Catkins Nursery opened in Horsham in November 2015 and is situated just to the south side of the town with good access to the A24 and easy parking.
The nursery is registered with 'Ofsted' and has just 24 child places. We are open from 8am to 6pm on weekdays for 50 weeks of the year. We are closed from 6pm on December 23rd (if a weekday!) until the first working day after New Year, and for the last working week every August.
The nursery is registered to care for two to five-year-old children and is private and independently run from an old ‘barn’ in Three Acres, just next to ‘The Needles Children and Family Centre’.
I have gained many years’ experience in the field of childcare and education and have successfully run child-care settings since 2000. Catkins is a stand-alone, ‘one off’ nursery and not part of a chain; we gained an 'Outstanding' outcome as a result of our first Ofsted inspection in March 2018.
We are delighted with our 'Outstanding' and as a team we want to provide a homely, relaxed family feel, where each child can grow and learn from traditional values and high expectations.
I believe passionately in delivering high quality childcare, I have always felt large-scale day-care settings were not ideal for young children. I also want to KNOW the children and families we provide for; I aim to achieve high standards, and we are continuing to grow and develop as a strong and highly qualified staff team doing just that.
A part of the day to day nursery routines are often focussed on the children helping the nursery catering staff to prepare food and taking part in cooking activities and even growing a few of our own herbs and vegetables, as well as a lot of fun and creative, messy play. We have a varied menu and children can request their favourite foods and help to lay the table. It’s the traditional values and a respectful but personal approach that I think makes us unique.
Cathy Walden
(N.N.E.B)