Acorn2Oak Preschool
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Ipswich for from 2 years up to school age, open 08:00 to 16:00, 5 days a week. £5.75 an hour for 2 years, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in April 2025. Open since 2010, with 28 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Price list dated 1st September 2026.
| Age | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 years2y to 3y | £5.75 | |
| 3 & 4 years3y to 4y | £5.55 |
Funded hours
30 hours free childcare available for working parents!
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
IP1 6QDWhat 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, 23 April 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are warmly welcomed into the pre-school by the nurturing staff, who know them well. Children immediately feel safe in their environment and are eager to learn. This is because staff consider their individual interests and provide opportunities for children to be active and make choices in their play. For instance, some children decide to create a flag using arts and crafts to celebrate St. George's
Day. Others dress up and engage in role play, using props such as dragon puppets.
Staff are responsive to the needs of the children, who seek them out if they need support or comfort. Children play well with each other and have formed good friendships. They talk together during their play and share their thoughts and ideas. As children patiently wait for their turn to jump into a muddy puddle, staff praise their courteous behaviours, which reinforce the behaviours expected of them.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- build on the already good teaching and support staff to recognise when to further challenge children's learning to help move them on to the next stage n enhance methods of coaching staff to identify areas for development that help to raise the quality of their practice to a consistently high level across all areas of the pre-school.
- 23 April 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 14 June 2019Good
- 15 June 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Acorn2Oak Preschool
- 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.
- Is £5.75 an hour still the rate? 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.