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Greenhays Nursery School

Ofsted: Strong standard·
4.3(6 parent reviews) ·Green Lane, Red Lodge, Bury St. Edmunds, IP28 8LD · Suffolk
Number of places
38 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Mar 2026
Local authority
Suffolk

About this day nursery

Greenhays Nursery School, operating since 1986 in Bury St. Edmunds, provides care for children aged 0-4 years, with a capacity for 38 places. 30pm all year round, excluding one week at Christmas and bank holidays, the nursery ensures children are warmly welcomed and form trusting bonds with their key persons.

While safeguarding standards are met, the nursery is actively working to improve its curriculum consistency for younger children and those with SEND. The new management team is committed to raising the quality of care and learning, ensuring all eligible children can access funded early education.

Staff guide children to understand and express emotions, fostering a calm, nurturing environment where children's voices are respected. Leaders involve parents in decisions, gathering feedback to drive improvements, and parents have noted their children's significant developmental growth since starting.

Our ethos

Greenhays Nursery School aims to create a unique environment that combines crucial early learning experiences with the comfort and stability of a personalised setting, aligning all activities with the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.

What it's like

Staff welcome children with warm smiles, and children happily wave goodbye to parents, forming trusting bonds with their key persons. Babies enjoy sensory water play, giggling with delight as they splash. Children are well-behaved and kind, learning expected behaviours through meaningful praise.

Warm welcome for childrenDeveloping independenceStrong parent partnerships

Pricing & funding

Fees are structured by age band (under twos, two-year-olds, and three-year-olds plus) with options for full-time weekly, daily, or three-hour half-day sessions. Charges are reviewed annually, with the next rates effective from April 2025. Additional fees apply for late pickups, late payments, and optional meals.

Funding accepted

15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)

Good to know

  • An 8% sibling discount is offered for two or more children in full-time places.
  • A deposit is required for advance bookings, which is deducted from the first month's payment and is non-refundable.
  • An administration fee of £30.00 is charged if fees are not paid by the 4th of the month.
  • Late collection after 5:30pm is charged at £5.00 per minute, and lateness before 5:30pm incurs a £30.00 charge.
  • Dinner money for funded-only children is £4.50 for a hot dinner and £2.50 for tea.

Key facts

Session types

Full time, Part time, Morning session (9:30am – 12:30pm), Afternoon session (1:00pm – 4:00pm), Longer session (9:30am – 3:30pm)

Opening hours

Monday to Friday, 7:30am - 5:30pm (closed one week during Christmas/New Year and on English bank holidays)

Term time / All Year

All_year

Established

1986

Ofsted Inspection — new report card

Strong standard

Last inspected Mar 2026

Headline: Strong standard

Grade summary

Exceptional
—
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
—
Urgent improvement
—

Each dot represents one of the six inspection categories. Headline is the average of the six grades, rounded up.

Category grades

AchievementStrong standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesStrong standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected standard
Curriculum and teachingStrong standard
InclusionStrong standard
Leadership and governanceStrong standard
Age range
0 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Greenhays Nursery School

Last inspected 30 March 2026 · Louisa Taylor

Safeguarding effective

Actions the provider must take

  • ensure that a Disclosure and Barring Service check for new staff is obtained in a timely manner (Due date: 16/05/2025)
  • improve arrangements for supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and ensure parents and/or carers are kept up to date with their child's progress and development to help them make the progress they are capable of (Due date: 17/06/2025)
  • identify and provide the necessary training to support the management team to understand and fulfil their roles and responsibilities (Due date: 17/07/2025)

What it's like to attend

Staff welcome children with warm smiles, and children happily wave goodbye to parents, forming trusting bonds with their key persons. Babies enjoy sensory water play, giggling with delight as they splash. Children are well-behaved and kind, learning expected behaviours through meaningful praise.

Inspector highlights

  • Children show they feel relaxed and comfortable as they happily wave goodbye to their parents at the door.
  • Children are well-behaved and kind. Staff provide meaningful praise when children share popular toys. This helps them learn behaviours expected of them.
  • Generally, parents are happy with the communication and regular updates they receive about their child's ongoing progress.
  • Pre-school children show a keen interest in learning about the life cycle of a butterfly.
  • The new management team demonstrate a commitment to raise the quality of care and learning.

Areas to develop

  • 1Leaders should further support children to have more opportunities to become increasingly independent in managing their personal needs to consistently make their own healthy choices and decisions.
Inspection #10380900 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Younger children and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not benefit from a consistently well-planned and effectively implemented curriculum. Emerging concerns regarding SEND are not always acted on swiftly to ensure children get the help they need and reduce any differences in their learning, and effective plans are not consistently shared with parents to ensure robust partnership working.

Outdoor space

The management team and the inspector completed a tour of the nursery, both indoors and outdoors, to understand how the early years provision and curriculum are organised. The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors and assessed the impact that this had on children's learning.

Parent Reviews of Greenhays Nursery School

4.3
(6)
Katie Higginson
a year ago

Both my children have attended greenhays since they were 10months old. They truly are like family to us! Both my girls love each and every key worker that works there. I love the care and attention they all have for my children. Being an allergy parent it was one of my main concerns send them to a nursery but I couldn’t of asked for any better treatment than my girls have had, they never miss out on things including pancake day and are always offered alternatives which I absolutely adore. Warning: if you send your children here I can guarantee you will become part of the family and an emotional wreck when your child graduates to school!

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Megan Steed
a year ago

Such a warm, friendly and welcoming nursery. My children have always been happy going into nursery, my son has learnt so much, made his first proper friends and has been prepared so well for his upcoming adventure into big school. A really nice family feel environment where the staff genuinely care about each individual child

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Alicè N
a year ago

I want to say a massive THANK YOU to Greenhays Nursery School management and whole team. The team warmly welcomed our beloved son, settled him into the setting, cared for him, nurtured him, made him feel safe, secure, loved and special. Over the 2years+ that he has been attending at the nursery his confidence has grown and learnt so much. He has always looked forward to going to nursery and always comes home with great stories of how his day has been. Thank you for creating a great foundation of wonderful experiences for our son. He is going to miss each of you. You are all simply amazing ❤️

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silviu popescu
11 months ago

If you want a family feeling and aproach,go here.If you want institutions,go to others.Brilliant staff,my child loves going there and no day goes by when she coming smiling and happy or asking when we are going again.Meals cooked there,menu on display,updates daily and concerns aswell.Just happy with them.

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Joanna Lee
6 years ago

I do not recommend this establishment. Management are unprofessional, come across rude, uncaring and handle serious situations in a childish manner. Communication is very poor between staff which has put my child’s health at risk in the past and staff also do not respect or follow any routine your child has. I wanted to support a local business however I regret using Greenhays.

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Greenhays Nursery School. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Date: June 2009

The most recent inspection point has been hidden because the parsed entry didn't match the headline Ofsted rating (Requires improvement). We're re-checking it against the original report.

  • May 2025Requires improvement
  • April 2025Requires improvement
  • August 2019Outstanding
  • June 2019Outstanding
  • June 2016Good
  • June 2016Good
  • November 2013Requires improvement
  • November 2013Requires improvement
  • May 2013Requires improvement
  • February 2013Requires improvement
  • June 2009Good

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This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more