Greenhays Nursery School

Bedrooms with monitoring windows and a fenced garden divided for younger children give Greenhays Nursery School a practical identity: this family-run Red Lodge setting makes room for both rest and exploration. Its spaces include child-size toilets, a changing room and a kitchen where meals and snacks are prepared. These are useful details for families weighing the everyday experience of nursery care alongside learning.

At its March 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, behaviour and routines, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership to be at a Strong standard, with welfare and wellbeing at the Expected standard and safeguarding standards met. This is a report card with separate judgements, rather than a single overall grade. The distinction matters: the strongest findings sit alongside a specific recommendation to give children more responsibility for everyday choices.

Greenhays has 38 places in total and accepts children aged 2 to 60 months. Full-time and part-time attendance sit alongside morning, afternoon and daytime sessions for children aged 3 to 4. The practical choice is therefore broader than a single working-day arrangement, although attendance follows a fixed weekly pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillar Room serves the youngest children, Cocoon Room is for two-year-olds and Butterfly Room takes children aged three and over. The physical layout separates younger children from the older age groups, rather than expecting every stage to share the same room. Bedrooms have monitoring windows, while the fenced outdoor space has a division specifically for children under two.

Child-size toilets and a cloakroom support daily routines. The 38 places are whole-setting capacity, not an individual room size.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the framework for learning through play, covering language, physical development, relationships and the other areas of early learning. It is the common foundation for nursery education; Greenhays plans activities around each child's interests and needs. Its curriculum page gives concrete examples, including threading, puzzles, musical instruments and cooking for children over three.

The Learning Journey is an online record of children's development. Staff update it and use observations to plan further activities; parents can follow their child's learning too.

In March 2026, language learning included stories, rhyming puzzles and signing to express feelings. Mathematical ideas appeared in hands-on activities: babies counted peas, toddlers investigated whether objects floated, and older children discussed the changing properties of ice. These examples show how early concepts can grow from objects children handle, rather than from separate formal lessons.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supplies more than space to move. In March 2026, children made pretend birthday cakes from mud and used gathered sticks as candles, combining imaginative play with shared activity. An interest in life cycles also led from investigating garden insects to a woodland walk using magnifying glasses. The outing extended a question children already wanted to explore.

Other March 2026 experiences included measuring and pouring scented teas and cutting green beans with scissors. Outdoor play took place daily, and woodland outings included learning to manage hills and steps safely. These inspection-time activities developed coordination and risk awareness.

Relationships and Communication

Settling In Sessions introduce children to the staff and routines before nursery becomes familiar. All About Me gives families a way to share a child's preferences, important relationships and favourite foods, which staff combine with conversation and play during the first days. The practical value is personal knowledge: settling starts with the individual child rather than a standard sequence alone.

Home visits take place before children start, allowing the key person to meet the child and family in their own surroundings. Learning Journeys then carry observations in text, photographs or video, and parents can contribute their own experiences from home. Parents' evenings provide private discussion about development and next steps; regular newsletters cover nursery news and dates.

Parents can contribute books, occupations, recipes and home traditions to activities, bringing family experiences into nursery. Feedback forms gather their views about practice.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2026 inspection, Ofsted found effective SEND support through collaboration with other professionals, targeted interventions and care-plan reviews with parents, alongside strong development in children's communication. Observation and joint review kept support responsive to changing needs.

In March 2026, staff encouraged families to contribute books in children's home languages, and cooking activities included foods from their cultures. Signing helped children communicate their needs. The current staff structure includes a SENCO role, a designated safeguarding lead and a deputy safeguarding lead, with room leaders and early years practitioners also represented; NVQ Level 3 in Childcare is among the team's qualifications.

Meals and snacks are prepared in the nursery's own kitchen; for funded-only attendance, hot lunch and tea carry separate charges. In March 2026, dietary needs and allergies were considered in meal organisation, and staff supported sleep, feeding and weaning.

There is a useful distinction between practising a skill during play and controlling it in everyday care. In March 2026, children poured during activities, but those capable of serving lunch or pouring their own drinks did not consistently get that opportunity at mealtimes. More independence in personal routines was the stated next step. Families who place particular weight on self-care will want to explore how that recommendation now shapes the day.

Sessions and Attendance

Greenhays opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 5.30pm. Full-time and part-time places are offered, with daily and weekly fee structures. For children aged 3 to 4, the session choices are 9.30am to 12.30pm, 1pm to 4pm, and 9.30am to 3.30pm. The shorter patterns give preschool families an alternative to attendance across the working day.

Days and session times stay the same each week and cannot be exchanged for other days or sessions. That makes this a setting for a repeatable routine: families with changing work schedules need to weigh the fixed pattern carefully. Fees are not adjusted for illness, holidays or other absences.

The nursery operates across the year, closing on English bank holidays and for a week over Christmas and New Year. Funded-only children also have a term calendar. For autumn 2026, its half-term break runs from 26 to 30 October, and the term ends on 18 December. Those dates matter when comparing funded-only attendance with childcare throughout the year.

Getting There

The address is Greenhays Farm, Green Lane, Red Lodge, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 8LD. Families can contact the nursery through its enquiry form, by email at info@greenhaysnurseryschool.co.uk or on 01638 750658.

Funding and Paid Extras

Greenhays offers 30 hours funding for eligible children who attend throughout the year, including outside term time. It also offers 15 hours funding for children aged 9 months and over whose parents meet the working-parent criteria.

An advance booking requires a deposit, credited against the first month's full childcare payment; it is not refundable if the place is cancelled before the child starts. Funding-only children do not need a deposit. Paid childcare is billed in equal monthly instalments, and the nursery asks families to try to give at least a month's notice before leaving. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; its fees page sets out the charging arrangements.

• Independence at mealtimes. In March 2026, capable children did not consistently serve their own lunch or pour drinks. Ask how everyday self-care now gives children more responsibility.
• A fixed weekly pattern. Booked days and sessions cannot be swapped, and absence does not reduce fees. This needs to fit both the family's working arrangements and its budget.
• Funded attendance and extras. The 30-hour offer requires eligible children to attend throughout the year, while funded-only attendance has a term calendar and separate meal charges. Ask which arrangement fits your intended attendance and what you need to supply for everyday care.
• Settling and individual needs. Home visits and All About Me provide a starting point for the key-person relationship. Use a visit to discuss how these will address your child's sleep, feeding or allergy needs.

Greenhays suits families seeking full-time or part-time care, as well as those wanting morning, afternoon or daytime sessions for a child aged 3 to 4. Its appeal lies in practical spaces, a personal settling process and an online connection between nursery learning and home.

The March 2026 report card supports that choice, with an improvement point around everyday independence. Families need a routine that fits the fixed bookings and funded-attendance terms.