East Hoathly CofE Primary School Nursery

Rabbits in The Woodland gives East Hoathly’s nursery its own identity within a rural Church of England primary school. The nursery caters for children aged three to four, and the school occupies extensive grounds in East Sussex. This is a school setting from the start, with nursery provision forming part of its early years organisation.

Love, Truth, Strength and Wisdom are the school’s named values. They give families a clear introduction to the ethos surrounding the nursery, alongside its place in the Pioneer Federation.

Stories, rhymes and songs provide a concrete starting point for understanding the learning here. At the inspection on 13 June 2024, Ofsted described nursery children beginning to enjoy these experiences as the starting point for the school’s emphasis on reading. For parents, the emphasis is on an interest in language and books from the nursery stage.

The Woodland is the name of the school’s EYFS grouping, with the nursery children known as Rabbits. Emotional learning has a named approach too: Zones of Regulation. Younger children use mood monsters to connect feelings with the programme’s colours, giving them a visual way to begin recognising emotions.

A February 2023 nursery activity explored children’s bodies and ways to keep them healthy. It is a specific example of learning about looking after themselves, alongside the stories and songs.

Emotional support includes classroom displays adapted to children’s development and age. Strategies are revisited daily, with individual or small group work used where children need help with a particular skill. This gives the shared language of feelings a practical role beyond a single activity.

SEND provision covers physical and sensory needs, communication difficulties, learning needs, and social, emotional or mental health difficulties. Class teachers share responsibility for children with SEND across the federation. Families can therefore discuss their child’s needs as part of classroom provision, rather than treating support as a separate concern.

Safeguarding concerns can be sent directly to dsl@easthoathly.e-sussex.sch.uk. East Hoathly also participates in Operation Encompass: trained staff liaise with police following disclosure of domestic abuse so that support can be provided to an affected child.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal local authority process, by its normal deadline.

The school’s admission arrangements for the 2026 to 2027 cycle do not include nursery attendance as an oversubscription priority. Allocation instead follows the listed criteria, including sibling and community-area circumstances, with home-to-school distance used to resolve oversubscription within a category. Choosing the nursery should therefore be a decision about the nursery experience, separate from the later application.

The nursery timetable sets registration at 8.55am and the end of the day at 3.15pm. Gates open at 8.40am, with children expected between 8.40am and 8.50am. These timings give families a clear morning arrival window.

For collection, the playground gate reopens at 3.10pm and children leave through classroom doors. Tell the office or class teacher beforehand if someone else will collect your child; staff may contact you to verify an unfamiliar collector.

Nursery enquiries go through the school office at office@easthoathly.e-sussex.sch.uk or 01825 840247. The school is on Church Marks Lane in East Hoathly.