Ditton Lodge Nursery

A daily Special Helper wearing the Sunny Sunshine Badge captures the character of Ditton Lodge Nursery: children get a turn at helping practitioners and their friends with tasks during the session. Responsibility starts small. An enclosed outdoor area, opportunities to explore beyond the nursery and a parent-run committee give this Newmarket setting a practical, community-minded identity.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding across all areas. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of a recent visit. The nursery accepts children from their second birthday until they move into Reception, and has capacity for 24 children in total.

Although based within the grounds of Ditton Lodge Community Primary School, it operates independently. Term-time attendance can combine mornings, afternoons or an all-day session, with a minimum commitment across two days.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the foundation for learning through play, including language, physical development and relationships. Here, practitioners plan around individual interests and needs, combining activities children choose themselves with organised experiences. Cooking, discovery activities, role play and making things give children different ways to participate rather than requiring everyone to approach learning in the same way.

The daily timetable makes room for both choice and shared routines. Children can use the outdoor space during sessions; stories or rhymes bring the group together towards the end. Tidying is part of the day too, giving children a role in looking after the materials they use. For parents, this is a recognisable balance between independent play and learning to take part in a group.

In June 2022, children experimented with funnels and containers, changing the funnel when a narrow opening made pouring difficult. Practitioners introduced words to help children describe their discoveries. The useful detail is the connection between doing and talking: a problem involving funnels and containers became a reason to compare, explain and try another solution.

Outdoor and Community Life

The enclosed outdoor area extends the space for play. Forest School adds outdoor experiences such as balancing on logs, climbing trees and making marks in mud with sticks. These are concrete activities with natural materials, rather than an outdoor programme named without an explanation of what children do.

In June 2022, children grew beetroot and carrots, moved sand using equipment in the sandpit and played with flat scooters on a sloping playground. Large sand timers helped them manage turns. These examples show the physical resources involved, while keeping that inspection-era picture separate from the current timetable.

Local outings include Newmarket Library, a Harvest-time market visit and All Saints Church at Christmas. Visitors include the Dental Nurse, Police and Fire Service, introducing children to people whose work they may encounter locally. Families are encouraged to share their own celebrations, alongside festivals marked during the nursery year.

Sports Day and Mini Olympics are shared with the primary school. They give children opportunities to join larger events while the nursery retains its separate identity. The Sunny Sunshine Badge brings that sense of participation back to the daily session, giving the Special Helper a clearly recognisable role.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who helps with settling and works with parents on their child's interests and needs. Once a placement has been allocated, the joining process includes a registration pack and a home visit before the child starts. This creates an opportunity to begin the relationship before regular attendance, rather than leaving every introduction to the first nursery session.

Tapestry is the online learning journey used to share children's experiences, with parents able to add contributions themselves. That makes communication two-way: what happens at home can sit alongside nursery experiences. A monthly newsletter carries updates and reminders, while Open Mornings during the year let family members join activities with the children.

Parent involvement also extends to helping with outings, sharing interests and joining the voluntary management committee. Committee members are elected by parents at the autumn Annual General Meeting. Families who want an active role have routes into both everyday nursery life and its management.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A designated Special Educational Needs Coordinator provides a point of contact for discussing additional needs. Three Designated Safeguarding Leads support children, families and staff, and practitioners undertake child-protection training. These are arrangements families can discuss in relation to their own child.

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with SEND exceptionally strong, with activities adapted to individual needs. Those findings belong to that inspection. The current key-person approach and coordinator role provide the practical starting points for conversations about settling and support.

Children bring packed lunches, while the Snack Bar lets them practise choosing food, pouring, spreading and clearing away. The nursery's lunch policy excludes foods containing nuts; families managing allergies should confirm current practice before attendance.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery operates Monday to Friday in term time, opening at 8.40am and closing at 3.10pm. Four booking choices divide that window: a morning from 8.40am to 11.40am, a morning including lunch until 12.10pm, an afternoon from 12.10pm to 3.10pm, and an all-day session from 8.40am to 3.10pm.

Children must attend at least two sessions spread across two days each week. That rule matters when fitting nursery around work or other care arrangements: an occasional single weekly session does not meet the booking pattern. Starts can take place during the year, although the nursery prefers the beginning of a term. Its waiting-list rule allows families to request their preferred sessions when those cannot be allocated.

Getting There

The address is Ditton Lodge Community Primary School, St Johns Avenue, Newmarket, CB8 8BL. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01638 354252.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes two-year-old funding for children meeting its criteria and Nursery Education Funding of 30 hours a week over 38 weeks from the term after the child's third birthday, subject to eligibility. Delivery is term-time, and additional attendance beyond funded hours is charged at the nursery's sessional rate. Families should obtain a current written quotation for their chosen pattern.

Lunch is parent-provided. Uniform is optional, with a blue logo T-shirt and sweatshirt available to purchase, so it is a separate choice rather than a condition of attending.

Being on the primary school's grounds does not guarantee a Reception place at Ditton Lodge Community Primary School. Nursery attendance and school admission remain separate decisions.

• Term-time timetable. Sessions finish at 3.10pm and follow term-time operation. Families needing care beyond that window will need arrangements that fit those limits.
• Settling across two days. The minimum is two sessions on separate days each week, and a home visit forms part of joining. During a visit, discuss how the key person will introduce your child to that pattern.
• Funding and lunch. Funding depends on eligibility, extra hours are charged and children bring lunch. Ask for a written quotation covering your proposed attendance, including any consumables charges.
• School grounds, separate admission. Sports Day and Mini Olympics, shared with the school, provide contact with school life, but attending the nursery does not secure Reception admission. Make the school-place application separately.

Ditton Lodge suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting an all-day pattern within the school-day window. Its appeal is concrete: an enclosed outdoor area, Forest School experiences, local visits and a daily helping role, with Tapestry and a key person connecting parents to nursery life.

The Outstanding judgement dates from June 2022. Alongside that inspection position, the decision rests on whether the two-day minimum, term-time calendar and packed-lunch arrangement fit your family. For parents keen to participate, the committee and opportunities to help with activities add another reason to consider it.