Holy Cross Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A pre-school in Harlow for from 2 years up to school age, open 08:30 to 22:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2024. Open since 2013, with 44 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
All children are entitled to 15 hours funded childcare, the term after their second birthday, until they attend primary school. This can be a morning or afternoon position. If you are entitled to the extended 15 hours funded childcare, you will then receive 30 hours of childcare per-week, 6 hours per day.
What childcare usually costs in Essex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Essex 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
CM18 6JJWhat 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, 10 July 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are friendly, outgoing and confident. They have lots of fun and thoroughly enjoy their time in the pre-school. Staff always pay close attention to children and freely join in with their activities. They encourage children to take the lead in their play and learning. This helps children to use their imagination, solve problems and make decisions.
Staff ensure that children stay safe in the pre-school and learn to take wellsupervised risks. This gives children confidence to try new things and to challenge themselves physically and mentally. Children are physically active. They have a lot of space to run around as they balance on planks and ride around on scooters and tricycles. Children really enjoy imaginary play. They clamber into a wooden boat together and pretend to be sailing around the world.
Staff are kind, nurturing and encouraging. This helps children to feel emotionally settled. They form strong bonds with staff and make friends with each other.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- plan more precisely for large-group activities to ensure that all children stay focused on their task and have an opportunity to take part n refine group activities, such as story time, to maintain the interest and engagement of all children.
- 10 July 2024Good
- 30 October 2018Good
- 6 February 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Holy Cross Pre-School
- What it costs
- 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.
- 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.