Heather Playgroup
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Horsham for from 2 years up to school age, open 08:45 to 14:45, 5 days a week. £7.85 an hour for age 2, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2024. Open since 1992, with 24 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Price list dated September 2026.
| Age | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| Age 22y to 3y | £7.85sessions booked above funded entitlement | |
| 3+3y to 5y | £6.70sessions booked above funded entitlement |
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
West Sussex Funded Entitlement scheme, Early Learning for 2 year olds LA issued funding, and the Working Families 30 hour funding for children aged from 2 years.
Worth knowing. Funded Entitlement hours are offered with no extra charges at point of delivery. Any sessions you book above your funded entitlement will be charged at our current hourly rate.
What childcare usually costs in West Sussex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in West 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
RH12 5XLWhat 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, 23 February 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children enter the playgroup with excitement and enthusiasm. They run towards the open arms of the staff, who cuddle them. Children settle very quickly and choose from a variety of activities that engage them. For example, children dress as doctors and pretend to make adults 'better'. Staff explain to children what a thermometer is, and children tell staff that the heart goes 'boomty boom'. Children recall this information later in the garden when they feel each other's chests after exercise. 'It is going faster!', they exclaim.
Children are kind to each other and are very well behaved. Staff set high expectations for good manners. Children politely ask for a snack, saying 'please'
and 'thank you' without prompt. They are keen to help tidy away toys and race against the adults who are helping them. Children demonstrate high levels of engagement and show independence when choosing what they want to do. Staff further support engagement, for instance, at snack time, where children learn to cut up their own fruit and use knives for spreading toppings. Children sit amicably with staff and wash the dishes, chatting about past events and talking about what they would like to do in the future.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen staff's understanding of how to support younger children to ensure that all children are able to fully benefit from the learning opportunities they provide.
- 23 February 2024Good
- 10 May 2018Good
- 13 July 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
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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 £7.85 an hour 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.