Sandfield Natural Play Centre
OutstandingTakes funded hours★ 4.6 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Whiston for children from birth to 8+, open 07:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £85.00 a day, and they take the funded hours. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in September 2021, though that is 5 years ago now. Open since 2006, with 70 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Term time only, 38 weeks a year, minimum 2 days a week.
| Age | Full day | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All ages | £85.00 | £29.00Late Afternoon, 3 hrs |
Before you start
One-off charges to take a place.
- £50.00 Depositto secure their child's funded place, refundable
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £4.00 a session Early Start Session
- £20.00 per 15 minutes Late Child Collection Chargebeyond the booked session times of either 3pm or 6pm finish
Funded hours
15 or 30 hours childcare and early education funded entitlement; 15 hours of Early Learning funded entitlement for 2-year-olds.
Worth knowing. Funded entitlement of 7.5 hours per day can be taken between Monday-Friday. The sessions are from 7.30am-3pm. Best practice is that a child attends a minimum of 2 days per week either term time only or throughout the year. We offer funded entitlement sessions over 38 weeks per year during term time only. We charge for meals and snacks as part of a funded entitlement place and also charge for consumables such as nappies and sun cream, meals and snacks, and for services such as trips and extra-cur.
What childcare usually costs in Knowsley
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Knowsley 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
L35 3SRWhat 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.
- 30 September 2021Outstanding
- 13 December 2018Outstanding
- 11 March 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Sandfield Natural Play Centre
- Youngest age taken
- 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 £85.00 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.
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.