Little Explorers @ Pavilion
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Cheltenham for children from birth to 5, open 09:00 to 14:45, 5 days a week. £7.50 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in April 2023. Open since 1979, with 24 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Our fees are currently £7.50 per hour (as of April 2025).
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15/30 hours a week of funded childcare.
Worth knowing. We accept Government funding from Monday-Thursday from 9am-2.45pm and Friday 9am to 12.45pm (our usual session times).
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
GL52 3LPWhat 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, 26 April 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children spend much of their time outside at this setting. Staff prepare open-ended activities to capture children's curiosity. For example, children use guttering, trays and blocks to explore how water flows. Children notice that the water, running down the guttering, does not flow to the end but comes back down the pipe. Staff explain that water may need to flow downwards and encourage children to test this theory. As they do so, it flows out of a gap in the guttering. Staff encourage children to try again and consider why this might be happening. Children then add blocks to make a steeper drop for the water, causing it to fall quickly. Children are highly motivated as they move pipes and build up blocks to alter the speed of the water. Children's critical-thinking skills are promoted well.
The manager has identified gaps in children's communication and language since the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff have recently adapted their daily routine to provide targeted support for small groups of children to help support their skills in this area. Staff carefully plan activities that sequence children's learning. For example, encouraging them to listen closely and follow simple instructions.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen the partnerships with other providers, so that information about children's development is shared from the outset to further consolidate their learning n extend the coaching and mentoring of staff to raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high level.
- 26 April 2023Good
- 20 September 2017Good
- 18 November 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Little Explorers @ Pavilion
- Youngest age taken
- 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.
- Is £7.50 an hour still the rate? 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.