Herstmonceux Pre School

Weekly woodland learning and a garden where children grow ingredients for their own snacks give Herstmonceux Pre School a practical, outdoors-led character. Its Village Hall base also connects children with village life, rather than keeping their experiences within the setting. Planting, preparing food and exploring outside provide concrete things to investigate and talk about.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and safeguarding effective. The main improvement point concerned passing information about children's learning to schools and other settings when they move on. That distinction matters: preparing children for school routines and communicating their individual needs are separate jobs.

There are 24 places in total, for children aged 24 to 60 months. Families can choose a morning or a longer day, with an extended option on Monday and Tuesday. The strongest reasons to consider this preschool are its weekly Forest School programme, substantial outdoor play space and detailed arrangements for helping children settle.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's education and care, with learning developed through play, exploration and activities matched to their next steps. Practitioners observe what children can do before planning further experiences. This gives the day a purpose beyond keeping children occupied: activities respond to their developing interests and skills.

Forest School adds a weekly programme of outdoor learning in local woodland. Sessions have themes, but can change direction in response to children's interests. The woodland is used throughout the year, including in wet weather when clothing and conditions are suitable. Learning to judge risks, solve problems and cooperate is part of the programme, rather than simply a reason to spend time outside.

The woodland activities include using real tools, tying branches together for dens and investigating small creatures. These offer different kinds of challenge: making something hold together, looking closely and working with another child. They also give children a reason to persist when a task takes more than one attempt.

In June 2025, imaginative play included a pretend dental practice, where adults introduced vocabulary connected with appointments and helped children understand toothbrushing. Children also practised handling hammers and recognising the boundaries of safe exploration in the forest area. Everyday health knowledge and practical skills were being taught through experiences children could take part in themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

Free-flow access connects indoor activities with the immediate outdoor space. A mud kitchen, outdoor sandpit and large water play station provide materials children can move, mix and experiment with. The garden also has climbing tractor tyres, a sunken slide and a viewing deck above its banked area. There is scope for energetic play as well as quieter investigation.

The Edible Garden links growing with food preparation. Children help produce crops through the seasons, then use what they have grown to make snacks to eat or take home. Planting and harvesting make seasonal change tangible; cooking gives the growing work an immediate purpose.

Regular walks take children into the surrounding community, parks and recreational grounds. Visits also include the local primary school, while emergency service crews come to the preschool. These experiences widen the people and places children encounter, with opportunities to connect their play to familiar village services.

In June 2025, children spent time with older people attending activities in the hall and went to the village market to choose food for snacks. Learning about Remembrance Day included looking at poppies at the war memorial. The hall setting was being used as a connection to community life, alongside the outdoor programme.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with attention to the relationships a child naturally forms. Staff observe whether a child gravitates towards a particular practitioner, with the intention that this helps determine their key person. A two-week settling period includes opportunities for parents to stay and play, while the wider procedure can be adapted to the individual child. The timetable is a starting point rather than a rigid expectation.

Home visits bring the key person and a deputy or manager into a familiar setting for the child. Flopsy, the toy rabbit, comes too; a photograph of the child with Flopsy goes into a folder they can look at after starting preschool. Pictures of the building and discussion of routines help make the new setting more recognisable before attendance begins.

Parents complete All about Me forms, and information about a child's interests informs the resources offered for their first session. Older children are encouraged to help younger or newly joining children by sharing games and showing them toys. This gives settling both an adult relationship and a connection with other children.

Tapestry is the online development record, accessible by phone or computer, where parents can contribute their own observations and ideas. Conversations with the key person sit alongside it. Support can be coordinated around changes such as toilet training, behaviour or the arrival of a sibling, making communication useful for life at home as well as preschool.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that purposeful planning helped children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. The current learning approach includes identifying where additional help may be needed and arranging support. This describes a mechanism for responding to individual needs, rather than a single activity intended to suit everyone.

In June 2025, adults helped children name and manage their feelings, allowing them to rejoin activities when ready. School preparation included practising coats and shoes independently and exploring school uniform through role play. However, information about individual learning needs was not consistently reaching receiving schools clearly enough, an important qualification to the practical preparation.

The staff team includes a manager and deputy, and early years experience includes degree-level study. Current safety arrangements include checks on adults working at the setting and daily assessment of risks and benefits. These procedures sit alongside teaching children to recognise challenges and make considered choices during play.

Sessions and Attendance

The preschool's address is Village Hall, Hailsham Road, Hailsham, BN27 4JX. Sessions run from 8.30am to 1pm or from 8.30am to 4pm, with an 8.30am to 5pm option on Monday and Tuesday only. The longer finish is therefore tied to particular days, rather than being a choice across the whole week.

Funded and fee-paying sessions are offered. Four weeks' notice is required when a child leaves. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone, with separate contact numbers for term time and other periods.

Funding and Paid Extras

The preschool accepts two-year-old funding and the 15hrs and 30hrs entitlements for children starting the first full term after their third birthday. Its sessions and fees page sets out how funded time fits the attendance patterns: the morning uses 4.5 funded hours, while the day ending at 4pm uses 7.5. For the Monday and Tuesday finish at 5pm, 7.5 funded hours are followed by an additional paid hour. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Parents supply packed lunches and contribute a piece of fruit or a vegetable to the shared snack bowl each week; children help choose, prepare and serve snacks, and the preschool's food policy addresses dietary requirements and allergies. Nappies, wipes and nappy bags come from home, as does suncream, so these are practical items for families to include in their childcare planning.

• Moving on to school. In June 2025, sharing children's learning information with receiving schools and settings needed strengthening. Ask how the key person now passes on your child's needs and what contact takes place before transfer.
• Woodland clothing. Forest School runs weekly and uses the woods in different weather conditions. Waterproof clothing, boots and seasonal layers are part of the preschool's kit expectations; consider how this fits your child's comfort outdoors.
• Attendance and funded time. The 5pm finish is restricted to Monday and Tuesday and includes a paid hour beyond the funded portion. At a visit, ask how funded attendance is arranged across term time and holiday periods for your intended pattern.
• Food and personal care. Packed lunches, a weekly snack contribution and supplies for nappy changes are family responsibilities. For a child with allergies, confirm the current arrangements for shared snacks and food preparation.

Herstmonceux Pre School suits families seeking either a morning session or a longer preschool day, with later finishes on two days of the week. Weekly woodland learning, the Edible Garden and a substantial outdoor play area give children practical ways to explore, make and investigate.

The settling arrangements are equally concrete: a child-led key-person relationship, home visits with Flopsy and communication through Tapestry. The June 2025 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, qualified by the need for clearer information sharing when children move on. Families weighing this preschool should give that transition process the same attention as its appealing outdoor offer.