The Little Blue Door
OutstandingTakes funded hours★ 4.6 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Chichester for babies from 3 months up to school age, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £78.00 a day, and they take the funded hours. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in February 2024. Open since 2016, with 60 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
| Age | Full day | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All ages | £78.00School day £89.00 | £6.00Early Blue Doors £7.00Early Blue Doors |
Before you start
One-off charges to take a place.
- £50.00 waiting list feewill form part of your acceptance fee once a place is available
- £250.00 acceptance feepayable upon submission of your registration form
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £18.00 to £25.00 a session off-site experiencesoptional, not covered by session fees or EYFE
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15 hours of funding, 30 hour funding subject to eligibility.
Worth knowing. For families accessing EYFE hours only, any acceptance fee that is charged will be refunded shortly after headcount day, in line with Local Authority guidelines.
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
PO19 7DLWhat 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, 15 February 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children thrive in this exciting, educational nursery. They have exceptionally close relationships with staff and demonstrate that they feel valued and welcomed. For example, children spontaneously cuddle into staff, beaming with happiness as they do so. Staff are extremely welcoming and nurturing and respond warmly to children. Staff praise babies as they babble and say simple words. As a result, children form secure attachments with staff and positively flourish in their care.
Children show positive attitudes to learning and make rapid progress in their development. They enjoy helping staff to plan activities, and this makes them feel valued and important. Children gain an excellent understanding of mathematics and use purposeful mathematical language in their play. For instance, when looking at numbers they quickly work out which number is the 'greatest' and which is the
'smallest'. Children then work together to line them up in order.
- 15 February 2024Outstanding
- 4 April 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Little Blue Door
- Nappies
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 £78.00 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.