Woodlands (CIO)
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Stowmarket 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 They do not publish prices, so ask.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 Good by Ofsted in January 2025. Open since 2022, with 32 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
We offer the Government’s 15 and 30 hours funded early education entitlement for eligible children.
Worth knowing. Funding is delivered during our core hours of 9:00am–3:00pm; Parents must provide a valid eligibility code and required documentation; Funding is subject to confirmation by Suffolk County Council; Funded hours are free at the point of delivery; Attendance outside funded hours will be charged at Woodlands standard rates.
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
IP14 2BZWhat 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, 13 January 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children enter the pre-school with a skip and a jump as they are warmly welcomed by the fun-loving staff, with whom they build strong attachments. Children immediately feel safe and relaxed when staff embrace their energy and enthusiasm and join in their jumping games. Staff provide high-quality resources and plan stimulating activities, both indoors and outdoors, that are easily accessible and support children to make choices in their play. Staff provide adult-led focused learning opportunities loosely based around a 'book of the week'. Children learn in small groups and develop good attention and listening skills, which are the essential foundations of communication.
Staff use their extensive knowledge of individual children to continually offer inviting learning opportunities that extend their learning and development. For example, during free play, children design and make individual rocket ships from magnetic shapes. Staff swiftly notice their interest in space and provide them with additional space-themed resources and books. Staff's skilful interactions extend children's social communication skills as they become increasingly engaged in imaginary play with their peers. As children play, staff model taking turns with popular toys and praise their kind behaviours. Children show the effectiveness of this teaching when offering resources to peers, who ask politely to play with them.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- help children to understand how to take more care of their environment and resources, particularly around times of transition.
- 13 January 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
Still missing for Woodlands (CIO)
- What it costs
- 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.