Our Garden

Our garden is a particular feature of the nursery being some 300 square metres in area, very well equipped and secure all round. The extensive safety surfacing has allowed us to create an all-weather playground to burn off some of that excess energy. Most of the activities that form part of the nursery day are structured to take place both indoors and outside and we encourage a free flow of movement between the two.

Our Garden has many features that the children love:

Bug Hotel

Sand pit shaped like a boat

Mud kitchen

Potting, seeding and growing area with greenhouses

Climbing Wall

Climbing frame

Slide & fireman’s pole

Thomas the Tank Engine – life size

Log cabin

Bamboo grove

Cafeteria

Bikes, cars and scooters

Outdoor play shelter

Woodworking Shed

Sails for providing shade

Baby garden

Robins terrace

Garden room

We are very proud of our garden and in 2015 we were finalist in the category for Best Outdoor Learning Environment in the Nursery Management Times (NMT) awards. This put us in the top 5 in the country and although we were a little disappointed not to win it was a great achievement to become finalists for one of these prestigious awards.

Encouraging children to appreciate the natural world and the benefits of outdoor play is a key part of what we do each day. Next door to the nursery we are fortunate to have Withdean Park, with its own woodland walk, which is used for pushchair outings and nature trails. Most recently we have introduced Forest School, where the older children escape our garden and venture further afield into the woods and participate in different Forest School activities; such as den building and making camp. Come rain or shine, the outdoors always has something to offer. Here are the Owls children on the trail!