Once Upon A Time Nursery School

Converted stables, farm walks and outdoor access from both main rooms give Once Upon A Time Nursery School at White House Farm a recognisable character. The setting in Rackheath combines a practical indoor layout with opportunities to explore the surrounding farmland. Nature is part of the nursery experience, rather than simply a view from the building.

At its 28 August 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. The detail behind that judgement matters: children used ordinary moments, from snack time to water play, to develop language and mathematical understanding.

The nursery caters for children from birth to five years and has 49 places in total. Caterpillars serves babies and toddlers; Butterflies brings toddlers and preschool children together. These overlapping stages make the room arrangement a useful part of a family's decision, alongside the farm setting and the nursery's approach to keeping parents involved.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillars is the baby and toddler room, while Butterflies accommodates toddlers and preschool children. Younger children occupy one side of the building, with a separate room for sleep and changing and a kitchen nearby; older children use the other side and have their own washroom.

Both main nursery rooms open directly onto secure outdoor play space, making outdoor activity accessible from each room. For younger children, the separate sleep space gives rest somewhere of its own.

Learning and Activities

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, the August 2025 activities brought its areas of learning together through conversation, stories, counting, physical exploration and play, rather than treating each as a separate lesson.

In August 2025, staff used children's interests and recent assessments to shape activities. Mathematical ideas appeared in familiar situations: younger children counted pieces of fruit and considered what changed when a piece disappeared, while older children explored amounts and measurement with water. These examples make the teaching approach tangible. Everyday resources became opportunities to think and explain.

During August 2025, practitioners extended conversations with questions that invited fuller answers. Songs and books were woven into routines, with stories chosen around children's interests and development.

Outdoor and Community Life

Access to the surrounding farmland extends exploration beyond the nursery's outdoor play areas.

In August 2025, children regularly walked to the local farm and explored its orchards. They also gathered nursery vegetable-garden produce for meals and snacks, connecting growing and harvesting with the food on their plates.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is matched with a key person who helps with settling, supports development and acts as the family's main contact. That gives parents an identified practitioner to work with during the transition into nursery, rather than leaving communication entirely to whoever happens to be present.

Tapestry, the online learning journal used here, lets parents see their child's activities and developmental progress. Its practical value is continuity between nursery and home: families can follow their child's nursery activities and developmental progress from home.

In August 2025, parents attended regular key-person meetings, events and stay-and-play activities. The nursery employed 20 childcare staff at that time.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received highly effective individual support, with personalised targets and collaboration between practitioners, coordinators, families and other professionals. The important mechanism was the connection between an individual child's needs and the strategies used to support them.

Emotional understanding also had practical expression in August 2025. Children made play-dough faces and talked about feelings, while discussion of similarities and differences encouraged them to consider other people. Each morning they voted for two daily helpers, giving them an experience of making a choice that affected their group.

Health routines included daily toothbrushing in August 2025, with conversations about why teeth need care. Food learning also extended into the vegetable garden and farm. Together, those examples show health being explored through actions children could take themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Stable 1, White House Farm, Salhouse Road, Rackheath, NR13 6LB. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays, and the nursery operates across the year.

In August 2025, the nursery closed for bank holidays and a week over Christmas. Those dated closure arrangements are relevant to families planning care around work, especially where their own working calendar continues through holiday periods.

General enquiries can be made through the contact form or by calling White House Farm on 01603 415821. The branch also has a registration route.

Funding and Paid Extras

In August 2025, the nursery provided government-funded childcare places. Funding participation at that inspection is a separate fact from an individual family's entitlement or the hours covered by their arrangement. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation.

A cook is part of the White House Farm team. In August 2025, children also used produce they had harvested from the nursery garden in food served at nursery, connecting meals with their outdoor learning.

• A younger child's room experience. Caterpillars combines babies and toddlers, with a separate space for sleep and changing on the younger children's side. During a visit, ask how rest and active play are organised for a child at your baby's stage.
• Care across the year. The nursery operates year-round, with weekday opening from 8am to 6pm; bank-holiday and Christmas closures applied in August 2025. Ask how the proposed attendance arrangement and annual closures fit your working calendar.
• The complete childcare quotation. Government-funded places formed part of the August 2025 provision. Request a written breakdown covering private hours, meals, non-food consumables and any joining charges so that the whole arrangement can be assessed together.

Once Upon A Time Nursery School suits families who value outdoor exploration, a farm setting and a clear relationship with a key person. Direct outdoor access, separate sleeping space and Tapestry provide practical reasons to consider it, beyond the Outstanding judgement from August 2025.

Its year-round operation and weekday opening window will appeal to parents organising care around work. The strongest educational detail is the use of familiar experiences, including fruit, water, stories and garden produce, to give children's questions and conversations substance.