NGCA Ducklings Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Braintree for from 2 years up to 5 year olds, open 09:00 to 15:30, 5 days a week. £60.00 a day, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in September 2025. Open since 1999, with 20 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
| Age | Full day | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All ages | £60.00's fees | £24.00AM or PM |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £1.00 to £2.00 a session Snack contributionvoluntary
- £10.00 a day Lunch Coverfor children staying all day
Funded hours
15 hours for eligible two-year-olds and up to 30 hours for eligible working parents of children from the term after they are nine months old.
Worth knowing. FEEE funding cannot be applied to the 30-minute lunch break.
What childcare usually costs in Essex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Essex 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
CM77 7USWhat 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, 30 September 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children enter the setting eager to explore and quickly engage in activities. Staff greet them warmly. They have a strong understanding of each child, which helps them to feel safe and valued. Children know the daily routines. They begin to recognise their name labels to independently register themselves. New children settle well and form trusting relationships with staff, who provide a secure and nurturing environment. Staff are kind, attentive and responsive. This supports children's confidence, happiness and emotional well-being.
Children develop well in this friendly and welcoming pre-school setting. They form close and trusting bonds with caring staff, who know each child and their family well. As a result, children feel safe and confident, and ready to engage in their learning. Children make good progress from their individual starting points in development. Staff plan a curriculum and a wide range of play-based activities that build on children's interests and support their learning effectively.
Staff consistently promote positive behaviour. Children understand what is expected of them, including sharing, taking turns and using polite manners. Children play well together and independently, respecting boundaries and routines. For example, during a session with dough and music, children sit on their carpet spots and follow instructions carefully. They squeeze, roll and pass play dough around their bodies while moving to the rhythm of the music. As a result, children develop concentration, self-control and the skills needed for structured learning and effective social interactions.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance strategies for monitoring and planning for children's progress, particularly for those children with SEND, to help them to consistently enhance the good progress that children make n develop the quality of staff's interactions with children to help them to consistently extend children's learning more effectively as they play.
- 30 September 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 7 January 2020Outstanding
- 3 May 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for NGCA Ducklings Pre-School
- 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 £60.00 a day 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.
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.