud. These were practical experiences with conversation and cooperation woven into them.

The nursery is on Church Road in Ashburnham, Battle, and cares for children up to five years old. A minimum of two sessions each week gives attendance a recurring pattern; morning, afternoon and day bookings provide different ways to use it.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room serves children from three months to two years, combining sensory exploration and a routine responsive to individual needs with its own garden and a separate sleep room. Having outdoor access attached to the room makes fresh air part of the babies' surroundings rather than something reserved for older children.

For ages two to five, the Main Area provides an open space for construction, books, mark making and messy play, with access outside whenever possible. Its activities include singing, stories and woodland walks. Children can move between different kinds of play as their interests change, rather than spending the whole session on one adult-led task.

The sleep room contains four cots, and sleeping babies are checked every ten minutes. This is sleeping provision, rather than a measure of how many children attend the Baby Room.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the expectations for children's learning, development and care; here, play provides opportunities to explore language, movement, early writing and number. The daily offer includes sensory experiences, stories, construction and outdoor exploration. These activities make the framework tangible for parents: learning happens through what children handle, attempt and talk about.

In May 2025, staff used real ladybirds to develop children's understanding of a lifecycle, introducing vocabulary connected to what children could observe. Counting insects preserved in resin and writing sounds during garden games brought number and early literacy into play. The connection matters: children were using ideas for a purpose, rather than encountering them only as separate exercises.

Storytelling also involved participation. In May 2025, children acted out stories using props and joined in with words and movements. Weekly observations, checks on developmental milestones and conversations with parents helped staff choose subsequent learning steps. That combination connects activities with each child's development, rather than treating a busy timetable as an end in itself.

Outdoor and Community Life

Different parts of the grounds invite different kinds of movement. A hard-surfaced area has a mud kitchen and outdoor sink; elsewhere there is a tractor children can drive and a slide. The back garden includes a sandpit, tunnel, wooden climbing frames and willow den. Children have places to dig, balance, climb and make things.

Walks extend into the surrounding woods, fields and pond areas. Snacks sometimes travel with the children for a woodland picnic, so the outdoor day can stretch beyond a short garden break. In May 2025, children also helped grow and pick vegetables and tackled uneven woodland ground. These experiences connected physical activity with the natural world and food.

Relationships and Communication

Tapestry, the online learning journal, shares photographs, video and observations with parents, who can contribute posts from home. It gives families a way to see activities they would otherwise hear about only second-hand. Contributions from home also let practitioners learn about experiences beyond the nursery day.

In May 2025, key-person knowledge informed support for individual children, and discussions with parents formed part of assessment. Children were also encouraged to represent their identities through books connected with their cultures, writing their names in home languages and sharing cultural or religious traditions. Personal background was part of everyday learning, rather than confined to a single celebration.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that tailored support helped children make excellent progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language. In that month, support included visual cards, Makaton signing used alongside communication, predictable routines and collaboration with speech and language or occupational therapists.

Current staffing includes a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, a designated safeguarding lead and a deputy safeguarding lead. The management team includes degree-level early years training, and the designated safeguarding lead has first aid and safeguarding-lead training. These are concrete roles and training arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement belongs to the inspection.

Food is cooked on the premises from fresh ingredients, and the nursery's dietary policy covers allergies, intolerances, preferences, religion and culture. Breakfast, snacks and a hot lunch feature in the day, with a light tea for children staying until the evening.

Younger children can nap after lunch while older children continue playing. Garden access continues during the afternoon, and the timing of snacks can change around a walk. The day has familiar landmarks, with room for children's needs and outdoor plans to influence its pace.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 50 weeks each year. The nursery closes for the first full week of August, a week at Christmas and bank holidays; families are not charged for those closure days.

The day booking runs from 8am to 4pm, the morning from 8am to 1pm and the afternoon from 1pm to 4pm. Children attend at least two sessions per week. The opening window is longer than those named bookings, so the distinction matters when matching childcare to a working day.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01424 893366. The address is Church Road, Ashburnham, Battle, TN33 9NU. The A271 features in the approach from both Battle and Hailsham, giving families a useful road reference for planning the journey.

Funding and Paid Extras

The 15-hour weekly entitlement starts in the term after a child turns three and is stretched to 11 hours per week across the year. Some children qualify for the 30-hour weekly entitlement, which is stretched to 24 hours per week. Hours beyond the entitlement used are charged at the private rate. Families should obtain current prices in a written quotation from the nursery.

For funded attendance, a separate, non-mandatory additional fee covers breakfast, lunch and pudding, snacks, nappies, wipes and sun cream, together with extra learning resources. Meals and those non-food consumables therefore sit within the additional charge rather than the funded hours themselves. The nursery reviews its fees and funding each term, making the written terms relevant to the family's actual start date and booking.

• Visits are paused. The nursery is not accepting visits until at least 2027 and has a contact list for announcements of group visit dates. Joining that list is the practical route for families wanting to see the rooms and grounds.
• Outdoor play is central. Gardens, woodland walks and messy activities shape the day. Families should weigh how well this emphasis matches their child's enjoyment of outdoor exploration.
• The funded package has a separate charge. The additional fee is non-mandatory and combines food, consumables and learning resources. Ask how declining it would work for your chosen sessions before agreeing the booking.
• Dietary needs need individual discussion. The nursery's policy covers allergies and intolerances alongside cultural and religious requirements. Families affected by allergies should confirm current preparation and serving arrangements for their child.

The Farmyard Nursery suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as day bookings, with a minimum weekly attendance pattern and substantial outdoor play. Its appeal is concrete: a separate baby garden, dedicated sleeping space, woods and fields, and Tapestry communication linking nursery with home.

The Outstanding judgement from May 2025 gives weight to the account of purposeful play and individual support. For parents, the decisions are practical as well as educational: the visit pause affects planning, and the stretched funding arrangement needs to be considered alongside its separate additional-fee package.