Heathside Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 3.4 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Runcorn for children from birth to 8+, open 09:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in September 2023. Open since 1998, with 41 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
All children aged three and four are entitled to 15 hours of funded early education per week; up to 30 hours of funded childcare per week for children aged nine months to four years.
Worth knowing. Government-funded hours are provided for 38 weeks of the year. Families have the flexibility to take their funding on a term-time basis (38 weeks) or stretch it across 52 weeks, receiving fewer hours each week but the same total over the year.
What childcare usually costs in Halton
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Halton 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
WA7 4QRWhat 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, 12 September 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Leaders have worked with staff and other agencies to make the required improvements in the setting. The new manager has created a sequenced and exciting curriculum for all children. Staff have attended curriculum training and accessed other useful courses, such as supporting children's communication, language and thinking skills. As a result, the quality of education is much improved and outcomes for children are good. Staff now ask children more open-ended questions as they play and interact with them. In addition, they understand that they need to give children time to think and respond. As a result of this, children are confident communicators who enjoy taking part in discussions with the staff and their friends.
Staff take time to get to know children and their parents when they first join the setting. They gather lots of useful information about children and their families.
Staff use this information to help them understand and plan for children's individual care and learning needs. As a result, children are supported to make good progress from the outset.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- continue to embed the new arrangements for staff coaching to raise the quality of educational practice to the highest levels across the team n support staff to shape and adapt activities in a timely way to better support children's preferred ways to learn n strengthen information sharing as children move through rooms in the setting.
- 12 September 2023Good
- 8 March 2023Needs improvement
- 16 November 2022Inadequate
- 13 July 2017Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 4 graded inspections.
Still missing for Heathside Day Nursery
- What it costs
- 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
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.
- What does it cost, all in? 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.
- 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.