Freshford Pre-school
OutstandingTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Long established
A pre-school in Bath for from 2 years 8 months up to 5 year olds, open 09:00 to 15:00, 4 days a week. £8.35 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in December 2022. Open since 2013, with 24 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Hourly Rate - £8.35
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Funded hours
We accept all EYE Funded Places for 2/3/4-year olds.
Worth knowing. Suggested donation of £2.70 per funded hour; BANES expects children receiving the Early Years Entitlement Funding to attend for at least 70% of their booked sessions, except for exceptional circumstances such as an extended period of ill health. They also expect children to attend regularly on all their booked days. Failure to follow this guidance may result in your child's funding being reduced or stopped, and the preschool billing you for the unfunded sessions.
What childcare usually costs in Bath and North East Somerset
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Bath and North East Somerset 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
BA2 7URWhat 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, 7 December 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children bounce in happily, greet the staff with smiles and eagerly go and seek out their favourite activities. Children are very interested in being 'builders' and delight when they see a new toolbox next to the home corner, now an 'Elf workshop'.
They cooperate and negotiate well as they share the new tools in their imaginary play. They admire their previous work, a fireplace made from boxes 'to keep the elves warm'. They hammer some more 'nails' into the boxes and say 'this to make sure it doesn't fall apart'.
Children are very excited when two police officers visit. They are curious about all the pieces of equipment they have on their uniforms, such as walkie-talkies and different torches. Children delight in seeing themselves on the police officer's body camera saying, 'it's like us on TV!' Children make immediate connections between their own experiences. For example, they say that they also wear reflective jackets when they go out on walks so that they can be seen and be safe. Children know many rules about road safety and proudly sing their 'traffic light' song to the officers.
- 7 December 2022Outstanding
- 12 December 2016Outstanding
- 13 May 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Freshford Pre-school
- Nappies
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 £8.35 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.