Little Ashes Pre-School
Good★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Milton Keynes for children from birth to 8+, open 09:00 to 15:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2023. Open since 1995, with 26 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 Buckinghamshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Buckinghamshire 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
MK17 9BAWhat 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.
- 9 December 2022 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 7 February 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children delight in their play and learning at the pre-school. They follow a wellplanned and interesting curriculum that ignites their passion for learning. Staff provide opportunities for children to explore their ideas. For example, children take great interest in fruit and vegetables and are curious to find out what is inside them. Staff provide them with knives to cut open the foods and children observe the different types of seeds they discover. This fascinates them, and they excitedly talk with each other and staff, using descriptive words to explain their findings.
Staff have high ambitions for what children can achieve and confidence in their abilities. They trust children to assess small risks for themselves and teach them how to use tools and equipment safely. In turn, children become confident in their own abilities. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress in their development. This is because staff know them well and target support and encouragement to help to meet children's individual needs. Parents are extremely pleased with the care that their children receive. They attribute children's increasing knowledge of numbers and letters to the education that they receive at the pre-school.
Children's behaviour is consistently good. Rules and expectations are clear, especially during the forest school provision, and children follow them diligently.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- embed the curriculum for children, increasing staff's confidence in implementing a dynamic and ambitious curriculum that continues to meet children's changing needs - sustain the good quality supervision and support for staff to enhance their performance and further increase the quality and delivery of the curriculum.
- 7 February 2023Good
- 6 June 2019Good
- 24 June 2015Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Little Ashes Pre-School
- 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.