Barnabas Pre-School

A boat trip on the river, books borrowed in town and vegetables grown for learning: Barnabas makes Woodbridge part of the preschool day. Its base at Quay Church combines a mixed-age setting with outdoor grass and astroturf, while community outings give children experiences beyond the play space. This is a preschool with a strong local identity.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Barnabas Outstanding, praising teaching, children's behaviour and a curriculum carefully adapted to their needs. Barnabas accepts children from age 2 until school entry and has 25 places in total. Morning and afternoon sessions run during term time, alongside flexible hours.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the foundation for learning through play, with experiences shaped around children's interests and development. At Barnabas, cooking, preparing food and growing flowers and vegetables bring that learning into practical tasks: children use language, work together and encounter maths through things they can handle and do. Older children also have taught experiences to prepare them for the move to school.

Barnabas provides a mixed-age setting. Group activities sit alongside individual learning opportunities, and the daily routine includes teaching sessions for older children. For families choosing a preschool, that balance matters: shared play and more directed learning both have a place in the day.

Books have a physical presence indoors and outside. A cosy book corner supports independent browsing or looking at stories with friends, while library visits include choosing a book to bring back and share. In June 2026, an outing to Woodbridge library linked books about butterflies and bees with exploration of the library garden, including scented herbs and vegetables growing there. Reading and first-hand experience were connected.

Music also runs through everyday activities, with additional sessions for singing and playing instruments. Visiting parents and grandparents contribute instruments including saxophone, guitar and squeezebox. Children encounter music through people they know, as well as through the resources and sessions within the setting.

In September 2023, water travelling through a tube prompted children to investigate why it stopped, with staff questions helping them explore gravity. Looking closely at worms through magnifiers drew on earlier learning about nature. These were concrete examples of adults extending children's questions rather than simply supplying answers.

Mathematical experiences at that time ranged from counting with fingers during songs to exploring quantities in water play and working with addition and subtraction. Stories involved puppets, repeated phrases and new vocabulary. The teaching connected ideas to actions, objects and familiar routines, giving children several ways to engage with the same learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor area combines astroturf with natural grass, trees and shrubs. There is space for running and ride-on toys, alongside climbing, balancing, messy play and a sand pit. These different surfaces and activities give outdoor play more variety than a single open yard. Books are available outside too, so quieter choices sit alongside physical activity.

Regular outings for older children include the library, residential homes, shops, restaurants, woodland and the riverside. Further-afield destinations include Ipswich Museum, Rendlesham Forest and Foxburrow Farm. The annual river boat trip adds another perspective on the local area; public transport is used for outings when possible. The emphasis is on experiencing the community, rather than treating outings as an occasional reward.

Specific visits show what that means. In May 2026, children visited Elmhurst Park Walled Garden with the Woodbridge Growers, sowing runner beans, examining a wormery and identifying garden tools. In January 2026, a trip to Woodbridge Greengrocers involved looking for fruit and discussing seasonality and where produce had travelled from. Both turned familiar places into opportunities for observation and conversation.

February 2026 brought a visit to the Repair Cafe at St John's Church, where children watched repairs to household appliances and saw a dressing-up garment mended. In March 2026, World Book Day involved Woodbridge Library, the Oxfam bookshop and a story at Woodbridge Books. These experiences introduce children to the people and purposes behind places in their town.

Visitors extend that learning too. A November 2025 session with Wild Science Limited allowed children to encounter animals including a snake, a millipede and a stick insect, with opportunities to handle them if they wished. Earlier, help from Suffolk Wildlife Trust supported the creation of the Barnabas Bug Hotel, filled with materials such as bamboo, leaves and small logs. Nature learning had a practical home in the outdoor area.

Physical experiences reach beyond Barnabas too. The Pedal and Push Extravaganza used the tennis courts at Woodbridge Prep in April 2025 for riding and races. That was an outing to use a larger, smooth space for movement; it carries no implication about onward school admissions.

A Key Person builds relationships with each child and family. Parents can take part in sessions, special events and outings, and regularly contribute to story time. This gives family participation a practical form: adults share books, interests, cultures and skills within children's experiences, rather than being involved only through formal meetings.

Emotional communication is part of the curriculum. Children are encouraged to recognise feelings, talk about why they arise and consider how to manage them. Art, imaginative play and mark-making provide other ways to express ideas. For a child still developing spoken language, those different routes to expression matter.

At the September 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, with staff able to recognise and respond to concerns, and found that additional funding helped children access the curriculum. The current staff structure includes a SENCO role. That is a concrete point of contact for discussions about additional needs.

In September 2023, settling arrangements helped children establish relationships with staff. Independence was also practised through ordinary responsibilities: children washed their plates, helped put resources away and took turns carrying out tasks such as ringing a bell and counting the group. Care and learning met in these manageable jobs. Children were given opportunities to contribute, as well as to receive help.

Sessions and Attendance

Barnabas is based at Quay Church, Quay Street, Woodbridge IP12 1BX. It offers five morning sessions and four afternoon sessions each week during term time, and children can join during the academic year. Flexible hours are another attendance option. This gives families a choice of session-based patterns, with term-time attendance central to the arrangement.

The calendar also includes occasions that change the usual afternoon pattern. Nativity morning on 17 December 2026 has no afternoon session, as does Sports Morning on 21 July 2027. Families organising care around afternoon attendance need to account for those dates as well as the term breaks.

Enquiries can be made by email to barnabas.ps@btinternet.com. The central Woodbridge base places the preschool within the town used for many of its outings, connecting the practical location with its community-led learning.

Funding and Paid Extras

In September 2023, Barnabas provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four.

• Term-time sessions. Morning, afternoon and flexible-hours attendance are offered during term time. Families needing care through school holidays should weigh that calendar against their working pattern.
• A mixed-age setting. Children join from age 2 and share the preschool space. During a visit, ask how a younger child's settling and daily activities fit alongside the taught experiences for older children.
• Funding and the full cost. Funded early education was offered in September 2023. Ask for a current written quotation covering your chosen sessions, funding arrangements, meals and non-food consumables, so the whole attendance cost is clear.
• Community participation. Outings and contributions from families are part of Barnabas life. A visit is a useful opportunity to discuss how your child would take part, including any support they need away from the preschool base.

Barnabas suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, or flexible hours within a term-time setting, with learning rooted in play and the surrounding community. Its outdoor surfaces, practical growing activities, books and named local outings give that offer substance. The Outstanding judgement belongs to September 2023; the present attraction is a clearly recognisable preschool experience built around relationships, independence and participation in Woodbridge life. The term-time calendar and mixed-age arrangement are the key practical considerations.