South Woodham Pre-school
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Chelmsford for from 2 years 6 months up to 5 year olds, open 08:40 to 15:15, 5 days a week. £5.80 a session, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in September 2025. Open since 2006, with 43 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
We offer a "lunch-time" club (11.20am to 12 noon). Children can attend all day (subject to availability) or the child can attend the lunch club with their normal session. We ask parents to provide their child with a packed lunch (nothing containing nuts please!) and drink. These sessions cost £5.80.
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Funded hours
2 year old funding.
Worth knowing. Limited number of 2 year old funded children.
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
CM3 5SEWhat 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, 19 September 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff provide a highly nurturing and stimulating environment that promotes children's curiosity, independence and sense of belonging. The carefully designed outside area allows children to explore safely and engage in nature-based learning.
Open-access resources enable children to take responsibility for their own learning and make independent choices. Children vote for activities they want to take part in. Staff give them the opportunity to make suggestions, and the children use a token system to decide what activities are offered. Children feel listened to and understand that their decisions are respected.
The curriculum is carefully shaped around confidence, inclusion and well-being.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- plan more effectively for children to practise their independence and self-help skills, particularly at mealtimes n strengthen techniques for promoting speech and language through effective questioning, so that children make even swifter progress towards communication.
- 19 September 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 11 December 2019Good
- 19 January 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for South Woodham Pre-school
- Nappies
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 £5.80 a session 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.