Hester Way Children Centre Nursery
Good★ 4.2 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Cheltenham for children from birth to 8+, open 09:00 to 16:30, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in April 2022. Open since 2014, with 64 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
GL51 0ESWhat 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, 27 April 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children receive attentive support from the nurturing staff. They benefit from a strong key-person system and staff warmly greet them when they arrive. This helps children to feel safe, secure and ready to learn. Children benefit from a broad curriculum which is tailored to their interests. Staff skilfully incorporate areas of learning into children's play, such as mathematics. For example, staff encourage children to count and talk about the size of the boats and the weight of the sand they play with. Children behave very well. They form positive relationships with the role model staff and their peers. They help staff with tasks, such as sweeping up sand, and show consideration to their friends.
All children progress well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those in receipt of additional funding. This is because staff have high expectations of them all. They provide timely support to children who encounter difficulties and allocate funding effectively. This helps to promote good outcomes for all children, ready for their next stage in learning, including school.
Partnerships with parents are strong. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents no longer enter the building. Nonetheless, parents say staff keep them well informed about their child's progress and communication is good. Staff take time to speak with parents daily. They use an electronic application to share information about children.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen the monitoring of staff's practice to precisely identify minor weaknesses and raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high level n review the planning and organisation of whole group time activities, considering the needs and abilities of all children within the group, so that all are equally engaged, and their learning is maximised.
- 27 April 2022Good
- 10 March 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Hester Way Children Centre 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.