Little Explorers Pre School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Long established
A pre-school in Salford for babies from 9 months up to 5 year olds, open 09:15 to 12:50, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in December 2024. Open since 2015, with 26 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Funded Childcare may be available if your child aged between 9 months and 5. All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 hours of government funded early education or childcare per year. This is usually taken as 15 hours each week for 38 weeks of the year or as stretched which is 11 hours a week for the whole year. Funding is also available for 9 month olds if you meet certain criteria.
Worth knowing. If you are in receipt of funded hours then you will be charged a 'voluntary' consumable charge to cover costs that the government funding does not cover and we are entitled to charge you for. This includes meals, snacks and services such as trips and activities such as football & foreign language lessons. To take a funded place you will be asked to enter an agreement to pay the charge. If you 'opt out' you will need to bring, each day, wipes and snacks in line with our healthy eating policy plus.
What childcare usually costs in Salford
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Salford 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
M6 5QQWhat 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, 13 December 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children thoroughly enjoy spending time at this caring and nurturing setting. They arrive excited to explore the range of interesting activities available. Staff create a broad and a balanced curriculum for all children. Staff have a firm understanding of the prior experiences children arrive at this setting with and use them to build upon what children already know and can do. Children's physical development is prioritised. Staff ensure children have lots of opportunities to be physically active.
For instance, children ride around the outdoor area on tricycles and set up their own obstacle courses. Children smile with pride as they build up their courage to jump off low level wooden planks. These opportunities help to develop children's larger muscle movements.
Staff create caring bonds with children and they stay close by to those children that may need reassurance. They support children's emotional development well and teach them about their own feelings. Staff use puppets to act out situations that have occurred to help them recognise how their actions may have made their friends feel. Children are learning how to regulate their own emotions. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress in their learning from their starting points.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to embed routines and help children to understand staff's high expectations n provide children with enough time to process information so that they can join in with discussions and answer questions.
- 13 December 2024Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 26 February 2019Good
- 17 April 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Little Explorers Pre School
- What it costs
- 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.
- 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.