Outdoor learning
Open 7.30am - 6.30pm
Open all year round
Linked to Pre-school
We are conveniently located in the centre of Stowmarket within Union Street West car park, just off Gipping Way Road, a community nursery where our children flourish. As part of the community offer, we can provide flexible childcare and commit to no additional charges for food, enhancements, or consumables.
Stowmarket children start their journey here at our Stowmarket Day Nursery and then progress to our pre-school, which is on the same site. Our setting is perfectly sized so that children are in small groups and can develop at their own pace.
The nursery has two rooms with an inside garden and plenty of opportunity to play outside and explore the world around them in the town on our trips out.
The children often visit our Pre-school, which is just a short walk away. Here, they play in the garden and become familiar with the pre-school environment and team so that they are very confident when it is their time to transition to pre-school.
Once at pre-school, children are introduced to our Next Stop School programme, which prepares them for their move to primary school, helping them build the skills and confidence they need for the next exciting step in their learning journey.
Visit our Pre-school page here.
View Ofsted report
The Brighter Learning Approach (BLA) is unique to The Old Station Nursery group and is our advanced approach to the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and core pedagogy. It differs from traditional nursery teaching methods by providing real-life opportunities to enhance children’s natural curiosity, with emphasis on hands-on experiences, child-led learning, and whole development.
The six core areas promote active engagement and critical thinking whilst encouraging exploration, creativity, and collaboration. Each child learns at their own pace and is challenged and extended at appropriate times.
The best place to see the BLA in action is via our local nursery Facebook page, where each post explains which part of the curriculum the children are working on. Our parents also receive updates on the Parent App too.
Championing children's holistic health and laying the foundations for a happy, healthy and successful life.
Helping the future generation of global citizens to understand the world they live in and to believe they can make a difference.
Enabling early experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM). Nurturing our next generation of investigators, inventors and innovators.
Enticing children to develop a life-long love of books and reading through engaging and interactive storytelling experiences. Building strong literacy skills while sparking imagination and creativity.
Engaging children in meaningful mathematical learning. Developing knowledge, building skills and exploring concepts, through purposeful play and plenty of practice.
Developing confident communicators by engaging in quality conversations with children every day, in a language rich and communication friendly environment.
For our younger children we run a mixture of extra clubs that enhance our Brighter Learning Approach, our bespoke version of the Early Years Statutory Framework.
Our children love nothing more than when the team calls time for meal preparation or works with them during a baking morning or to produce a teatime dessert.
With the aid of a ‘cool touch’ oven, child-safe equipment and the children’s chef’s hats and aprons we follow a set curriculum to learn about the joys of cooking and gain lifelong skills such as measuring, counting and following set instructions.
Come rain or shine, we tend our vegetable plots, teaching the children about the different stages of growth cycles and exploring the different tastes and textures of the produce.
As Budding Gardeners, children learn about the environment and gain lifelong sustainable growing skills and enjoyment, which they will carry with them throughout their lives.
Budding Musicians can explore different instruments at our children’s nursery, enjoy rhythmic games, and participate in interactive sing-along sessions. Each activity is carefully crafted to inspire a love for music and develop their auditory skills in a fun and engaging environment.
They’ll discover the joy of creating melodies, understanding beats, and expressing themselves through music.
At Stowmarket Day Nursery, our babies and toddlers explore the world around them through structured dance, sports, and music activities that help to build gross motor skills and an appreciation of movement.
Messy Mornings is a firm favourite for the children. These activities can include anything from paint to flour to leaves, Play-Doh, lentils, shredded paper, and glue, to name a few.
In essence, Messy Mornings uses items that the children love to play with, bringing their creative development and fine motor skills to the fore.
Our nursery environments are designed to support messy play, and we can easily tidy up when it is time for lunch.
Babies and toddlers have so much to learn in the environment around them.
From learning about insect lifecycles to questioning colour changes when mixing paints. Our young scientists absorb information right from their early months.
We love developing our language at Stowmarket Day Nursery. For our nursery and toddler children, we use Makaton, a sign-language programme that supports the development of essential communication skills such as paying attention, comprehension, memory, and expression. It is ideal for our children at this age.
Our nursery group is passionate about the link between home and nursery; the nursery experience is just as much about the parent as it is for the child.
Stowmarket Day Nursery commits to verbally updating you about your child’s day at pick-up time and also via digital updates on the parent App.
We are here at any time should you wish to call us or want to discuss any area of your child’s care. Our aim is to look after our parents as well as our children, so you can carry on with your day, work and career with a sense of peace.
First and foremost, you and we need to know that your child is safe. Before we can deliver the excellent curriculum that makes our nurseries so special, robust policies and procedures are followed to meet the exacting standards of Ofsted, building and fire regulations, food safety standards and staff DBS background checks and references.
Our staff are trained in numerous areas and we offer further training opportunities for staff who have an interest in a particular area.
For example, some of our nurseries have attained Millie’s Mark, an accreditation gained by having 100% of staff on site trained in paediatric first aid.
Nutritious hot meals are prepared on-site at Stowmarket Day Nursery by our cook.
Sitting down to eat together as well as good nutrition is essential during childhood as it is a time of rapid growth and development.
Every child has a nursery key person who knows them best and who will be the child and parent’s main contact. Your key person at our nursery will update you about your child’s day and is there to answer your questions.
When your child moves to the next age group room, we hold several settling sessions with a new nursery key person.
We encourage our parents to view the new room too and we will work with you to discuss the new routines, just like we did when you first started nursery.
It is wonderful to nurture and see our children graduate to primary school. Part of the unique offering at our nurseries is our focus on the next stage of your child’s learning journey. We prepare the children through school activities, teacher meet and greets and graduation ceremonies. Our commitment is to support our parents too by providing child learning journey updates, parents evenings or one-to-ones and home link learning kits to enhance the link between nursery and home.
When our children leave us in June, July, August and September the term before joining primary school, each family will receive a £30 Clarks voucher to help towards your child’s first pair of school shoes. It’s our way of saying thank you for being part of our nursery family.
All our nurseries follow the Brighter Learning Approach, our bespoke version of the Early Years Statutory Framework and within this, each nursery chooses extra clubs, activities and enhancements that are suitable for their space.
Here we enjoy the ‘Budding’ clubs including gardening, science and movers.
Stowmarket Day Nursery offers commits to providing a simple fee structure so you can manage your nursery costs.
Our nursery in Rubery has the benefit of full day, half day and short-day sessions as well as a small number of term time only sessions. To support our community, we do not charge for additions such as food, enhancements or consumables and some fully funded and part-funded sessions are also available for eligible families.
Please contact us for the nursery fee that is correct for your individual circumstances.
Our Baby Room is full of sensual play, such as rattles and mirrors, to stimulate interest in the very young. As they get older, we have a wealth of resources to encourage a zest for learning as they develop their own interests.
We provide a homely environment and follow home routines to help your baby settle quickly. Our focus here is on Personal, Emotional, Social and Physical Development using a range of age-appropriate toys.
As the children begin to move and explore, the room’s layout supports free movement from one interesting resource to another, including an inside garden that the children love.
The older children use the playground at Stowmarket Pre-school and by doing so get used to the pre-school environment and team. They are more than ready for the transition at the appropriate time.
“We pride ourselves on providing exceptional childcare for families so you can rest assured and feel confident that your children are in a caring, safe, stimulating and fun environment where each child is listened to, valued and heard.”
Claire Wightman, Nursery Manager at Stowmarket Day Nursery
A huge thank you to everyone who donated to our cake sale at Stowmarket Day Nursery and Pre-School.
The children at StowmarketDay Nursery and Pre-School have created beautiful poppy pictures in honour of Remembrance Day.
Working parents of children from nine months old can now access 15 hours a week of free childcare...
Please note that this is not a confirmation of your tour. One of our nursery team will endeavour to get back to you ASAP to confirm your date and time. Thank you.
If you are looking to arrange a tour within the next 48 hours, we recommend calling the nursery directly.
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