Caterpillar Day Nursery Ltd
Good★ 4.1 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Market Harborough for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 July 2025. Open since 2010, with 47 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 Leicestershire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Leicestershire 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
LE16 9HFWhat 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, 9 July 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive happily and receive a warm welcome from caring, attentive staff who are genuinely pleased to see them. They confidently hang up their belongings on named pegs and quickly engage in the stimulating environment that staff have carefully planned. Staff build strong, nurturing relationships with children, who show high levels of confidence and emotional security. Staff offer frequent comfort and reassurance, cuddling children when needed and playing alongside them to support their learning and well-being. As a result, children feel safe, secure and happy.
Staff prioritise children's communication and language development across the nursery. Younger children listen to staff as they model clear language. For instance, when younger children explore sand, staff introduce words such as 'pat' and 'scoop'
to describe what children are doing. When younger children speak, staff repeat words back, helping them to hear the correct vocabulary. This contributes to their early speaking skills. Children learn how to use good manners. For instance, staff use sign language, such as for 'please' and 'thank you', alongside spoken words to help children begin to communicate effectively. Children invite staff to join their play, who offer a narrative to further support their speaking skills. Throughout the day, all children hear a wide range of nursery rhymes, songs and stories. Staff encourage older children to join in with familiar stories. This results in children remembering and joining in to say familiar phrases, helping to foster a love of reading.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen the planning of group times to ensure individual learning needs are met and to support children to maintain higher levels of engagement n support staff to ensure that they consistently manage children's behaviour to help children develop a sense of what is right and wrong.
- 9 July 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 8 August 2019Good
- 31 August 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Caterpillar Day Nursery Ltd
- 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.