Welcome to Rocking Horse Childcare

About Us

Rocking Horse Childcare is a family-run day nursery in the heart of Southend. We are a mother and daughter team, from childminding and teaching backgrounds, with over 40 years of experience in Early Years, between us. We are passionate, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about children’s care, learning and development.

Having gained years of experience individually, we attended University together and both gained our BA (Hons) in Early Years Education. Since then, Lisa (Owner and Mother) went on to open a childminding business that become the start of the Rocking Horse Childcare nursery journey. Whilst Aimée (Manager and Daughter), continued in education, completing a QTS and PGCE, gaining valuable experience teaching children in Primary School.

We believe that children thrive when they feel safe, and happy; that’s why we provide a ‘home from home ‘approach. This means that we aim to provide a calm, secure and welcoming environment, working closely with parents/guardians to best support their children. Our children aged 2 and under benefit from use of our sensory room, homely environments that promote independence and highly qualified, experienced staff, with specific training for dedicated care and nurture for this age range.

Our children aged 2 and over, including our pre-schoolers, also benefit from the same care and approach, whilst receiving high quality education, through a carefully planned, engaging curriculum. Staff use the children’s interests, alongside a wide range of topics, to capture and engage children, and support next steps in learning and development. Ensuring the children receive the best possible experiences and start to life, during their early years, is our priority.

Our staff strive to ensure that environments are enabling for all children that attend. They do this through carefully planning and arranging the space to meet the needs of the children. By following the key-person approach, staff build positive relationships with their key-children and families to better support learning and development and provide consistency. We recognise that every child is unique, and our dedicated team of staff work closely with our SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and Development Coordinator), ENCo (Equality Needs Coordinator), Family Liaison Coordinator and local agencies including the setting health visitor, to ensure the children and families receive the best possible support.

Gallery

Our Rooms

Willow

Maple

Sycamore

Oak

Pine

FAQs

Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, between 07:30 and 18:00.
We are open all year, exept for bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year.
Yes, we accept 15/30 hour funding, we stretch the funding throughout the whole term.
Yes, we do, please contact us to see which companies we are registered with. We also accept tax free childcare.
No, we do not charge for days we are closed, for instance bank holidays.
Yes all our staff are required to have a DBS (disclosure barring service) check and our recruitment process requires face to face interview and trials. We require a minimum of two references and checks on certificates and qualifications.
Our staff carry out daily risk assessments in each room, these checks are carried out at the start of the morning session and at the end of the day as well on an adhoc basis when required (when going on outings, for example). Our fire system is checked every six months and serviced annually. For safety we have CCTV recording inside and out of the premises.
Fees are due monthly in advance and are emailed and availabe through the Famly app. The invoice is itemised with each session with details of funding or discounts applied so it is clear what the fees are for. All prices include snacks, meals disposable nappies, nappy cream and wipes (unless specific branded nappies and cream are needed). Fees can be paid by bank transfer (bank details can be found on your invoice).