Mill Lane Pre-School Association
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Broxbourne for from 2 years up to school age, open 09:00 to 14:30, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2024. Open since 2004, with 34 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Worth knowing. We welcome self-funded and government-funded spaces into our warm and playful pre-school. With no additional fees.
What childcare usually costs in Hertfordshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Hertfordshire 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
EN10 7BQWhat 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, 23 January 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff prepare carefully for children's arrival, laying out resources and activities that relate to their learning needs and reflect their particular interests. Even those children who are new to the setting come in happily and quickly settle. They have strong relationships with their key person and other staff, who offer children close reassurance wherever needed. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and communicate these clearly to all children so that they know what is expected of them. Children are kind towards their friends and recognise the impact of their actions. For example, if they bump someone else, they apologise and check on their welfare.
Staff plan a broad range of experiences and activities that help children to develop across the areas of learning. Children enjoy much of the learning on offer and engage readily with different opportunities. They listen to stories, sing songs and engage in action rhymes with enthusiasm, developing their understanding of spoken and sung language. Staff clearly understand how to sequence children's learning in a range of areas, particularly their physical development. For instance, staff help children to press and roll dough and to draw freely on large pieces of paper to support the physical skills they need to begin writing. They help children to develop coordination as they balance and jump between blocks. Children roll, climb and crawl through soft-play resources, negotiating objects with skill.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to understand more specifically how children process conversational language, to give them time to develop their own ideas and respond accordingly n help staff to more carefully consider the resources they use when planning learning experiences, to meet the desired learning intentions during some adultled activities.
- 23 January 2024Good
- 31 January 2023Needs improvement
- 15 June 2017Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Mill Lane Pre-School Association
- 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.