The Beacon Day Nursery & Pre-School

A shared atrium, gardens reached directly from the rooms and walks in Rendlesham Forest give The Beacon a recognisable character. Siblings can see one another during the day, while babies have their own outdoor space with shade from an old tree. The building makes room for both shared activity and age-specific care.

At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found safeguarding effective, with carefully planned learning and close relationships between children and practitioners. The useful detail behind that judgement is practical: children pursued baking ideas, toddlers developed pretend play and babies experienced live music.

The Beacon serves Rendlesham and Woodbridge from 2 Acer Road, IP12 2GA, with capacity for 51 children and an accepted age range of 3 to 60 months. Funded care can follow either a term-time or stretched attendance pattern.

Rooms and Ages

The Adventure, for ages 0-2 years, combines sensory exploration with direct access to an all-weather garden, changing facilities and a separate sleep room, giving the youngest children distinct spaces for activity and rest.

For children aged 2-3 years, The Rainforest Room emphasises imitation, creativity and physical play, with access to the atrium and an enclosed garden supporting movement between indoor and outdoor activity.

The Atlas Room, for ages 3-5 years, encourages independence and preparation for school, with direct garden access extending its creative play beyond the room.

These rooms lead off the central atrium. Music and drama take place there, and children are encouraged to participate. Its shared position also allows siblings to mix during the day, a useful detail for families whose children attend different age groups.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides children's learning, including communication, physical skills and understanding the world: vocabulary during pretend play, movement to music and exploring nature give these areas practical expression. At The Beacon, child-led planning sits alongside structured activities: a child's idea can influence what happens next, while practitioners also introduce experiences deliberately.

In February 2024, toddlers' train journeys prompted pretend play with chairs, new vocabulary and British Sign Language. Children also suggested recipes to the chef, while younger toddlers chose foods using pictures. Adults built activities around children's ideas.

In February 2024, babies danced to an accordion, while preschool children tried different solutions to demanding puzzles.

In January 2024, toddlers compared weights using scales and made picture menus to discuss healthy food. In December 2023, Sign of the Week introduced the sign for snow, bringing signing into everyday communication.

Outdoor and Community Life

The gardens offer more than space to run. Children can grow seeds, play in a den, make marks on paving and use scooters or bikes. Free-flow play connects the indoor rooms with outdoor activity, giving children different ways to pursue an interest or use their energy.

Rendlesham Forest provides a further setting for walks and learning about nature. In August 2023, preschool children also bought fruit and water at a community shop before playing in the park. That outing linked making choices with an ordinary local errand.

In December 2022, children performed their Christmas Nativity at Rendlesham care home, with residents joining in actions and songs. The performance brought generations together.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is assigned to each child. Settling sessions give that practitioner and the family time to discuss routines, abilities and interests, with an initial development plan bringing those observations together. Information from home informs nursery planning, so a child's interests outside the setting can shape their activities inside it.

Parents can contribute to learning journals and attend regular progress meetings. Weekly email newsletters share photographs and activities; a secure app covers eating, naps and observations. Telephone updates are also available during the day, keeping families informed between meetings.

Room changes involve key-person handovers and coordinated settling sessions. For school transitions, new teachers are invited to meet the key person and receive transition information; a supported school visit can be arranged where suitable.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO supports the key person through individual plans and adjustments to resources, activities and experiences. With parental consent, this can involve Early Years Inclusion Officers, Speech and Language Therapists or Health Visitors. Parents, the SENCO and the key person review plans together, providing a defined mechanism for discussing needs and updating support.

Families using another home language are encouraged to share useful words for the key person to use with their child.

In February 2024, babies had quiet activities and close interaction before sleep. Preschool mindfulness and meditation gave older children time to describe imagined experiences and feelings.

Food is prepared in an on-site kitchen, with menus planned for different ages and a weaning programme for younger children. The nursery operates a No Nuts policy and caters for dietary requirements; under the funded arrangements, families can choose chargeable food provision or send food from home under the Food From Home Policy.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday, with Friday finishing at 4.30pm. The Beacon opens for 51 weeks of the year and closes on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. The earlier Friday finish matters for families organising work across the whole week.

Golden Apples' group-wide funded model offers sessions lasting 10, 7.5, 6, 5, 4.5 or 3 hours, starting at 8am, 9am or 1pm. Sessions cannot be combined; early collection still uses the full funded session.

Term-time funding runs over 38 weeks; stretched funding spreads the annual entitlement over 51 weeks. A change between these arrangements can take place only at the start of the academic year in September. Before-school breakfast care, after-school care and holiday clubs are also offered on demand.

Getting There

The address is 2 Acer Road, Rendlesham, Woodbridge, IP12 2GA. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01394 420581 or by email to thebeacon@goldenapples.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use 15 or 30 funded hours per week on a term-time basis, with the stretched alternative spreading that entitlement across the year. Additional private hours are charged separately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and its price list is the starting point for the charge structure.

Under the group-wide funded terms, meals and snacks are separately charged when families opt into food provision; bringing food from home is the alternative. Parents must supply nappies, wipes, nappy bags, cream and sun cream daily, with a replacement charge if required items are missing. Those costs and responsibilities sit alongside the childcare entitlement.

Optional enrichment is separately charged, with families choosing to opt in or out for the term; opting out retains the full Early Years Foundation Stage provision. The possible activities include gardening, cooking and community visits, rather than a guaranteed programme of each activity at this branch.

An enrolment deposit is refunded after the child starts. Private hours added to funding incur a non-refundable administration charge, supporting administration, two to three settling visits and a meeting about the child's routines, needs and interests.

• Fixed funded bookings. Funded sessions have specified lengths and start times, cannot be combined and are claimed in full after early collection. At a showaround, discuss which combination fits your working week, including the 4.30pm Friday finish.
• Baby routines and room changes. The Adventure has a separate sleep room, while moves between rooms involve key-person handovers and settling sessions. Use a visit to discuss how your child's sleep routine and eventual move to The Rainforest Room would be handled.
• Food and daily supplies. Funded food provision is chargeable, home food follows a policy, and parents supply personal consumables. Allergy-affected families should confirm current kitchen practice for the separately charged food provision.
• Choosing the funding calendar. Term-time and stretched arrangements follow different annual patterns, with switching restricted to September. Settle that choice alongside the written quotation, including any private hours, enrichment and administration charge.

The Beacon suits families choosing term-time funded attendance or care spread through the year who value direct garden access, babies' separate sleep space and key-person communication. The atrium and Rendlesham Forest walks give its day character.

Its February 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight. Fixed funded bookings, separately charged food and extras, and the earlier Friday finish are the practical trade-offs.