Nursery

It depends when you want your baby to start, but get a spot sooner than later as they book up quickly. Its hard to know what to ask but here are some ideas - what’s included/ excluded in the price? (Food, nappies, milk) - what sort of food is served - can they accommodate BLW (if this is something you want) - do they follow Montessori/ do they allow them to be independent (eg. Pour water, sit in chairs at table vs high chair) - what times can they do, what is extra fees - what do they do through the day, do they do any day trips You will just need to have a look around and get a feel for the teachers and nursery xx

It depends on what you need, but to give you an idea - things that were important to us were: Are they given screen time/what does this look like. Are they happy with reusable nappies, do they cater to vegetarian diets, can they offer drop in days around regular days (with notice), do they go on trips, and would they offer a term-time contract. Also, if you plan to use funded hours, ask how they work with these. Some nurseries only accept on between certain hours (eg. 9-12pm each day) or may have other terms around them. So it's good to know how they work, as everywhere is different.

To be honest, I'd go with your instincts. The feeling you get and how it aligns with your goals and values will tell you a lot! My son's is child led, has very low staff turnover, does an amazing array of activities and themes, and was full of thank you artworks from grateful parents, which said it all! Just had a great feeling when I visited and he has loved it for the past 18 months! xx

Is there any in Horley that’s good and you can recommend?

@Jess thank you for this. Really helpful and lots of good points for me to look in to.

@Kat I want to start baby from 9 months to finance reasons and having some funded childcare. Didn’t think about the terms with this. Thank you for great advice on this.

With the funding, the way it currently stands, our January 2025 babies wont be eligible for anything until the school term AFTER they turn 9 months. Which will be January 2026. At which point, they will either get the 15 or 30 hours. Part of the reason i am taking longer off work this time, it doesn't work out to be worth going back earlier!

I used to work in a nursery doing the admissions, and did tours with new parents. Common questions: Funding (specific to each nursery) Hours available (again, specific to each nursery) Out door time/play Food/weaning/milk policy Payments and cancellation policy Availability of additional adhoc sessions Key Person structure (some nurseries will have the same key person which moves with the child, so will have a new key person for every room change) Schedule of room change (based on age or ability) Specialist staff (SEN, Speech and language ect)

Also - 100% not too early to secure a place now! In particular, with the new funding, spaces are going to be tight, so i would get in early.

@Kirsty this is great! Thanks for all the information! You’re absolutely right, with the new funding nurseries will definitely be booked up so will try and have a look around for some this week/next week.

I'd add as well, do they have an outdoor area and if so how often do they use it, if that's important to you!