Chawton Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Alton for children from birth to 8+, open 8am to 6pm. £8.00 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in November 2022. Open since 1992, with 26 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Children who are not yet eligible for Government funding or who attend over and above their funded hours are charged £8.00 per hour.
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15 government funded hours per week from the term after they turn 3; 30 hour extended entitlement for eligible families; 2 Year Old Early Years Education scheme.
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
GU34 1SBWhat 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, 1 November 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children settle quickly in this warm and welcoming pre-school. They happily enter the setting, full of excitement and motivated to learn. They quickly focus their attention on seasonal-themed activities. For example, children develop an understanding of Bonfire Night through craft activities. Staff provide a rich variety of materials for children to choose from, which supports children to use creative free expression in art and design.
Staff have high expectations for all children. They know them well and plan a wide range of activities that they know children will enjoy. For example, during the inspection, children enjoyed listening to 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' story. They patiently waited for their turn to talk with staff about the sequence of events in the book. During this fun and exciting activity, children also learned about numbers.
They developed fine motor skills as they found items related to the story and posted them into a pot. This deepened children's understanding of the story and extended their learning in other areas of the curriculum.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- coach and support staff to evaluate and further challenge children's learning, so they make the best possible progress n further support children to understand consequences of behaviour
- 1 November 2022Good
- 10 February 2017Good
- 9 June 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Chawton Pre-School
- 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
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 £8.00 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.
- 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.