Southdown Nursery
OutstandingTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Steyning for from 2 years up to 5 year olds, open 08:30 to 15:30, 5 days a week. £52.00 a day, and they take the funded hours. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in May 2023. Open since 2000, with 26 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 | £52.00 | £26.00Morning or Afternoon |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £7.50 Early drop off
- £7.50 Late pick up
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
30 hours of free entitlement funding for 3 and 4 year olds; 15 hours free for all 3 and 4 year olds; funded places available for eligible 2-year-olds.
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
BN44 3GLWhat 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, 4 May 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children flourish in this outstanding, nurturing nursery. They form exceptionally strong relationships and attachments with the dedicated staff. All children make rapid progress in all areas of their learning and development. From the moment children start at the nursery, staff ensure all children's individual needs are meticulously met.
Children are extremely enthusiastic to come into the nursery. They greet staff and their friends with enormous excitement for their day. Children and staff have developed wonderful relationships that help children feel exceptionally safe and secure. Children thoroughly enjoy exploring all areas of the spacious and wellpresented indoor and outdoor environments. They have an excellent awareness of keeping themselves safe as they play. Children show high levels of independence and confidence and enjoy taking risks, as staff discretely supervise close by. For instance, children wait until the slide is free before sliding down and they freely request support when using challenging balancing beams.
Children are provided with an outstanding range of stimulating and exciting activities that captivate their interests, further supporting them to become extremely motivated and inquisitive learners. Children clearly make full use of their creative potential in a variety of ways. For example, they experiment by mixing tea leaves with water, make imaginative dinosaur islands and come up with new and innovative ways of building sandcastles. Staff's enthusiasm and encouragement allow children to be engaged and eager to try new resources and tools to further enhance their skills and make way for their excitement to really be present.
- 4 May 2023Outstanding
- 9 May 2017Outstanding
- 18 May 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Southdown 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 £52.00 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.