Together we learn

Our Nursery

Where confident, curious children begin.At Highfield School, Nursery is where we lay the foundations for every child’s future. Set within 175 acres of stunning grounds in the South Downs National Park, on the borders of Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex, our independent nursery welcomes children from age two into a calm, spacious and expertly staffed setting that’s part of a wider school community

Three things set our Nursery apart:

Specialist teachers and coaches. Our children are taught by specialist teachers in Swimming, Gymnastics, Spanish, PE, Music and Forest School, alongside a Nursery Manager who is herself a qualified teacher.
Carefully designed environments. Our environment, indoors and out, is designed around how young children learn best. Inside is calm and neutral to reduce cognitive load. Outside is purposefully challenging to build resilience through managed risk.
Part of a wider school community. Because Highfield Nursery is part of the wider school, our youngest children enjoy opportunities most standalone nurseries cannot offer – helping build school readiness long before they start Reception.

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It is a phenomenal nursery school. The children are given so many opportunities to grow, explore and develop, with amazing staff, fabulous facilities and a first-rate approach to learning and childcare.

Nursery parent

Why Choose Highfield Nursery?

We know choosing a nursery is one of the biggest decisions a family makes, so here’s what we can tell you honestly, backed by evidence:

Families rate us. We hold a 10 out of 10 rating across 65 independent parent reviews on daynurseries.co.uk.
Families stay. Our retention rate from Nursery into Reception is 86%, and rising. 56% of our nursery families first heard about us through word of mouth, and 100% say they’d recommend us.
Families notice the difference. Several of our children joined us after starting at another nursery, and their families chose to move them here full time.

Our Nursery Rooms

Nursery is organised into three distinct rooms, each matched to your child’s age and stage of development. For much of the day, children enjoy free-flow movement across all three rooms and our shared outdoor provision. Older children build empathy looking out for their younger peers, while younger children learn by watching and following their older role models. This mixed-age approach gives children daily opportunities to learn from one another, building skills that support them throughout their Early Years.

The Den (Early Nursery, from age 2)

From age two, children join The Den, our Early Nursery room, a dedicated space for developing communication, creativity and resilience at their own pace. The Den also gives our youngest children a quiet space to sleep after lunch, while older peers carry on exploring elsewhere.

Meadows (Middle Nursery, from age 3)

When they turn three, and when they are developmentally ready, children move up to Meadows, our Middle Nursery room, where independence and curiosity continue to flourish.

Woodlands (Pre-school, final year before Reception)

In the year before starting school, children progress to Woodlands, our Pre-School room, where the focus turns towards a confident transition into Reception. Story time becomes longer, while Phonics and early Maths take on a clearer focus. This helps children develop the confidence and school readiness they need for the next stage.

Our Specialist Teachers and Curriculum

Children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage through a balance of child-initiated exploration, carefully planned adult guidance and specialist teaching. The curriculum grows from what children notice and care about, while ensuring they develop the communication, early literacy, mathematical understanding and physical skills needed for the next stage. This isn’t about rushing children through Nursery. It’s about guiding them towards Reception at a pace that gently challenges and appropriately supports them

Our nursery children are also taught Swimming, Gymnastics, Spanish, Music and Forest School by five specialist teachers, who teach throughout the whole school. This gives children access to specialist teaching from the very beginning of their Early Years education, an opportunity rarely found in a nursery. A child practising gymnastics in Nursery may well be taught by the same teacher they have in Year 2. This continuity means teachers aren’t starting from scratch each September; they build a deep, multi-year understanding of your child’s progress.

Qualified Early Years Leadership

Our Nursery Manager and Head of EYFS are both qualified teachers, bringing pedagogical knowledge and expertise in curriculum design and assessment- the same expertise that shapes teaching across the school. This means the person leading Highfield Nursery understands not only how to care for young children, but also how they learn and develop.

Staff-to-Child Ratios

Our staff-to-child ratios go beyond legal requirements, allowing our team work as genuine learning partners who respond to each child individually. These higher ratios also let us closely supervise managed risk-taking, like climbing, balancing and tool use. Rather than holding children back through caution, we support them to challenge themselves safely and confidently. Our September 2025 ISI inspection confirmed that appropriate staff-to-child ratios are maintained throughout the early years, and that staff are highly responsive to children’s needs and interests

There’s such a happy, calm and nurturing atmosphere. The breadth of opportunities is fantastic. Our son gets to take part in swimming, music, Spanish and forest school

Nursery parent

Our Nursery Environment

Step into Highfield Nursery and the first thing you’ll notice is what’s missing: primary colours, cluttered walls, sensory overload. Our indoor space is deliberately calm and neutral, designed around research into cognitive load- the theory that a busy environment competes for a young child’s attention. We let the children bring the colour and energy, rather than the walls!

Open-Ended Learning

Our space is filled with open-ended learning resources across three spacious rooms, materials that don’t tell a child what to do with them. A toy fire engine is always a fire engine. But a pile of building blocks might become a castle, a police car, or a bridge to escape a troll. Children decide what they play with, where, and how, building resourcefulness and wonder from the start. Our ISI inspection found that child-initiated activities support and develop independent learning skills from an early age.

Our carefully planned provision gives children the chance to take risks at our woodworking bench. They get messy in our tuff trays, building vocabulary through hands-on sensory exploration. They cook courgette fritters from courgettes grown in our own kitchen garden, a taste of garden-to-table from the very start. They curl up with a favourite book in the reading corner, then act it out with puppets. And there’s no shortage of creativity beyond that either, from outdoor painting easels to cutting-and-sticking collage.

Our Nursery Garden

Every nursery room has direct access to our garden, available throughout the day, whatever the weather. In fact, it’s often busiest when it’s raining. Puddles, the mud kitchen and the sandpit after a downpour are some of our children’s favourite classrooms. Our philosophy is one of high expectations within a carefully curated risk-taking environment. We don’t remove challenge, we scaffold it.

The garden has been designed to offer challenge rather than remove it. We deliberately kept the ground uneven so children can practise balance and gross motor control across different surfaces. The mud kitchen uses a water pump instead of a tap, so children have to work out how to access the water. Buckets and pulleys introduce forces through real experience, while weaving frames and upright drawing boards strengthen the muscles needed for early writing.

This kind of purposeful risk-taking is central to how we help children grow. We want children to have a go, get things wrong, and build the resilience to try again. Genuine free-flow between all three rooms and the garden is made possible by staffing structures that support it safely and consistently, holding high expectations for children while keeping them safe.

Beyond the Nursery Classroom

Just beyond the Nursery are 175 acres of grounds and woodland, including our dedicated Forest School. Children search for minibeasts, build dens and spend time developing a genuine love of wildlife only a short walk from the classroom door.Our ISI inspection noted that staff encourage pupils to develop and reflect upon their connection with nature from the early years.

Because our nursery sits within Highfield School, our youngest children get access to a breadth of experience most nurseries can’t provide. Aswell as weekly swimming lessons in the school pool and gymnastics in the main hall, they take part in Sports Day, perform their Nativity in our own theatre, eat lunch in the main school dining room, and visit our Forest School in the school’s own grounds. All of this happens on one site, just a short totter from their classroom, so two and three-year-olds get the rhythms of school life long before they join Reception. This makes the transition feel entirely natural, rather than a daunting first step through a new gate.

The Nursery is completely on my team, and I feel like we are in it together, raising my child to be happy, independent, confident and academically able.

Nursery Parent

Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

Every child’s emotional wellbeing is tracked weekly, allowing our team to notice and support a child well before a small worry becomes a big one. Our Head of Pre-Prep and EYFS runs small pastoral groups from Nursery age, teaching children the tools to understand their own emotions. Parents are kept closely informed too; our ISI inspection confirmed regular contact between staff, parents and carers on progress and wellbeing. Find out more about our whole-school approach to pupil care.

Nursery Opening Hours and Fees

Highfield Nursery is open for 34 weeks of the school year, with an optional additional 11 weeks during the school holidays.

We welcome children from age two, attending a minimum of two mornings per week. In their final Nursery year, children attend a minimum of three mornings per week with lunch, helping build readiness for the transition to Reception.

Session Options

Morning sessions run from 8.20am to 11.20am.Children can stay for lunch (eaten in our main dining hall) and be collected at 12.20pm, or remain for a full day until 3.20pm. Families can choose any available combination of mornings, mornings with lunch and full days sessions, up to five days each week

The Nursery Day

7.30am	Breakfast Club (optional and chargeable)
8.00am	Free before-school care
8.20am	Nursery doors open
11.20am	Morning session ends
11.45am	Lunch
12.20pm	Collection after lunch
3.20pm	Nursery day ends
3.30pm-4.30pm	Stay and Play (optional and chargeable)
4.30pm -6.30pm	After-School Care (optional and chargeable

Drop Off

Doors open for our Nursery children at 8.20am. We know mornings can be busy, with parents juggling drop-offs, work and other commitments, so a calm, stress-free start matters. That’s why we offer an earlier 8am drop-off option at no extra charge.

Many families use our Breakfast Club, open from 7.30am in the main dining hall, with a hot option such as beans on toast alongside cereal, porridge, yoghurt, toast and fresh fruit.

After School

The Nursery day ends at 3.20pm. For a later pick-up, Stay and Play offers a choice of games and activities until 4.30pm. After School Care then runs until 6.30pm, with high tea served at 5pm.

Fees and Funding

Our daily rate is £85.61. Universal 15 hours government funding is available for afternoon sessions for three and four-year-olds, and we accept Tax-Free Childcare and Employer Childcare Vouchers towards fees. Our team is happy to talk you through how this works for your family.

Your child’s next chapter starts here

We’d always recommend visiting before you decide. Come and see the garden, meet the team, and get a feel for the calm of the space for yourself. If you’d like to talk to us about a place for your child, or arrange a visit, our admissions team would love to hear from you.

Request a prospectus

Book a visit

Pre-Prep

Prep School

Admissions

What we’re up to

3 days ago

Celebrating our girls. 💙 A huge congratulations to Year 8 pupils Olivia and Phoebe, who have been recognised following this year’s IAPS National Prep Athletics Championships. 🎉 Olivia won silver in the U14 High Jump, while she and Phoebe were also recognised after qualifying for the national finals for three consecutive years. Together, they were part of a team of seven Highfield & Brookham girls who represented the school on the national stage. We’re so proud of every one of them. 🔗Tap the link in our bio to read the full story.

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3 days ago

Celebrating our girls. 💙 A huge congratulations to Year 8 pupils Olivia and Phoebe, who have been recognised following this year’s IAPS National Prep Athletics Championships. 🎉 Olivia brought home a silver medal in the U14 High Jump, while she and Phoebe were also recognised for qualifying for the national finals for three consecutive years. A brilliant reward for years of hard work and commitment to their sport. They were part of a fantastic team of seven Highfield & Brookham girls who represented the school brilliantly. We couldn’t be prouder of every one of them! Read the full story ➡️

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4 days ago

Our Nature Days Holiday Club with Corylus Collective spent some time weaving with lavender, rosemary and other natural materials collected from around the school grounds. The different textures and beautiful scents made it a particularly calming activity, giving children the chance to slow down while using plenty of concentration to weave each stem into place. 🌿

4 days ago

Sometimes creativity isn’t about what you make, it’s about how it makes you feel. Using lavender rosemary and other natural materials collected from around the school grounds, our Nature Crafting Holiday Club spent time creating their own woven artwork. 🌿 The scent of the herbs, the different textures and the chance to slow down made it a really calming activity. As they worked, children were also developing patience, concentration and fine motor skills, carefully weaving each stem into place. #IndependentSchool #HolidayClub #Hampshire #NatureCraft #WellbeingActivity

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5 days ago

Just one example of the many skills our Super Sports Holiday Club activities are developing 💪 #IndependentSchool #PrepSchool #HolidayClub #PhysicalSkills #Liphook

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5 days ago

🎭 Does your child love to perform or simply want to give something new a go? Join our talented LAMDA teacher, Susannah Wilson, for a day of creativity at our Performing Arts Holiday Club. Children will explore acting, movement and musical theatre in a relaxed, supportive environment, whether they’re stepping onto the stage for the first time or already love to perform. 📍 Highfield & Brookham School, Liphook 💷 £70 Book your place here: https://highfieldandbrookham.co.uk/school-plus/holiday-activity-clubs/summer-holiday-2026-booking-form/

6 days ago

Yesterday’s Nature Crafting Holiday Club with Corylus Collective made the most of the sunshine, creating beautiful flower shadow art. ☀️🌼 The children explored the grounds to find flowers and plants that caught their eye, then used the shadows they cast to create their own unique artwork. Every piece turned out differently, shaped by the flowers they found and the way the light fell. It was lovely to see children who’d never met before work alongside each other – helping each other keep flowers in place as the wind had other ideas! Taking that first step to make a new friend takes its own kind of courage 💚 And we’re glad that our Holiday Clubs bring children together to do just that.

6 days ago

Independence doesn’t always mean going it alone. Sometimes it looks like this… a child who’s figured something out, patiently showing a friend how it’s done. #IndependentSchool #NatureCrafting #HolidayClub #Kindness #IndependentSkills

1 weeks ago

🗳️ Voting for the Tatler Schools Guide 2026 Awards is now open! We’re incredibly proud of the school we’ve built together and think Highfield is worth shouting about, but it’s always wonderful to hear that from you too! If you’d like to support Highfield, we’d be so grateful for your vote. Whether you’re part of our community or simply want to support us, everyone is welcome to vote 💙 Know someone who’d like to support us too? Please share this post with them. 🗓️ Voting closes on 29th August 2026, the winners announced in September. Voting link: https://shorturl.at/KcBLC

1 weeks ago

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1 weeks ago

The best way to finish a week of Nature Days Holiday Club? Around the campfire with s’mores. 🔥 After learning with @coryluscollective about what a fire needs to burn, how to build one safely and the rules for staying safe around it, the children gathered around the campfire to put it all into practice. Giving children the chance to do things for themselves is a big part of Nature Days, especially when it comes with a toasted marshmallow at the end!

1 weeks ago

Houston, we have no problems… just lots of crating! 🚀 It would be easy to think crafting is just about the finished creation, but it’s the skills built along the way that really matter. Threading cord for macramé for example, builds hand-eye coordination and precision, the kind our children rely on in sport, DT and everyday tasks. Our holiday clubs are full of moments like this, skills that quietly build in the background! #IndependentSchool #Liphook #HolidayClubs #IndependentSkills #Crafting

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2 weeks ago

Today’s Bushcraft challenge? Whittling their own bows and arrows from scratch. Turns out there’s more technique to it than you’d think. Too much curve and the wood snaps, too little and it won’t shoot at all, so they had to keep testing the bend as they went rather than guessing. It takes a fair bit of trial and error, but we love seeing them stick with it until that first arrow actually flies. In a world where so much happens on a screen, there’s real value in learning practical skills and discovering what you can create with your own hands!

2 weeks ago

Today at Bushcraft Holiday Club, the children learned how to weave their own survival keyrings. It took patience to master the technique, but by the end of the session they had made something genuinely useful. The paracord can replace a broken shoelace, help build a shelter or even secure a hammock! In a world where so much happens on a screen, there’s real value in knowing how to make something useful with your hands. #IndependentSchool #PracticalSkills #OutdoorSkills #HolidayClub #Bushcraft

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2 weeks ago

Dragons have had quite a year at Highfield! First in Shrek and now in our Crafting Holiday Activity Club with @feltybee_crafts 🐉 Using needle felting, the children shaped their very own dragons, a fiddly process that took patience and plenty of concentration. It just goes to show, real magic takes a bit of hard work! #IndependentSchool #PrepSchool #HolidayClub #IndependentLearning #Crafting

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2 weeks ago

What do dragons, potions and magical houses have in common? 🪄 They were all part of the Magic and Myths craft session with Feltybeecrafts this week! The children learned new techniques, including needle felting their own dragons, before turning glass pebbles into dragon eyes and creating magical houses of their own. Some parts were fiddly and took a few steps to get right, teaching the children patience and perseverance to stick with it. It just goes to show, real magic takes a bit of hard work! ✨

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2 weeks ago

The children discovered the magic of cyanotype printing with Corylus Collective during our Nature Days Holiday Club, using sunlight to create beautiful nature-inspired artwork 🌿 They explored the grounds to find natural materials they wanted to include, deciding for themselves what would work best before arranging their pieces. We love that every piece is so unique, reflecting the different choices each child made!

2 weeks ago

The children discovered the magic of cyanotype printing with @coryluscollective during our Nature Days Holiday Club, using sunlight to create beautiful nature-inspired artwork 🌿 They explored the grounds to find natural materials they wanted to include, deciding for themselves what would work best before arranging their pieces. We love that every piece is so unique, reflecting the different choices each child made! #IndependentSchool #Liphook #OutdoorLearning #HolidayClubs #ChildInitiatedLearning

170

2 weeks ago

The sun is shining outside… and it’s been shining during our Cosmic Crafting Holiday Course too! ☀️ Today’s session from Feltybeecrafts was packed full of space-themed creativity, with the children enjoying a whole galaxy of activities. Among their many creations, the children sewed their own suns. Sewing has a great way of teaching patience and just when everything seems to be going well, the thread slips away or gets itself in a knot! We saw our children take those little setbacks in their stride, choosing to have another go independently before asking for help. …and just look where that perseverance got them!

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2 weeks ago

Year 8 Reflections: part 2 💙 As our Year 8s enjoy their summer and look ahead to the next stage of their journey, we’re excited to see them take these lessons with them into their new schools. Swipe through to read some of their answers. ➡️ #IndependentSchool #Liphook #SchoolLeavers #Memories #ClassOf2026

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2 weeks ago

The exciting news just keeps coming! 🎉 We couldn’t be prouder of our Head Boy, Rupert, on his selection for the prestigious U14 UK Lions programme. 🏑 This is a fantastic achievement and a reward for all of Rupert’s hard work, dedication and passion for hockey. Tomorrow, Rupert heads to Manchester for his first UK Lions training session – the start of an exciting new chapter! Good luck, Rupert. We’ll all be cheering you on! 💙 #IndependentSchool #UKLions #Hockey #SchoolSport #FutureStars

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2 weeks ago

The exciting news just keeps coming! 🎉 We couldn’t be prouder of our Head Boy, Rupert, on his selection for the prestigious U14 UK Lions programme. This incredible achievement is the result of years of hard work, dedication and passion for hockey, and is so thoroughly deserved! Everyone at Highfield & Brookham is delighted to see Rupert recognised at such a high level and we can’t wait to follow his journey over the coming year. Rupert’s first UK Lions training session takes place next tomorrow in Manchester – the first step in what promises to be an amazing adventure. Good luck Rupert, we’ll all be cheering you on! 💙 Read more in our latest press release ➡️

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3 weeks ago

Bookings are now open for our Parent & Child Swim School starting this September! Whether your little one is taking their very first splash or continuing to build their confidence in the water, our friendly, supportive classes provide the perfect environment to learn together. ✨ We’re also introducing a brand-new class for 3–4-year-olds from September – a great opportunity for older preschoolers to develop their swimming skills and independence.✨ Places fill quickly, so if you’re planning ahead for September, now is the perfect time to secure your place. Book now: https://highfieldandbrookham.co.uk/school-plus/swim-school/

3 weeks ago

🎉10(ish) weeks until the 10(ish) Year Reunion! The countdown is officially on and we’re so excited to welcome everyone back! It’s going to be a fantastic evening of catching up, reminiscing and reconnecting with old friends. If you haven’t RSVP’d yet, there’s still time – we’d love to see you there!

3 weeks ago

10(ish) weeks until the 10(ish) Year Reunion! 🎉 The countdown is officially on! We can’t wait to welcome everyone back for an evening of catching up, reminiscing and reconnecting with old friends. If you haven’t RSVP’d yet, there’s still time – we’d love to see you there!

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Together we learn

Nursery

Our Nursery

Why Choose Highfield Nursery?

Our Nursery Rooms

The Den (Early Nursery, from age 2)

Meadows (Middle Nursery, from age 3)

Woodlands (Pre-school, final year before Reception)

Our Specialist Teachers and Curriculum

Qualified Early Years Leadership

Staff-to-Child Ratios

Our Nursery Environment

Open-Ended Learning

Our Nursery Garden

Beyond the Nursery Classroom

Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

Nursery Opening Hours and Fees

Session Options

The Nursery Day

Drop Off

After School

Fees and Funding

Your child’s next chapter starts here

Pre-Prep

Prep School

Admissions

What we’re up to

view all news

view all news