Springfield Infant School and Nursery: Nursery Review

Mud gardening, story role play and a home corner give Springfield’s Ducklings plenty to get busy with. This is the nursery within Springfield Infant School and Nursery on Sackville Road in Worthing, welcoming children from age 3; the provision includes 40 nursery children.

Early years provision was graded Outstanding at the Ofsted inspection on 14 and 15 January 2025. That judgement covers the school’s early years, rather than a separate nursery inspection. Staff developed a detailed understanding of children’s needs before putting support in place, giving learning a purposeful start.

Outdoor activity is a defining feature of Ducklings. Children head outside in all weather, with sheltered areas alongside a mud garden and wooded space. Sand and water tables invite experiments; bikes, scooters and a slide provide opportunities to move. Giant construction blocks add building on a bigger scale. The gardening patch brings seasonal change into play: children grow tomatoes, beans, sunflowers and herbs in summer, then prepare for winter vegetables.

Inside, the home corner supports pretend cooking and everyday care, with an armchair for reading. Farm animals, dinosaurs, trains and cars give children material for imaginative play, while marble runs and threading offer different ways to investigate and practise handling objects. Mark making extends beyond pencils: shaving foam, paint, sticks and feathers let children explore making marks with different materials.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides staff in following children’s development and identifying smaller steps in learning. In everyday terms, that means counting through songs and games, exploring shapes, and discussing story characters and plots. Children also act out stories and try changing them. In January 2025, early years language and communication developed successfully through frequent exposure to vocabulary. Words matter here, alongside the practical play.

Settling is shaped around the child. A play visit with a parent can be arranged on request, and children start in stages according to their needs. An All about me form captures interests, strengths and concerns before nursery begins. Key workers work with parents and other professionals on individual learning targets where needed.

Parents can speak with staff each day and meet the Lead Practitioner once a term to discuss development. Communication diaries are used when necessary. For children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), visual schedules, Makaton signs, photographs and picture symbols help make routines and communication easier to understand. A sensory room supports individual or small group work; the building is on a single level. These are concrete adaptations to the day, alongside access to speech and language services.

Morning snacks include milk and fruit. Children bring a labelled water bottle, and families can choose a packed lunch instead of a charged hot meal. Packed lunches must exclude nut products. Parents supply wipes, nappies and nappy bags while needed; staff support potty training, with spare clothes and underwear sent in for accidents. All nursery staff have paediatric first aid training.

Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must make a separate Reception application through the normal admissions route and meet the normal deadline.

Transition support is a separate matter. Staff hold meetings to pass information to the infant or primary school a child will attend. For children moving to Springfield’s Reception classes, a nursery staff member visits on their first school day, providing a familiar person during the change. That supports continuity of care; it does not secure admission.

Springfield operates during school terms, with morning sessions from 9am to noon and afternoon sessions from noon to 3pm, Monday to Friday. Families request changes to their registered sessions using a change request form. Nursery children currently have no wraparound care provision, so the session boundaries matter for working parents.

Eligible families can access funded 15 or 30 hour places with no additional cost. A hot lunch is the only potential charge, and bringing a packed lunch is an alternative. Universal funding starts in the term following a child’s third birthday; sessions taken before eligibility are charged. Contact the nursery for current charges.

Tours can be booked by emailing office@springfieldschool.co.uk or calling 01903 219243. This gives families a chance to see the spaces their child would use before choosing sessions.