St Francis Family Centre
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A pre-school in London for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in August 2022. Open since 2014, with 16 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Up to 30 hours of government childcare funding available for working parents; Up to 15 hours of government childcare funding available for parents in receipt of certain benefits; Up to 15 hours of government childcare funding available for all families.
Worth knowing. Term-time only places: 15 hours per week, Monday to Friday (am or pm), Morning Sessions: 9am – 12pm, Afternoon sessions: 2pm – 5pm, These hours can be fully funded for children eligible for government funding; Full year (51 weeks): Between 20 and 50 hours per week (parents/carers choice), Monday to Friday, 8am – 6pm, Children eligible for government funding may access their funded hours at no cost. Additional hours are optional and charged privately.
What childcare usually costs in Tower Hamlets
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Tower Hamlets 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
E14 0DEWhat 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, 16 August 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are confident and self-motivated learners. They have close, trusting relationships with staff. Staff help children to feel valued and secure, for example, by displaying their work attractively and praising children for their efforts. Staff display photographs of the children's families and this helps children to feel a strong sense of belonging at the nursery.
Children enjoy a broad variety of activities. They use sponge rollers, paintbrushes and a range of textures and materials to create different effects on paper. This supports their creative development well. Children have good physical skills. For example, they climb and balance on planks and use balls and bats to develop their coordination skills effectively. Children develop small-muscle control, for instance, by handling different tools in creative activities. Children have good mathematical skills. Staff count musical beats with children using different instruments and sing counting songs. They point out different shapes in the environment and teach them shape names. Children behave in safe ways. For instance, they tuck their chairs under the table to help prevent hazards. They handle tools with care and caution.
There is breadth and balance in the curriculum. All children make good progress and gain valuable skills in preparation for school.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- develop children's understanding of the world further, particularly in relation to how things change in the natural world n provide more ways to develop children's problem-solving skills.
- 16 August 2022Good
- 15 August 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for St Francis Family Centre
- What it costs
- 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.
- What does it cost, all in? 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.