Apples & Pears Private Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Sandbach for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 to 18:30, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in August 2023. Open since 2022, with 115 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Worth knowing. The government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables (such as nappies, to be provided by parents), additional hours or additional activities (such as trips).
What childcare usually costs in Cheshire East
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cheshire East 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
CW11 2UNWhat 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.
- 10 October 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 30 August 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children enter the nursery happily and settle well. Staff support children to develop independence and help them to learn how to work with others. They encourage older children to support younger children and those new to their room. This helps to create a welcoming environment. Easily accessible outdoor spaces enable children to choose whether to play and learn indoors or outdoors.
Children enjoy a range of songs, rhymes and stories throughout the day, which helps them to develop good language and literacy skills. Generally, staff ensure that conversations are meaningful, which helps children to develop their spoken language. Children practise taking turns, and they listen when others are speaking during group times. Children are keen to interact with visitors, which demonstrates their confidence and self-esteem. They are well prepared emotionally, demonstrating essential skills to move up from the baby room, through each age group in the nursery and on to school. The nursery's curriculum is well structured.
Staff follow plans that clearly identify the knowledge children will learn and in what order. They check regularly what children know, understand and can do. They use this information well to decide what children need to learn next. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those in receipt of additional funding, make good progress.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- embed and build on the link between observation of practice and the support, coaching and training provided to improve staff's knowledge and skills n deepen staff's understanding of how to carefully construct dialogue to avoid gender stereotyping, promote equality and prepare children for life in modern
- 30 August 2023Good
Still missing for Apples & Pears Private Day Nursery
- What it costs
- Youngest age taken
- 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.
- Is there a place for my child's age? 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.