St John's Pre-School
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Luton for children from birth to 8+, open 09:00 to 15:15, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2025. Open since 2000, with 36 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Luton
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Luton 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
LU3 2DNWhat 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, 21 January 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff create a fun, safe and nurturing environment for children. Staff understand the importance of ensuring children's personal, social and emotional needs are met, and they prioritise this. Children demonstrate clear bonds with the staff, seeking staff out to play with and be close too. Staff talk to children about their emotional well-being and look at picture cards with children who speak English as an additional language. This enables staff to provide the right support for children throughout their day at the setting. Staff create bespoke settling-in timetables for all children. As a result, children settle quickly into the setting.
Staff use topics as well as children's interests to create a fun learning environment for all. Staff use familiar books to create activities to extend learning. Children become immersed in activities, spending long periods concentrating on them. For example, at the creative table, children glue and stick story sequence cards to the story of the week. Staff encourage children to identify the numbers on sheets as they add in the story pictures. Children proudly show off their completed activities to staff. This builds on their confidence and self-esteem. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and regularly remind them that 'sharing is caring'. As a result, children's behaviour is good. The setting has a clear routine, which is visually available to children, and this helps to create a calm environment.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- develop the use of staff training and supervision to increase staff's knowledge of the setting's vision and develop the quality of interactions with children n help staff to develop consistency in the quality of their teaching and interactions to build on children's communication and language development.
- 21 January 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 5 March 2019Good
- 9 March 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for St John's Pre-School
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- 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
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.