Headstart Day and Afterschool Care LTD
Good★ 3.7 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in South Ockendon for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 to 19:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in November 2022. Open since 2003, with 78 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 Thurrock
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Thurrock 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
RM15 5PAWhat 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, 21 November 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children have strong bonds with their key person and develop good relationships with their peers. They are greeted with warm cuddles and provided with lots of praise and encouragement throughout the day. Children happily share and take turns with each other. Younger children roll a ball back and forth between each other, smiling and clapping when they are successful. Older children sit together at the lunch table, helping one another serve the food onto their plates.
There is a a wide range of resources accessible to children, and they explore their environment well. They play with real food in the role-play area, and have conversations about where the food comes from and what it looks like. Children are introduced to healthy eating through discussions about the ingredients in their food. They use some of these healthy ingredients in their role-play areas. Staff explain how food can change when it is cooked. For example, they discuss how potatoes can make chips or mash.
Children show real enjoyment when they are playing. Younger children have fun exploring the 'cornflour play', putting their hands in and clapping their hands together to see how they stick. Children enjoy dancing and singing songs with musical instruments throughout the day. Older children learn to mix paints together. They ask staff what colours they can make and experiment with mixing and adding new colours.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- develop staff's interactions with children and ensure they allow children time to think and respond n improve the organisation of routines, with particular reference to the time before and after meals, so that the length of time children spend waiting is reduced.
- 21 November 2022Good
- 3 March 2017Outstanding
- 25 February 2013Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Headstart Day and Afterschool Care LTD
- 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.