Balderton Pre-School
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Newark for children from birth to 8+, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in May 2023. Open since 2006, with 42 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Nottinghamshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Nottinghamshire 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
NG24 3PQWhat 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, 30 May 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff form positive relationships with families and their children. Children are confident and keen to enter pre-school and wave goodbye to their parents or carers. Throughout the session, children are happy and gain support from staff when they need it. Staff prompt children to join in with others. This helps to support children to build friendships with one another. Children laugh together as they show off their drawings to each other. Children run up and down the garden playing chase and giggling together.
Staff show children how to use pipettes, as they describe how to squeeze the end and release it to suck up water. Children practise this with support and use the new skill independently. Children enjoy the responsibility of carrying out tasks that staff have asked them to complete. For example, staff provide children with a bowl of water and encourage them to clean the toy animals.
Children are supported by staff to develop a sense of self and take pride in their achievements. Staff praise children as they achieve something they have not done before. Children reflect on their previous experiences. Staff support them to make links between past experiences and the resources they have set out. For example, children look at toy people, and staff talk to them about the different people that help us who have visited the pre-school. Children recall the different services and the names of people who have visited.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen staff knowledge of how to consistently support children's behaviour, so it is clear to children what is expected of them n support staff to develop their interactions with children during free-play activities.
- 30 May 2023Good
- 6 June 2017Good
- 25 February 2013Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Balderton Pre-School
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- 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
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.