Lavender Hall Kindergarten
OutstandingTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Colchester for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in January 2025. Open since 1998, with 57 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Universal 15 hour Early Education Grant Funding is available for children the term after their 3rd birthday. Each child has an entitlement of 15 hours per week, 38 weeks per year, free of charge. Additionally, eligible parents may also use their additional 15 hours funding per week, against any of our sessions.
Worth knowing. Fully funded sessions do not include meals. Meals are charged as follows: Breakfast + AM Snack £2.30 , Lunch £3.90, PM Snack + Tea £3.30 - packed meals may be sent in if preferred.
What childcare usually costs in Suffolk
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Suffolk from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
CO7 6QTWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 17 January 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff are extremely passionate about the children and put them at the centre of everything they do. A carefully planned curriculum, that aims to provide all children with a strong foundation for lifelong learning, is deeply embedded across the whole setting. As a result, staff use high-quality teaching methods and interactions with children to provide children with a rich and broad set of experiences, which supports all children to make excellent progress.
Staff have high expectations and aspirations for the children and have clear boundaries and behavioural expectations in place. As a result, children behave impeccably.
Children demonstrate high levels of engagement in activities. They are extremely curious and inquisitive. Children are able to make choices about what they would like to do and select resources to enhance their own play and learning. For example, in the outdoor nature area, children work together to make potions, using different-sized containers to tip and pour different liquids to fill up bottles. Staff provide children with opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills, allowing them opportunity to problem-solve, predict what might happen and take risks.
- 17 January 2025Outstanding Safeguarding: Yes
- 29 March 2019Outstanding
- 3 September 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Lavender Hall Kindergarten
- What it costs
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.