Rainbows End Pre-school
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Stevenage for from 2 years up to 5 year olds, open 09:00 to 15:30, 5 days a week. £6.50 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in December 2022. Open since 1997, with 28 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Our fees are £6.50 an hour
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
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
SG2 0HTWhat 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, 5 December 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children and parents are greeted warmly by the kind, caring and attentive staff team. The well-established key-person system promotes children's emotional wellbeing and helps them to form secure attachments. Children are happy and confident as they enter the pre-school. They swiftly become engrossed in their choice of activity and thoroughly enjoy the sensitive interaction of staff. They say that 'it's fun here'. Children develop good control and coordination as they use a range of tools, such as spoons and ladles, to scoop up coloured rice. They concentrate and enjoy pouring the rice into different-sized containers. Staff provide children with an appropriate level of challenge. They demonstrate how to use large toy tweezers to pick up the rice, and children persevere to do this.
Children are physically active in the stimulating outdoor area. They learn to assess their own risks and develop control of a ball as they kick it back and forth to each other. Children show that they understand the expectations that staff set. For example, they know to help to tidy away the toys they have been playing with when it is time to tidy up. Children learn how to make their own play dough each day. They are highly imaginative as they use the dough to make Christmas presents and decorations.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- provide further opportunities for children who speak EAL to use their home language, to fully support their communication skills n build on existing partnerships with parents to share precise information that will help to further support their children's learning and development at home n develop staff practice to support children to gain a better understanding of the impact their behaviour may have on others.
- 5 December 2022Good
- 23 March 2022Needs improvement
- 20 October 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Rainbows End Pre-school
- 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.
- Is £6.50 an hour 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.