Red Hen Childrens Day Nursery

A working farm shapes childhood at Red Hen: ponds, woodland and food grown for the kitchen are part of the nursery day. At Manor House Farm in Legbourne, children have daily access to private nature areas, while babies have an upstairs base in The Granary overlooking the paddocks. This is a setting for families who want outdoor life to be central to childcare.

At its February 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Red Hen Good overall. The practical detail behind that judgement matters more than the label: children took responsibility for drinks and snacks, explored trees and grew vegetables.

The nursery has 72 places in total and accepts children from 2 to 60 months. Separate staff teams work with babies, toddlers and preschool children, alongside opportunities for different ages to share meals and experiences.

Rooms and Ages

Nest, the baby space, occupies the large upstairs room in The Granary, with views across the nature areas. It gives the youngest children their own base within a setting whose outdoor experiences also include babies. For parents choosing infant care, the room and its relationship with the wider farm are useful parts of the picture.

Dedicated teams and base areas support different ages and stages. Mixed-age contact is also deliberate, especially at mealtimes, when adults and children sit together. The arrangement combines an age-specific base with opportunities to spend time alongside older and younger children.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS connects play and everyday care with children's development: communication, physical skills and relationships receive early emphasis, with literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding the world added for older children. Red Hen builds nature, sustainability and food into that daily learning. These are concrete experiences rather than separate lessons detached from nursery life.

Good Food & Experiences from Soil to Plate links growing produce with harvesting, preparing and eating it. Helping with snacks and meals is part of everyday activity, and the kitchen's position makes cooking and baking accessible within the nursery spaces. A vegetable is something children can follow from the ground to their plate.

In February 2022, children's interest in bubbles during handwashing led to an experiment using water, washing-up liquid, string and other materials. Clay and sticks prompted imaginative play connected with familiar stories. Those examples show how an ordinary interest could become an opportunity to investigate materials, practise language and recall ideas from books.

Hand-written journals document each child's time at Red Hen. They give families an individual account of nursery experiences, making the connection between play and development easier to follow.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School experiences include campfire cooking and working with real tools, supported by trained practitioners. Children spend the majority of their time outdoors whatever the weather, including the youngest children. Suitable clothing is therefore part of making this nursery work for a family, rather than something reserved for occasional outings.

The grounds include wetland and woodland areas, paddocks and access to neighbouring fields; the farther woods extend the opportunities for adventures. Horses, ponies, chickens and guinea pigs bring animal life into the setting. Fields planted with wildflowers and pollinator mixes give children changing natural material to notice through the seasons.

Environmental sustainability also has a physical presence: solar panels, efforts to reduce plastic and waste, and over 1000 trees planted since 2004. In February 2022, children visited the on-site pond to learn about frogs' life cycles, planted bulbs together and explored trees. The outdoor spaces supplied the subject matter as well as the place to play.

Relationships and Communication

Age-and-stage teams bring different skills, including qualifications up to degree level. The setting's mixed-age meals also put adults alongside children for conversation and shared routines. Relationships are built through ordinary activities as well as organised learning.

In February 2022, parents valued support with reading, stories and toilet training at home. Children poured drinks for friends and helped prepare snacks, giving everyday care a social dimension. These are dated examples of the relationship between nursery routines and growing independence.

Red Hen also supports parents as babies begin eating solid food, with attention to flavours and textures. Home-cooked food is prepared from scratch, and adults share tables with children of different ages; certain requested diets require evidence of professional paediatric nutritional advice.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described close attention to individual care needs and learning gaps, including support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. That is a dated judgement, rather than a guarantee about every child's experience today.

All staff and management have first-aid training. This is a practical arrangement families can weigh alongside the setting's outdoor emphasis, where natural materials, tools and changing environments form part of children's experiences.

In February 2022, leaders had failed to complete a notification concerning a change within the company. The omission did not affect staff suitability or create a risk to children's safety, but it was a weakness in management administration. It belongs alongside the positive account of children's learning when considering the overall judgement.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Red Hen operates across the year, with closures for bank holidays and breaks around Christmas, Easter and the end of the summer holidays. For working families, those closure periods need to sit alongside the daily opening window when planning childcare.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and appointments to visit can be arranged through the office. The nursery is at Manor House Farm, Reston Road, Legbourne, Louth, LN11 8LS. The Granary serves as the nursery entrance and car park.

Funding and Paid Extras

In February 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families weighing funded childcare need to consider the attendance arrangement and any additional costs together, rather than treating the funded hours as the whole childcare plan.

School preparation has included support for parents as well as children. In September 2024, Red Hen advertised an October parent evening about applying for school; a separate school-leavers talk was advertised for the preceding spring. These dated examples show practical attention to the move beyond nursery, rather than an admissions advantage.

• Outdoor life in all weather. Children spend most of their time outside, with campfire cooking and real tools among their experiences. At a visit, discuss how the youngest children take part and how clothing, rest and supervision fit around the day.
• An upstairs baby base. Nest is in The Granary's large upstairs room. Families choosing baby care can use a visit to discuss access and how staff organise movement between the base and outdoor areas.
• The complete childcare quotation. Funded early education was part of the February 2022 offer. Ask for one written breakdown covering your intended attendance, funded hours, meals and non-food consumables.
• Holiday planning. The nursery opens across the year but closes around Christmas, Easter and late summer as well as bank holidays. Match the closure calendar against work and family commitments before settling on an attendance arrangement.

Red Hen suits families who want nature, growing food and practical experiences to shape their child's day. Its farm setting supplies substance: woodland, ponds, animals and produce for children to harvest. Babies have their own base, while mixed-age meals connect the different stages.

The February 2022 judgement supports the strength of the educational experience, alongside an administrative weakness that should remain part of the assessment. For parents comfortable with substantial outdoor time and the holiday closures, Red Hen offers a clear and recognisable approach to early childhood.