Busy Fingers Pre-school
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Ely for from 2 years 6 months up to 5 year olds, open 09:00 to 15:00, 5 days a week. £6.30 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2025. Open since 2023, with 30 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
We charge £6.30 per hour for children who are do not yet qualify for government funding and for any hours in addition to entitlement.
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15 hours childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year and some are eligible for 30 hours free childcare a week; Some 2 year olds are also eligible for 15 or 30 hours of free childcare a week.
What childcare usually costs in Cambridgeshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cambridgeshire 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
CB6 2STWhat 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, 27 March 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children play and learn happily together. They choose activities and resources that interest them, helping to promote new learning opportunities. Staff repeat activities over a number of days, helping to ensure that all children who attend the preschool have time to join in. As a result, all children experience memorable and fun adult-led activities to help them build on what they already know and understand.
For example, small groups of children take turns to make egg and cress sandwiches. They listen intently to the instructions and tips staff give them to help them peel and mash hard-boiled eggs. Staff remind them how they cracked and mixed raw eggs in a different activity. This helps children see and describe the differences that they recall, contributing to their understanding of cause and effect.
Staff plan a sequenced curriculum that they adjust to suit the precise learning needs of different children. There is a clear focus to support children to learn to play and work together. Staff help them to begin to recognise and regulate their feelings and actions and build on their vocabularies to help them become articulate and confident individuals. Children know they are able to use sand timers to help them manage minor disputes about sharing and taking turns. Staff support other children to move away from situations they feel frustrated about, allowing them time to become calm and ready to learn once more. This contributes to the industrious and harmonious environment.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- encourage children to develop their skills to solve problems, predict outcomes and find different ways of doing things for themselves.
- 27 March 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 10 July 2024Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 1 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Fingers Pre-school
- 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 £6.30 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.