Up, Up and Away Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Chelmsford for children from birth to 8+, open 08:00 to 16:30, 5 days a week. £18.00 a session, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2025. Open since 2011, with 26 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.
| Age | Session | |
|---|---|---|
| All ages | £18.00Morning, Afternoon, 'Welly Wednesday', 3 hrs |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £3.00 a session Lunch Club
Funded hours
15 and 30 hours for 3-4 year olds, and 2-year-old funding.
Worth knowing. Allow you to spread your funding across any of our term-time sessions.
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 1DFWhat 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, 18 March 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children run into pre-school excited to start their day. Leaders and staff are ready to greet children and their families to talk about the day ahead. Children settle quickly and feel relaxed to start their play immediately. They have developed strong bonds with staff who know them very well, which helps them feel safe and secure.
Leaders and staff arrange the environment with activities to meet children's individual needs. Staff support children with opportunities to develop their growing independence. At snack time, children cut their own fruit, select their own cups and tidy up after themselves. This helps build their self-esteem and confidence in their abilities when they carry out independent tasks.
The curriculum for children is well structured and ambitious for all. Leaders and staff carefully design how children will learn. They plan activities that consider all areas of learning and incorporate their needs and interests. Leaders and staff are exemplary role models to help children understand rules and boundaries. They remind children about using 'tidy legs' at circle time and 'inside feet' when indoors.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- review routine transitions during the day to improve the time spent by children as they move on to other activities.
- 18 March 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 4 June 2019Good
- 2 February 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Up, Up and Away Pre-School
- Youngest age taken
- 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 £18.00 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.
- 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.