Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Station Road East, Stowmarket IP14 1RQ
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9.3 75 Reviews
  • Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School, Stowmarket
Stowmarket Nursery and Pre-school are set across two sites, ensuring that they are able to give children a truly unique and special nursery experience. Children start their journey at Stowmarket Nursery. The nursery on Bury Street provides the children with their own unique space and carefully chosen resources to become confident and curious learners. The setting is perfectly sized so that children are in small groups and are able to develop at their own pace.

The nursery has two rooms and an inside garden where natural sounds are played, outside activities are planned and carried out. The children will often visit the Pre-school which is just a short walk away. This gives the children the opportunity to use the large outdoor garden as well as becoming familiar with the Pre-school environment and team.

When the children are ready, they will transition to the Pre-school setting, which is just a few minutes away. The preschool children have the benefit of having their own site in order to fully prepare them for ‘big’ school life. Having their own space allows the children to develop their personal, social and emotional skills required for future transitions. The children will already be familiar with the Pre-school setting from previous visits, ensuring a smooth transition for all.

The Pre-school has two large rooms which offer a wide variety of different learning opportunities and experiences. The outdoor play area consists of plenty of room for running and playing, a mud kitchen, loose part construction areas, water walls and a sand pit.

The nursery and pre-school offer exceptional care, enriched by unique learning opportunities for your child. One such experience is child-friendly cooking classes, helping to equip children with valuable skills and deeper knowledge of the cooking process.

Care Provided by Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

  • Type of Service
  • Day Nursery – Privately Owned
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Good to Know

  • Person in charge
  • Claire Wightman & Clare Sheperd (Managers)
  • Number of Childcare Staff
  • 16
  • Total Places for Children
  • 65
  • Age Range
    • from 0 years 0 months
    • to 5 years 0 months
  • Opening Times
  • Monday 07:30-18:30
    Tuesday 07:30-18:30
    Wednesday 07:30-18:30
    Thursday 07:30-18:30
    Friday 07:30-18:30
  • When Closed
  • Bank Holidays & Christmas

Funding & Fees Guide for Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

  • AM/PM Sessions £43.20
    Full Day Session £72.20
    Short Day £59.50


    We're making childcare more accessible to families:


    * Fully flexible
    * No meal, consumable or enhancement charges
    * Part & fully funded places available


  • A £100 non-refundable registration fee is required to secure a place. Exact days of attendance should be confirmed no later than 6 weeks prior to the child’s start date. Any changes are subject to availability.


  • Parking
  • The nursery is located next to Union Street West car park, offering plenty of free parking and a 10/15 minute free drop off and pick up for parents. The Pre-school has a drop off area for parents outside the front of the train station (20 minute free parking bays).


Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School Reviews (75)

Total of 75, showing 21-40
9.3

Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School has a Review Score of 9.3 (9.300) out of 10, based on 8 reviews in the last 2 years. Over all time Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School has 75 reviews.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The excitement on my daughters face when we pull up in the morning says it all... she’s happy to go in, and her development since joining is remarkable.
All the girls seem approachable and friendly.

Reply from Beth Lewendon, Marketing Coordinator at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Thank you for taking the time to write this review and for your positive feedback! We are delighted to hear how well your daughter has settled!


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My daughter joined when she was 18-months-old. Due to lockdown, she had never been away from me, but after a few weeks, she settled in very well and now loves going in. The nursery and staff have been excellent with communicating with outside professionals and helping with referrals that my daughter
has needed. The nursery has really helped with my daughter's development, and would highly recommend to anyone.

Reply from Beth Lewendon, Marketing Coordinator at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Thank you for your positive comments and for taking the time to write this review! We are delighted to hear that your daughter has settled and progressed well!


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Great staff and environment for the children that attend the nursery. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff, and they are incredibly friendly and accommodating! Our son loves it there, so the only problem we will have is when he starts school and has to leave the nursery!

Reply from Beth Lewendon, Marketing Coordinator at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review and for your positive feedback! We are thrilled to hear that your son settled so well and is enjoying his time at nursery!


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Couldn’t recommend this nursery more. The staff are simply fantastic with my little boy, and he absolutely loves going. The development we’ve seen in him since he started here has been brilliant, and he always goes in smiling. We love receiving daily updates of his time there and what activities he
has been up to, and he is always fed healthy home-cooked food. 5/5!

Reply from Beth Lewendon, Marketing Coordinator at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Thank you for taking the time to write this review and for your positive feedback - we really appreciate it!


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Lovely nursery and pre-school. After a bad experience at a previous nursery, Sunhill has gone above and beyond to look after my boys. They are both thriving and always have lots of fun. Highly recommend!

Reply from Beth Lewendon, Marketing Coordinator at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Thank you for your lovely review and for taking the time to write it! We really appreciate it and are thrilled to hear that your children have settled well into nursery life!


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My little girl started nursery at 10-months-old - such a daunting time for me and a change of routine for us both. It took a few weeks for my daughter to be her full self at nursery - but the staff are and were all amazing! Not only provide support to me, but they gave advice on how to help settle my
daughter in - she now absolutely loves nursery and is thriving. They are all so kind, welcoming, understanding and caring. I feel my daughter is supported to be her best and trust them completely. We have a little parents evening coming up, and I think this is an amazing extra for us parents to feel even more involved. Daily updates such as food intake, nappies, sleep and then photos of ‘moments’ provide such reassurance and enable us, parents, to feel more involved with our child’s time at nursery. I dreaded sending my little girl to nursery, and honestly, she has grown so much within the last 2-3 months that I look forward to eventually getting her into more hours at nursery. Such a fab team!

Reply from Jo Bamforth, Marketing Manager at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Thank you for such positive comments and for taking the time to write this review; we really appreciate it!


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

What words can I use other than amazing! My daughter goes to nursery excited to be there and comes home having had an amazing day full of new and exciting adventures. Each day I see her progress into an amazing person, and the nursery does everything to enhance her natural creative abilities. They are
amazing.

Reply from Jo Bamforth, Marketing Manager at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Thank you for taking the time to write this review and for such positive feedback!


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The staff are fabulous and my daughter loves it. She has been going for almost 3 years and I have had no complaints. Unfortunately, they have a new rule that means you can only book your child for a full or half-day. This means for example if you want to pick up your child at 5pm you still pay until
6pm. This means you cannot be flexible any longer and you often end up paying for hours your child is not at nursery. This means I would be unlikely to send any future child to this nursery again as we simply cannot afford to be paying for the time our children are not there. It’s unfortunate as the care is second to none and if you have a standard 9-5 and need care from 8-6 you should send your child here without hesitation.

Reply from Jo Bamforth, Marketing Manager at Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School

Hi Karen. Thank you for taking the time to write a review and provide us with some feedback. It is fantastic to read that you are so happy with the care and learning taking place at our Stowmarket Nursery. After much deliberation, we did have to change our sessions from an hourly rate to a full day and fixed morning/afternoon session times. Having families on all different hours and sessions made staffing the nursery consistently extremely difficult. We are sorry that this doesn’t fit with your childcare needs, but we do hope that your children continue to flourish in a setting that can provide the flexibility that you need. Thank you again for taking the time to write a review.


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Our daughter has settled in really well, with being a lockdown baby, she hasn't had much interaction with other children or adults. She is well looked after and cared for, and she is loving the different types of food which she has during meal times. The staff have really catered to our draughts needs,
and she loves going, holding out her arms and waving in the mornings. I highly recommend Sunhill Nursery.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My little boy loves preschool, he always seems to have had a great time. Made some lovely friends. No real issues.
My only criticism is that the app isn't really used to its full potential, sometimes not been filled in until 5 pm.
I would like to see more pictures on the moments or the social media
pages, so we can actually see what they are doing.
Staff are all fab, be sad to leave in September.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Fantastic little nursery. My daughter always looks forward to her days at nursery. She has come on so much since attending, learning lots and always has fun. The staff are all lovely and very welcoming. Would recommend the nursery to anyone.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Excellent care and provision. Varied activities. Staff amazing. My son is very happy at nursery and has been for 2-years. He starts school in September, and the nursery has been the ideal prep for that. Excellent communication with parents also.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Amazing nursery! The manager and her team are amazing. My daughter has been there since January, and it took no time at all for her to settle in. She always goes in the door with no fuss and speaks very highly of all the staff. The staff are great at keeping me updated on how she has been in the day
and what she has eaten - the food is amazing. My daughter always surprises me with the things she has learnt. Highly recommend!

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The staff are amazing! My little girl has been there since she was 11 months. She enjoys it and doesn't cry when I drop her off. She is always happy when I pick her up. Their menu and snack selection is really good. They do some really good healthy and well-balanced meals for the children. The inside
is very cosy and clean!

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The nursery is lovely, and the staff are very kind, caring, approachable, and amazing with the children. My son loves going here and has learnt so much and has made lots of friends. He enjoys all the activities and enjoys teaching me all the songs they sing when he comes home.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Excellent nursery and my son loves the place! Always keeping me updated as to what he’s doing and how he’s developing, which is great to see. I can't recommend it enough, the staff are amazing, very friendly, patient, professional, kind, caring and I could go on! The facilities are fantastic, and so
is the effort that goes into planning each session. My son has formed some amazing bonds with the staff, the staff make a real effort to make time to communicate and take time to know not only the children but the parents as well.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My son loves nursery. His nursery teachers are lovely and really friendly and let you know what the children have been up too. He has learnt so much in the time he has been there - overall, a great nursery!

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Extremely happy with our boy going to nursery. He started as early as 8-months and went through all the “rooms” (now preschool 4 years old), and we could not be happier with his development and everything else. Staff tick all the boxes or even more, but the 1000 words you have to fit your review in
is not enough to mention all the +. You know your child is in a good place when every day he is happy to wake up and have fun either in the garden or learning new things. Also, management always very helpful and open to a conversation to help with any queries. Even during these hard days, they are amazing!

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The staff are really friendly and always willing to answer any queries I may have. My son loves going here, always happy to go in and comes out smiling. I can’t recommend this nursery enough. 5 out of 5 stars.


Good value for money; and they have an app where you can keep track of your child’s progress

and what they’ve been up to etc.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My daughter has been attending Little Mice since she was 9-months and is now 2-years-old, and I am delighted with the service they have provided her in that time; this has ranged from making her feel comfortable going into the nursery, to the wide variety of activities available to her. I always see
from social media or on the app the activities that have taken place, which is really nice for me as I don’t always get to pick my daughter up, so to see what she has been up to is great. The staff are always so friendly, professional and cheerful, and my daughter is happy to go to them each morning, which is great peace of mind. Thank you so much for the hard work!

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Current Review Score: 9.3 (9.300)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.3 (9.300) out of 10 for Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  • a) The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 8 Reviews in the last 24 months.

  • b) The score for the number of positive Reviews is 4.4 out of 5 from 8 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  • a) 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months.

    The Average Rating of 4.885 for Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School is calculated as follows: ( (86 Excellents x 5) + (9 Goods x 4) + (1 Satisfactorys x 3) ) ÷ 96 Ratings = 4.885

  • b) 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5').

    The 4.415 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Stowmarket Day Nursery & Pre-School is based on 8 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    • i) 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 3.8

    • ii) 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 65 number of registered child places is 13. 8 Positive Reviews ÷ 13 = 0.615

  • When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.

  • If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

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Awards / Recognitions (4)

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Meet the Team (2)

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Clare Sheperd

Job Title: Pre-School Manager

Joined: 2024

Hi! I'm Clare and I'm the Nursery Manager at Stowmarket Pre-school.


We look forward to welcoming you to our nursery!


No image found

Claire Wightman

Job Title: Nursery Manager

Joined: 2023

Hi! I'm Claire and I'm the Nursery Manager here at Stowmarket Nursery.


We look forward to welcoming you to our nursery!