Charlie Bear's Nursery
OutstandingTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A pre-school in Seaford for babies from 9 months up to 5 year olds, open 09:00 to 15:00, 5 days a week. £58.00 a day, and they take the funded hours. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in May 2024. Open since 2017, with 32 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Term time only, 38 weeks a year.
| Age | Full day | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All ages | £58.00 | £27.50PMs, 3 hrs £33.00Forest School & Summer Beach School or AMs, 3.5 hrs |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £5.50 a session Additional early start
- £6.50 a session activity session chargewhen included as part of regular booking
What a funded hour still costs
Funded hours cover the childcare. These are charged alongside them.
- £1.25 a session Non-food consumables (activities etc.)Voluntary Consumable fees
- £1.75 a session Food healthy snacksVoluntary Consumable fees
Funded hours
EYEE free offer (15 hour funding) for universal 3/4 year old funding/ 2-3 year old funding (based on eligibility); Working families funding (30 hour funding) from the term after the child turns 9 months for parents working 16 hours or more per week.
Worth knowing. Half day sessions as available for 15 hour funding; Monday to Friday 9-3 for 30 hour funding; Flexible sessions subject to availability; Voluntary Consumable fees: Food healthy snacks £1.75 per session, Non-food consumables £1.25 per session (option to provide own healthy snacks).
What childcare usually costs in East Sussex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in East Sussex from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
BN25 1ABWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 16 May 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
All children make outstanding progress in their learning and development. Staff have a comprehensive understanding of each child's learning needs and high expectations for what they can achieve. Staff expertly plan and provide a range of exciting and stimulating activities and opportunities. These successfully encourage children to engage, be curious and inquisitive in their play, showing extreme motivation to learn. Throughout the nursery, children are engrossed in experiences that fully capture their imaginations. They laugh excitedly with friends as they dance and reach to catch bubbles and as they jump in puddles. Young children marvel at the different sized splashes they create by throwing items into water.
Staff interact superbly with all children. As a result, children develop wonderful social skills. They eagerly share experiences with others, such as showing their friends when the snail is 'hiding' in its shell. All children learn to be incredibly respectful and show enormous kindness to each other. Staff are extremely supportive to children who become upset or require additional guidance. Children are highly creative, and they express themselves tremendously well. For example, a group of children giggle with excitement during an art activity, during which they confidently share ideas, learn to mix colours and chat about the differences in their artwork from using various sized cars. They enthusiastically extend the activity, relishing with absolute delight in turning the activity into finger and hand painting and painting their own arms and faces. Throughout, the activity, staff use excellent skills and language to extend and enhance children's learning.
- 16 May 2024Outstanding
- 14 June 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Charlie Bear's Nursery
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- Is £58.00 a day still the rate? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.