Little Elms Nursery

A Worthing beach hut, an allotment and twice-weekly visits to Heaton House give Little Elms Nursery a day that reaches well beyond its school site. Outdoor exploration and shared activities with care-home residents are concrete parts of the offer, rather than occasional additions to an otherwise indoor routine.

Little Elms takes children aged two to four at Elm Grove First School in Worthing. The nursery is registered for 30 places. Ofsted rated it Good at its July 2021 inspection. That is a dated judgement; the strongest reasons to consider the nursery now are its named activities, practical settling arrangements and opportunities for parents to follow their child's learning.

Attendance is term-time only, with a school-day option alongside shorter sessions and separately charged early and late sessions.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the educational framework: children develop their learning through play, with activities shaped around their interests and next steps. At Little Elms, resources sit within children's reach so that they can choose what to use. The workshop-style arrangement gives them a practical role in deciding how their play develops.

Staff support children's investigations and give them time to think about what they have discovered. This matters for families who want learning to grow out of a child's curiosity, rather than every activity beginning with an adult's instructions. Observation and assessment also inform how the environment responds to changing interests.

Outdoor and Community Life

Beach School offers small-group exploration of the local coast for children older than two. Groups travel on foot or by minibus, and the nursery has a beach hut in Worthing to provide shelter. Participation is a choice, and the sessions carry no additional charge. The coastal setting gives children something different to investigate as weather and seasonal conditions change.

Outdoor Learning @The Allotment is an optional weekly activity for children aged three and over. They grow fruit and vegetables that become snacks, explore other plots and visit a wildlife area with a pond. Growing and eating the produce connects an outdoor activity with something children can recognise later in their day.

FOREST SCHOOL @FERRING takes children by bus to a sister nursery's wild garden, where they explore with a Forest School Leader. Projects can continue back at Little Elms, so the trip can become the starting point for further play indoors. There is no extra charge for these outdoor-learning sessions.

Heaton House brings a different kind of continuity. Twice-weekly visits to the dementia care home involve shared experiences such as painting, cooking and singing. Makaton signs, used to support communication at the nursery, have also been introduced to residents. For children, these are recurring opportunities to spend time with people from another generation, rather than a single special visit.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with an optional home visit before a child starts. Parents can spend time in the preschool room, and staff accommodate family routines during the settling period. This gives the nursery a way to learn about the child before expecting them to manage a new day independently.

Parents receive feedback through conversation, written information or photographs. Baby's Days is the online learning diary through which families can see observations and share them at home. A newsletter covers events, while the Parent Forum brings parents together with the senior team to discuss ideas. The combination offers both everyday contact and a separate opportunity to discuss how the nursery works.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The manager holds the safeguarding lead and SENCO/INCO roles. Families can discuss their child's needs with a designated person, while the nursery's admissions arrangements encourage early conversations about disability, additional needs and dietary requirements. These are practical arrangements for planning support, rather than a guarantee about any individual child's experience.

The nursery's group-wide Local Offer describes a key-person system, individual plans where needed and contact with outside professionals with parental permission. It also describes discussing additional support for outings with parents. For a nursery whose activities often take children off site, planning participation is an important part of the conversation about support.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Elm Grove First School, Elm Grove, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 5LQ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, during term time.

The School Day runs from 9am to 3pm. The PM Session is 12.30pm to 3pm, and a Lunch Session runs from 11.30am to 12.30pm. Early Session hours are 7.30am to 9am; the Late Session runs from 3pm to 6pm. A separate AM Session starts at 9am. These options allow families to choose a shorter nursery day or add time around the school-day pattern.

Applications use a Provisional Booking Form. Waiting-list requests are ordered by the child's intended start date, and that date is also the stated criterion when applications exceed capacity. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone.

Funding and Paid Extras

Little Elms accepts Free Entitlement and Extended Hours funding for two-, three- and four-year-olds, subject to eligibility. Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) can be used for morning, lunch and afternoon attendance between 9am and 3pm; delivery is term-time. Additional hours are charged separately, and the early and late sessions are unfunded.

Families supply snacks and a packed lunch for the school-day sessions, including funded attendance; breakfast is included in the early-session fee, and a snack or cold tea is included in the late-session fee. This means food arrangements depend on the sessions booked.

A non-refundable registration charge applies on acceptance, except for funded two-, three- and four-year-olds taking only funded hours; it becomes payable if they subsequently add extra sessions. Fees are payable in advance for each half term. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure set out on its fees and hours page.

Sharing the Elm Grove First School site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Morning-session timing. The AM Session carries an 11.30pm finish alongside a 9am start, while the daily timetable places morning collection at 11.30am. Confirm the morning finishing time before agreeing an attendance pattern.
• Term-time planning. Nursery attendance follows term time, even with early and late sessions. Families needing care during school holidays should consider how that fits their working year.
• Outings and settling. Beach School is a choice, and the allotment sessions are optional. Use a booked visit to discuss how your child would join these activities and how the optional home visit could support settling.

Little Elms suits families seeking term-time preschool with either shorter morning or afternoon attendance or a school-day pattern, with early and late sessions available around it. Its strongest character comes from repeated experiences beyond the nursery: growing food, exploring the coast and spending time with Heaton House residents.

The July 2021 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference. The present decision is also practical: term-time attendance, session-dependent food arrangements and a settling process that makes room for family routines. For parents who value outdoor learning and regular contact with the wider community, there is plenty here to weigh seriously.