The Croft Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Crewe for from 2 years up to 5 year olds, open 09:00 to 15:00, 5 days a week. £5.50 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2024. Open since 1981, with 30 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
£5.50 per 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.
Funded hours
All children receive 15 hours funding after the full term of their 3rd birthday. We can accept 2 year old funding for those children that are eligible. We can offer 30 hours funding if your child is eligible.
What childcare usually costs in Cheshire East
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cheshire East 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
CW1 5RJWhat 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, 8 March 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff provide children with a broad and carefully sequenced curriculum in this bright and spacious pre-school. They follow children's interests and carefully weave learning opportunities into the daily routine. Children delight in the opportunity to dress up for World Book Day and share their favourite stories with their friends.
Staff recognise this important learning opportunity and thoughtfully add related items in order for them to develop skills across other areas. For instance, children enjoy reading 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and staff introduce themed play dough mats and a variety of tools. They encourage the children's creativity and ask them to think about what they might want to make. Children eagerly mould and shape the dough into blankets for Goldilocks and carefully position them onto the pictures of beds on the mats. This supports children to develop their small-muscle skills in readiness for future writing.
Staff are calm and nurturing and form strong bonds with the children. This helps to support their emotional well-being. Staff give clear and consistent messages to children and model good manners and expected behaviours very well. Children become deeply engrossed in their play and are thoughtful and caring towards their friends. They enjoy playing in the role-play café and delight in their opportunities to make pretend cups of tea for visitors. Children demonstrate fluency in their language skills as they converse amicably with their friends.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- identify training opportunities that have a specific focus on the areas of learning that children need to develop in order to sharpen the quality of education even further n build on the current practice for supporting children to learn about communities, faiths, beliefs and traditions beyond their own.
- 8 March 2024Good
- 20 March 2018Good
- 9 July 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Croft 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 £5.50 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.