Welcome to our nursery

St Margaret’s Nursery opened in 2008 as a purpose built 36 place nursery. The nursery is owned by the school's governing body and is registered to take children from the age of three years old. As of June 2017, the nursery along with the two reception classes will be inspected by OFSTED under the 'Early Years' of St Margaret's School. The last OFSTED report, dated May 2022 can be found here.  We have recorded a virtual tour of the nursery to share with you. Please press play below.

Staffing 

The nursery comes under the leadership of Mrs Jill Hine (Headteacher) and Mrs Nichola Rea (Nursery Manager). Mrs Rea is supported by Early Years Educators who have a full and relevant qualifications. The nursery is run on a staff: child ratio of 1:5 or 1:8 depending on the age of children within the nursery environment.

Pets

We have three goldfish (Bob, Nemo and Dory) and the resident ducks that the children feed and observe daily.

Opening Times

The nursery is term time from 8.30am – 4.30pm, five days a week. Children can access full-time or part-time places during the term time only.

The free entitlement sessions are from: 8.30am-11.30am and 12:30pm-3:30pm for 15 FE hours or 9.30am-3.30pm for 30 FE hours, Monday to Friday. Additional hours may be available at an additional cost. 

The Nursery Environment

Our aim is to provide a nursery in which young children can feel confident, happy, secure and content as they learn through play. We will achieve this by creating an attractive and stimulating environment where members of staff are approachable and welcoming, where parents and their views are valued, where the best possible early years provision will be made available, and where children of all needs and abilities are welcomed and given complete access to the full provision of the nursery.

Outside Environment 

Our well established outside environment consists of  An all weathered covered area with mud kitchen, mark making and water areas, a large sandpit and Acorn corner where children can access mathematical, language and literacy activities as well as musical instruments and books.

Our construction area provides open-ended play with loose parts such as tyres, crates and planks for balancing, building and risk-taking.

Children can learn about planting and growing on our vegetable plot.

Our new nature area is a quiet space fully equipped for bird watching, bug and butterfly exploring, reading and nature activities, 

We have access to the secure wildlife pond area that can be seen from our nursery garden, where children can explore pond life and observe our resident ducks that nest every spring.

Registrations

We would be pleased to add your child to our waiting list. Please return a completed application form, with a copy of your child's birth certificate to:

Address:	Mrs Nichola Rea,  St Margaret's Nursery, The Mardens, Ifield, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 0AQ.
Email Address:	nichola.rea@stmagsifield.co.uk
Telephone Number:	01293 421080

Applications need to be received by the 31st January, to be considered for a place in the following September intake. The Nursery application forms can be found at the bottom of this screen.