Needingworth Community Pre-School
OutstandingBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in St Ives for children from birth to 5, open 08:50 to 15:20, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in February 2022. Open since 1992, with 20 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 Cambridgeshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cambridgeshire 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
PE27 4TFWhat 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, 2 February 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children flourish in the pre-school. They eagerly explore their environment and relish discovering new things from the wealth of resources. Children become deeply involved as they experiment, transporting logs and carefully creating a structure to climb on or hide under. They confidently climb trees and learn how to safely come back down, under the watchful guidance of the practitioners. This helps build children's confidence and reinforces highly positive attitudes to learning.
Children are beginning to understand and control their feelings and emotions. They manage their behaviour with considered support from practitioners, who model the behaviour that is expected. Children eagerly share their thoughts about their experiences at the pre-school and explain about their favourite person who helps them. They indicate who they would tell if they felt sad and say, 'Because she would make me feel better'.
Children thoroughly enjoy spending time in the forest school area. They show great tenacity as they keep trying to walk across several stepping stones in one go.
- 2 February 2022Outstanding
- 6 July 2015Outstanding
- 4 November 2009Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Needingworth Community 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.