Newton Park Pre School
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Chester 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 September 2024. Open since 2007, with 24 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 Cheshire West and Chester
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cheshire West and Chester 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
CH2 2LAWhat 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, 18 September 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children thrive and flourish in this friendly pre-school setting. Kind and nurturing staff invest time and effort in getting to know new children and families at the beginning of the academic year. Settling-in procedures are gradual and plenty of time is spent getting to know each other. Children respond very well to these robust and flexible admission systems. All children, including those who have only attended for a short time, are happy, settled and content. Children of all ages behave well. They are helpful and polite. Children help to keep the pre-school tidy, returning toys to baskets after playing. They look after their belongings and are respectful of the space. Staff use a number of simple and effective techniques to promote positive behaviour. For instance, they offer children praise and clap to celebrate children's achievements. This animated and continual encouragement helps to promote positive behaviour and self-esteem.
Children are free to select where they wish to play and choose toys to ignite their curiosity. Children make decisions to play indoors or outside and move around the play space with purpose and engagement. Children's self-chosen play helps to foster their independence. Staff join in children's games and their participation in play is used effectively to extend children's learning. For instance, staff encourage children to mix different paint, predicting how the colours will change when mixed.
This helps to extend children's critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Children enjoy a 'physical hour' every day where they are encouraged to practice new physical skills. Children run and chase bubbles, jumping to reach up high. They balance on wooden blocks, carefully walking along slopes. This requires physical precision and coordination. An external sports coach visits the setting weekly to enhance the physical curriculum even more. Children enjoy books. They benefit from a lending library, enabling them to continue their enjoyment of reading at home. Children begin to learn that print carries meaning and story time successfully helps to extend children's early language skills. This is a vibrant, wellorganised and fun setting, in turn, children are happy and engaged in their learning.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- extend children's counting and numeracy skills as they play to help them make even more progress in their mathematics development n improve staff awareness of sharing their time and attention among all children during group activities so everyone benefits from the high quality teaching provided.
- 18 September 2024Good
- 21 November 2023Needs improvement
- 20 March 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Newton Park 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.