Abacus Children's Day Nursery
OutstandingTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Carlisle for babies from 3 months up to school age, open 8am to 6pm. £86.00 a day for children aged two to three years old, and they take the funded hours. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in October 2021, though that is 5 years ago now. Open since 2015, with 60 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
51 weeks a year.
| Age | Full day | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under two years oldbirth to 2y | £88.00 | £50.00Morning or Afternoon, 5 hrs | |
| Two to three years old2y to 3y | £86.00 | £49.00Morning or Afternoon, 5 hrs | |
| Three to five years old3y to 5y | £83.00 | £48.00Morning or Afternoon, 5 hrs |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £15.00 per 15 minutes late collection feeeach 10 minutes beyond the session end time
What a funded hour still costs
Funded hours cover the childcare. These are charged alongside them.
- £9.50 to £16.50 a half day supplement applied to all age government funded hours
Discounts
- 5% full time, full day place discount
- 5% Siblings discount
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
Government funded hours.
Worth knowing. A supplement will be applied to all age government funded hours. £16.50 per day – £9.50 per half day. Families using government funding may choose to opt out of any supplement charges, although terms and conditions apply.
What childcare usually costs in Cumberland
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cumberland 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
CA5 7NYWhat 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.
- 3 August 2022 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 14 October 2021 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children thrive and make exceptional progress in the truly inspiring, language-rich environment created by highly professional and knowledgeable staff. Staff know the children exceptionally well and have a detailed knowledge of what children are interested in and what they need to achieve next. They seamlessly weave this through everything that children do while in their kind and safe hands. All children excel in their development. They develop independence skills from an early age, from the 'Baby Owls' to the 'Big Bears' and 'Big Badgers' pre-school. When children bring in items such as a forest tree cutting toy from home staff, quickly introduce logs and leaves into trays for children to act out their own experiences of tree felling. Staff are highly motivated and have high expectations for children. They ensure that their quality of teaching is pitched at the highest level to engage children and support their learning. Staff use favourite stories to increase children's concentration and attention span and build on their love of reading. Children enthusiastically join in and staff model clear pronunciation, which further enhances children's speech and language.
Children's behaviour is exceptional. They learn to manage their feelings and emotions and treat each other with kindness. Children flourish through the secure emotional attachments which are established with nurturing staff. They show that they feel safe through the confident way they tackle new skills. Children listen carefully to staff's clear instructions while using real hammers, saws and nails in the woodwork shed. They know how to keep themselves safe and confidently put on safety goggles and gloves before using the tools by themselves. Children's resilience is fostered well. They persevere with challenging tasks and show excellent determination to do up the fastenings on their clothing and while serving themselves at mealtimes.
- 14 October 2021Outstanding
- 2 August 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Abacus Children's Day Nursery
- 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 £86.00 a day 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.