Fountains Playgroup and Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Ripon for from 2 years up to school age, open 08:15 to 17:00, 5 days a week. £5.90 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2023. Open since 1996, with 20 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
| Age | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| All ages | £5.90over the eligible funded hours |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £2.80 a day School lunches
- £15.00 a term Voluntary Consumablesincludes snacks, wipes, nappy sacks, specific messy play
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15 Universal hours per week for 3 and 4 year olds; 30 hours for eligible working parents; 2 year old disadvantaged funding.
Worth knowing. Additional hours over the funded allocation are charged at £5.90 per hour; voluntary consumables charge of £15 per half term.
What childcare usually costs in North Yorkshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in North Yorkshire 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
HG4 3PJWhat 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, 29 March 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy, confident and independent learners. They smile and laugh throughout the day. Children's well-being is at the heart of this nurturing preschool. They recieve an excellent level of care and attention from staff. Children have strong attachments to staff. They approach staff and sit on their knee to listen to a story, or seek them out and tell them about an activity they have completed. Children feel safe within the pre-school. They talk about what they need to do if there is an emergency, in a calm way. Children develop excellent independence skills. In preparation for outdoor play, they find their outdoor shoes and coat, trying to put them on themselves.
Children's behaviour is exemplary. They work together to build, act out role-play scenarios and engage in joint tasks, such as building a tower. Children's language and communication skills develop very well. Staff and children share conversations at every opportunity. Children with additional needs are supported well. Staff use their knowledge of child development to help children and families put strategies in place to help them to make good progress.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- provide activities that provide more choice for children so that they can express themselves creatively n support children to learn more about diversity and provide them with a more accurate view of modern Britain.
- 29 March 2023Good
- 27 September 2017Good
- 12 June 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Fountains Playgroup and 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 £5.90 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.