Alphabet City Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in Basingstoke for babies from 9 months up to 5 year olds, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2022. Open since 2014, with 70 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Government funded hours for all eligible children aged over 9 months. 570 or 1140 annual Stretched funding hours: 51 weeks with 22 or 11 hrs, 1 week with 18 or 9 hrs.
What childcare usually costs in Hampshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Hampshire 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
RG21 3DTWhat 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, 6 January 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children benefit from warm and nurturing relationships with their key persons, which leads to them being confident and happy in their environment. Children's emotions are valued, and staff encourage children to talk about how they are feeling. For example, in the pre-school room, staff use 'The Colour Monster' story to support children's emotional literacy. On arrival, children share how they are feeling by selecting the corresponding colour monster, such as yellow for 'happy'.
The use of yoga also helps to promote children's well-being and physical development.
Children delight in talking about their families and looking at photos of them on display. The members of the management team pride themselves on working in partnership with parents and refer to themselves as 'The Alphabet Family'. During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have creatively kept children learning and families engaged by sharing activity packs and sending videos home. Children's behaviour is good. Older children enjoy taking on additional responsibilities, such as helping with snack time. Children wear a sticker to show that they are a helper and they talk with pride about their role.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: - support staff to use their good knowledge of the children to consistently scaffold, challenge and extend children's learning during activities n review the impact of training further during staff supervision sessions, to ensure that the knowledge of those with specific lead roles is fully embedded.
- 6 January 2022Good
- 1 August 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Alphabet City Day Nursery
- What it costs
- 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.
- What does it cost, all in? 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.