Finlay Nursery
Good★ 4.2 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Gloucester for children from birth to 8+, open 09:00 to 17:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in September 2025. Open since 2016, with 34 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Gloucestershire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Gloucestershire 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
GL4 6TLWhat 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.
- 3 February 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 17 September 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive happy and eager to explore the inviting learning environment. They move confidently between activities because staff plan a wide range of purposeful experiences that build securely on what children already know and can do. In both the two-year-old room and pre-school, staff set clear curriculum intentions. They adapt activities to match children's interests and abilities, ensuring that all children make consistently good progress. Children benefit from well-structured daily routines. With guidance from staff, they learn what is happening now and what will come next. This helps children to feel secure and to develop independence. Staff promote positive hygiene habits and social skills, encouraging children to sit and eat together. During snack time, staff extend children's communication and language skills, introducing new vocabulary and ideas. For example, they talk about how apples grow, helping children to connect real-life experiences with their learning. Staff strengthen children's early mathematical understanding. They encourage them to count pieces of fruit and compare quantities.
Outdoor learning is a regular feature of the curriculum and supports children's physical skills, health and well-being. Staff join in with children's play at their level, helping them to test ideas, solve problems and communicate their thinking. For example, children carefully transport water using containers and explain how they have created a pond for ducks. Staff use these moments to develop children's reasoning and vocabulary. Children develop early literacy skills, making marks with paintbrushes in foam. They navigate space safely as they ride on pedal tricycles, building strength, coordination and confidence.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance the consistency of behavioural expectations to fully support children's understanding of what is expected of them n support staff to make group times more interactive, so children can engage fully and strengthen their communication, language and early literacy skills.
- 17 September 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 22 November 2024Needs improvement
- 31 January 2019Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Finlay Nursery
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- 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
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? 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.