Little Rascals Day Nursery

A key-person Buddy scheme and meals cooked on site give Little Rascals Day Nursery a clear character: learning through practical experiences, with familiar adults supporting everyday care. This Worthing nursery takes children from 3 months to 5 years at 45 Chesswood Road, BN11 2AA.

At its October 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and described support for developmental delays through staff, families and the special educational needs coordinator. The judgement came with specific work to do: strengthening the key-person approach, helping children follow instructions and allowing more thinking time during teaching.

Baby Bears & Tiny Teds, Jungle Cubs and Busy Bees organise the age groups. Part-time and full-time attendance sit alongside opening hours of 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Bears & Tiny Teds takes children from 3 months to 2 years; Jungle Cubs covers ages 2 to 3; Busy Bees takes those aged 3 to 5. These age bands give families a clear outline of the progression through nursery, while the key person supports children and parents when they move between rooms.

Inside, defined workshop areas separate different kinds of activity, with play equipment chosen to invite exploration. Children can choose activities and develop their own ideas rather than depend entirely on adult direction. A large outdoor play area adds space beyond the indoor setting.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared framework for care and learning: children learn through play, developing communication, physical skills and social understanding alongside early literacy and mathematics. It is the baseline for provision, rather than an extra programme unique to Little Rascals.

Planning combines activities led by adults with play initiated by children. Staff observe what children can already do and what interests them, then use that information to choose their next experiences. Parents contribute information about interests at home, so planning can connect the two parts of a child's life.

In October 2023, water play involved children pouring and tipping with containers, practising coordination while sustaining their attention. Staff also used signing across the nursery, including with children who communicated their needs non-verbally. These are concrete examples of learning woven into ordinary play and interaction.

Outdoor and Community Life

In October 2023, forest school sessions took children into local woodland for physical challenges involving greater risk. Exploring nature also prompted conversation: an encounter with a beetle became an opportunity to introduce vocabulary about its features. Outdoor equipment at nursery supported climbing and balancing, with children repeating challenges as they practised moving their bodies.

Community experiences extended beyond outdoor play. During the same period, regular care-home visits brought children into contact with older people, while a trip to a dentist helped them learn about looking after their teeth. The value lies in the purpose of those outings: meeting people beyond nursery and connecting learning with everyday life.

Relationships and Communication

The key person takes a central role in familiar routines, including feeding, toileting and comforting a child who feels upset or unwell. Little Rascals pairs each key person with a Buddy who takes over during their absence. That gives care a planned point of continuity when the usual adult is away.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, shares photographs and observations with families and lets parents add their own contributions. A folder kept at nursery provides another record children and parents can look through. Communication therefore works in both directions: families receive updates and can contribute experiences from home.

In October 2023, baby-room staff built close relationships with very young children, and parent consultations covered individual progress. However, support for a newly formed staff team was still developing, including their understanding of the key-person approach. The practical question is how consistently that approach works for an individual child, rather than whether the scheme has a name.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked with the special educational needs coordinator and families to arrange interventions, considered external referrals where appropriate, and used regular child-protection training alongside recruitment checks to support effective safeguarding. Those are dated findings about practice, rather than a blanket assurance about every child's experience.

Daily meals are cooked on the premises, and the nursery holds an Eat Out Eat Well Gold Award for promoting nutritious food. Its catering policy covers religious and cultural diets, vegetarian food and allergies, with meals adapted for babies and younger children.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, with bank holidays closed and operation across 51 weeks. Full-time and part-time patterns are offered, and extra care is priced through morning or afternoon sessions. The opening window describes the nursery's operating day; families should choose their attendance pattern around the sessions they need.

Extra care requires at least 24 hours' notice; cancelling it requires at least 48 hours' notice to avoid the corresponding charge. Fees remain payable for normal attendance during sickness, occasional absences and planned holidays. Withdrawal needs one calendar month's written notice or payment instead, and changes to attendance times or days also require a month's notice.

Getting There

The nursery address is 45 Chesswood Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 2AA. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01903 600577 or by email to Littlerascalsdaynursery@outlook.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Universal Early Years Funding Entitlement and Extended Early Years Funding Entitlement, both stretched across the year, plus free entitlement sessions for eligible two-year-olds. Families claiming entitlement must register by the West Sussex County Council headcount date and complete the parent declaration paperwork.

Private fees include drinks, snacks and meals; children aged 3 and above receiving free nursery education are charged for lunch, and meals during funded sessions are charged separately. Nappies and wipes are supplied, while parents provide cotton wool, nappy cream and formula milk. These home-supplied items remain part of the practical preparation for nursery.

A non-refundable registration charge puts a child's name on the waiting list. The deposit is returned when the child leaves if the account is up to date and the required notice has been given. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the payment terms explain the charging structure.

Where demand exceeds places, the waiting-list order prioritises existing children seeking more sessions, then siblings of attending children, then new children in application order.

• Key-person continuity. October 2023 improvement work included making this approach more consistent. During a visit, ask how the key person and Buddy share knowledge of your child's routines and support a room move.
• Listening and thinking time. In October 2023, children sometimes struggled to follow instructions, and staff sometimes introduced language too quickly. Ask how practitioners now allow time for children to process an idea and respond.
• Attendance commitments. Absences remain chargeable and attendance changes require a month's notice. Weigh the full-time and part-time options against your household's likely pattern before booking.
• Food and allergies. Meals are adapted for different dietary needs, but funded sessions carry meal charges. Families managing allergies should confirm current catering practice and the arrangements for their child.

Little Rascals suits families seeking either full-time attendance or a part-time pattern, with play-based learning, an outdoor area and a named system for continuity of care. Tapestry gives parents a practical way to follow and contribute to learning. The October 2023 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, balanced by clear questions about key-person consistency and the pace of adult interaction. Those questions deserve attention when deciding whether the nursery fits your child.