Wind In The Willows Nursery
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Brentwood for from 2 years up to school age, open 07:30 to 15:15, 5 days a week. £4.00 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2023. Open since 2015, with 30 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 | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All ages | £24.00Un-funded children | £4.00Private additional hours - until 3.00pm £6.00Private additional hours - until 3:15pm £8.00Private additional hours - until 3.30pm |
Before you start
One-off charges to take a place.
- £45.00 Risers Feefor additional activities in the year before starting Primary School
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £4.00 a session Early start 8:00am
- £8.50 a session Breakfast club from 7:30am
What a funded hour still costs
Funded hours cover the childcare. These are charged alongside them.
- £1.50 a session FEEE/Working Families Entitlement children consumable
- £1.50 to £3.75 a session Voluntary consumables contributionFEEE/Working Families Entitlement children; voluntary
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
FEEE and 2-Year-Old Working Families Entitlement; 15 and 30 hours; funded places in all sessions, 38 weeks per year.
Worth knowing. Voluntary consumables contribution requested (£1.50 or £3.75 per session); private additional hours chargeable at £4.00/£6.00/£8.00; no funded entitlement on Bank Holiday Mondays.
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
CM13 2TUWhat 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 June 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive at the nursery ready to learn and carry out tasks. They are warmly welcomed by practitioners, and eager to find their name and peg this to the 'who is here today' board. Children settle quickly and explore the environment. They seek information on bugs and insects and actively discuss the habitats in which they live in. Children are positive in their learning and are confident to make their own choices in their play, to make good progress.
Children display a real love for singing and use actions to songs when learning nursery rhymes. This helps to build children's self-esteem and confidence, to extend their communication and language. They become increasingly aware of the effects that sugar can have on their bodies and describe good hygiene practices.
They understand how often they can brush their teeth, why they do this, and when they can visit the dentist.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support practitioners to precisely focus on the intention of activities to enhance children's individual learning and move them on in their development n develop opportunities and make the most of mentoring and coaching practitioners to reflect on their practice, to consistently improve their teaching skills.
- 21 June 2023Good
- 31 October 2017Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Wind In The Willows Nursery
- 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 £4.00 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.