Grace Dieu Manor Park Nursery

Ancient trees for outdoor learning and a pool for swimming lessons give Grace Dieu Manor Park Nursery a character that extends well beyond its playrooms. Its home on the Grace Dieu Estate in Thringstone is central to the experience: children can explore nature, while organised activities bring music, movement and water play into the week. The setting matters here.

Children are accepted from 3 months to 5 years, with 60 places in total. At its inspection on 10 March 2025, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, recognising individual support while identifying improvements needed in communication with parents and conversations that extend older children's thinking.

Morning, afternoon, school-day and full-day attendance give families several ways to organise childcare. The choice of funding package also matters, because it changes the meals, supplies, activities and communication included in a child's attendance.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Room, Toddler Room, Lower Pre-School and Upper Pre-school each have room-leader roles, separating care by stage.

In March 2025, younger children practised negotiating garden steps; older children cleared lunch leftovers and served their own drinks. Everyday routines gave children manageable responsibilities.

Books also had an active role that month: younger children explored lift-the-flap stories, while older children discussed writers and illustrators. Library bus visits added book choices to story listening.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides learning through play, including language, movement, relationships, early reading and number work. It is the shared framework for early years provision; the additions here are the particular activities and environments used alongside it. The Grace Dieu Nursery approach combines planned learning with exploration, using stories, practical activities and children's interests to shape experiences.

Forest School provides outdoor learning through activities such as looking for bugs and constructing dens. Sessions take place among the estate's old trees, giving nature exploration a substantial physical setting. Children have things to investigate and materials to work with, rather than outdoor time being confined to exercise alone.

Alongside this branch's estate setting, the shared programme across both nurseries includes weekly swimming, yoga, dance, Forest School, and music and movement. Splish Splash Swim provides lessons in the pool at Grace Dieu Manor Park. Yoga in Coalville supplies yoga sessions involving balance and relaxation, while Lil Beatz Charnwood brings dance with music, storytelling and routines.

For babies and toddlers, Ray of Stars combines songs, sensory experiences and movement in music sessions. That gives the youngest children their own form of enrichment. These activities should be considered alongside the funding terms: participation in additional sessions depends on the package families choose.

Outdoor and Community Life

Mature trees and green grounds suit children who enjoy exploring outside. Indoors, natural materials and soft colours shape the play spaces.

In March 2025, garden games involved younger children taking turns to throw balls at skittles and older children aiming throws into a net. Movement and social learning worked together: waiting, watching and trying again were part of the activity. Children also cooked food associated with different cultures, giving them a practical way to explore traditions.

Relationships and Communication

Free settling sessions follow a child-led approach. An online all-about-me form introduces children's preferences, alongside registration and medical forms, so staff have information to plan care before regular attendance.

In March 2025, staff comfort helped distressed younger children settle, while older children readily shared their experiences.

Communication deserves attention. In March 2025, some parents needed clearer explanations of children's learning and ways to support it at home. Staff also needed to extend older children's thinking, recall and answers during conversations.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff used individual targets and tailored strategies to support children's needs, including pictures to prepare children for changes in routine. That is a practical example of support: a child can see what is coming next rather than relying solely on spoken instructions.

In March 2025, staff shared children's learning information with receiving school teachers to support continuity.

The funding package affects contact with families. Under the fully free option, progress information is given verbally apart from statutory documentation; the online learning journey, care diary and weekly photographs are excluded. Parents choosing that route should weigh the communication arrangements alongside the attendance hours.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Grace Dieu Manor Park, Thringstone, LE67 5UG. Opening hours run from 7.30am until 6pm on weekdays, with year-round operation and closures for bank holidays and Christmas. Free parking is provided at the front of the nursery, making the site practical for families travelling by car.

Private attendance includes mornings from 7.30am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, a school day from 9am to 3pm, and full days from 7.30am to 6pm. Booking can begin with one session a week and extend to full-time attendance. The shorter patterns give families a meaningful alternative to paying for a whole day.

Fully funded term-time sessions run from 9am to noon or from 1pm to 4pm. Families can use a block of five sessions or tailor attendance, including three mornings weekly, but cannot add extra hours to this particular package.

Other funded arrangements include a full day from 9am to 4.30pm and a school day from 9.30am to 2.30pm, with voluntary consumable contributions. Packages combining funding with paid hours also include an afternoon from 12.30pm to 6pm. These are different products, so the chosen pattern needs to match the quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free Early Education Entitlement funding is offered, with arrangements for 15 or 30 hours according to entitlement. Funding can cover 38 term-time weeks or be stretched across 51 weeks of attendance where fewer than the maximum weekly funded hours are used. The annual calculation runs from September to August, with bills averaged across 12 months for year-round attendance or 10 for term-time attendance.

Meals specified for private sessions are included in their fees, and three menus alternate weekly; the full-day package includes breakfast, a snack, lunch and light tea. For funded attendance with extras, food is charged separately through voluntary contributions, while the fully funded short sessions include snacks and the fully free alternative requires parents to supply food under its detailed terms.

Parents supply nappies, wipes and cream for ordinary attendance. Funded packages with extras list separate voluntary non-food consumable charges, including the online journal, nappies, sun cream and spare clothing; under the fully free alternative, parents bring the required supplies themselves.

Some physical education and outdoor activities are included in fees; other activities, such as swimming, may carry an additional charge and can be declined. The fully free package excludes additional activities and certain celebrations as well as digital updates. Its food policy prohibits foods containing nuts and requires food that can be eaten without reheating.

The funding and charge terms explain these distinctions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Tax-Free Childcare and childcare vouchers are accepted, and the fully free waiting-list policy gives priority to disadvantaged children.

• Learning conversations. The March 2025 priorities concerned explanations for parents and opportunities for older children to think and answer. During a visit, ask how staff now share learning examples and extend children's conversations.
• The funded package changes the experience. Fully free attendance excludes digital journals, weekly photographs and additional activities. Compare those exclusions with the voluntary extras package before choosing the arrangement that fits your family.
• Food and supplies. Private meals are included, while funded arrangements have different food and consumable terms. Families managing allergies should confirm current practice for nursery meals and food brought from home, including the prohibition on nuts.
• Your child's room. Baby Room and Toddler Room form separate stages within the nursery. On a tour, ask about the usual group size, sleep arrangements and how settling sessions are adapted for your child.

Grace Dieu Manor Park Nursery suits families who value outdoor exploration and organised enrichment, with morning, afternoon, school-day and full-day patterns to fit different routines. The estate grounds, Forest School and pool-based swimming give the offer substance. For younger children, Ray of Stars adds music and sensory activity to the mix.

The Good judgement from March 2025 provides a positive inspection position, balanced by clear priorities around parent communication and older children's thinking. The decisive practical choice is the attendance package. Funding can be used in several ways, but the fully free route and packages with voluntary extras provide materially different experiences.