Cherry Tree Nursery
Our nursery in Hollingdean is for children under 5 years old. We welcome children from any part of the city and parents who want to use their free childcare hours.
About Cherry Tree Nursery
Our aim
At Cherry Tree, we believe that children learn best through playing and doing. We aim to provide a rich, stimulating environment with caring, nurturing and supportive staff, where children’s welfare is of paramount importance.
Our aim at Cherry Tree Nursery is to value all children and empower them to reach their full potential.
We believe that the family are the child’s first and most important carers and educators. We have an open-door policy involving parents and carers at every opportunity.
We believe that your child’s happiness and success will benefit greatly from a good partnership between home, nursery and other childcare professionals.
We provide high-quality early education and care for children aged from 3 months to 5 years.
The nursery has 2 main rooms.
Turtle room
The Turtle room is for children aged from 3 months to 2 years. It's a large open-plan room where we operate an adult-to-child ratio of 1:3.
Children are encouraged to access all areas of the room, including:
- messy and creative play
- physical activities
- story areas
We have a safe cosy space for younger babies to play in and a sleep area.
Dolphin room
The Dolphin room is for children aged 2 years to 5 years. It's a large open-plan room with many areas for play of all kinds such as construction, creative and design, soft play and stories.
We have a cosy/sleep corner for rest and a sensory room.
The learning environment is designed to help children feel secure and curious about the environment and play opportunities.
Our wonderful staff encourage children to make choices independently and initiate their own learning with close support and guidance.
We also have group times where we do more focused learning depending on the individual child’s age and stage.
Outside area
We're extremely proud of our outside spaces and the opportunities that the children have to explore our natural outdoor environment.
We encourage the children to climb trees, run through the willow tunnels, climb on our climbing frame and play in the ‘mud kitchen’.
We have:
- a sandpit house
- bikes
- ride-on/push-along toys
- balls
- water play
We follow 'in the moment' planning which allows educators to closely observe a child’s interest and extend it in real-time. This lets educators enhance and build upon children’s existing knowledge.
The outside spaces are accessed straight from the playrooms. We have undercover areas straight from the building which allows play outside in rainy weather with waterproof clothing.
We benefit from being in the Children's Centre as we have access to groups and resources.
Our staff
Our staff are skilled in meeting children's individual needs in secure and stimulating environments designed to be bright, warm and nurturing.
Our success is due to the outstanding practice of our well-qualified and experienced staff.
Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
Our staff are very experienced in SEND and have supported children with needs ranging from communication, global delay to physical disabilities.
We have a sensory room within our nursery which is a quiet, cosy and relaxing space where all children especially those with special educational needs and disabilities can explore their senses through the toys and equipment.
We have a SENCO and a SEND Lead Practitioner who work very closely with key workers and parents to support children with SEND. We also work very closely with speech and language therapists and BHISS (Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service).
Inclusion
We celebrate all of the languages spoken at the nursery by the children, staff and parents.
We access services such as BHISS and EALTS (English as an Additional Language and Travelers Service), previously known as EMAS (Ethnic Minority Achievement Service), to support us with some children if needed.
We also welcome families to share stories and songs in their home languages.
Food
We provide healthy snacks and a breakfast that consists of healthy cereal and toast. Milk and water are provided at snack and breakfast times. Fresh drinking water is available at all times. Breakfasts are included in the fees.
For lunch and tea, parents have the option of supplying a healthy packed lunch/tea or purchasing nursery meals, our lunch and tea are provided by an award-winning local supplier: Little Tums Catering. They get delivered twice daily to ensure freshness.
Speak to our Nursery Management Team for information on our packed lunch guidance.
Flexible, emergency and occasional childcare
Ad-hoc sessions may be booked subject to availability for children already attending the nursery.
We'll consider each request for occasional or emergency childcare on an individual basis, subject to availability.
Transport options
We're located in Hollingdean Children's Centre, right by Hollingdean Park.
We're on the number 50 bus route which stops right outside the nursery.
There's free on-street parking outside the nursery on Brentwood Road.
