Doodlebugs Nursery
GoodBirth to 8+Long established
A pre-school in Portland for children from birth to 8+, open 08:30 to 15:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in September 2025. Open since 2017, with 21 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 Dorset
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Dorset 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
DT5 2NAWhat 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, 23 September 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are confident and settle quickly and engage in activities of their choosing.
Children communicate their needs well. They share and take turns. Children are independent and persevere as they play and learn. Children are happy and form strong relationships with staff and peers. Children receive purposeful, sensitive interactions from staff, which builds on what children already know and can do.
Staff are kind and caring. They know children in their care well and show interest in their thoughts, ideas and stories. The respectful relationships modelled by staff are mirrored by children. Children show care towards others. For example, when children wish to have a turn as the shopkeeper, children declare 'taking turns is fun and kind'.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- improve strategies for sharing children's next steps in learning with parents so their learning can be best supported at home n promote all children's listening and attention skills by adapting support strategies to meet the needs of children at different ages and stages of development n implement effective procedures for younger children that need sleep times, so that high levels of well-being are promoted, and children benefit from restful, quality sleep.
- 23 September 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 30 January 2020Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Doodlebugs Nursery
- 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.