Karebears Childcare
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Taunton for babies from 4 months up to school age, open 07:30 to 17:30, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in December 2024. Open since 2013, with 36 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
9month, 2 year old funding and 3 & 4 year old funding including 30 hours.
What childcare usually costs in Somerset
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Somerset 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
TA3 5TAWhat 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, 11 December 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff warmly greet children and parents at the door, and parents share good information to enable staff to know children's needs that day. Children quickly settle and are eager to chat to staff and engage in the activities. Staff are gentle and reassuring with babies and children so they feel emotionally secure, underpinning their ability to learn.
The ambitious curriculum and well-organised environment motivates children to become active learners. For example, babies pull themselves up to a tough tray to explore the edible sand. They crawl to resources that grab their attention, such as technology toys, pressing buttons and showing wonder when they find out what they can do. Older children choose where they prefer to play indoors or outdoors, developing a positive attitude to learning, such as eagerly joining a music and movement session in the garden. Children develop their physical skills and critical thinking as staff help them to work out how to wrap parcels. They are motivated to keep trying, extending their concentration effectively.
Staff know how to sequence children's learning so, step by step, children make good progress. For example, babies and young children learn to use scoops and spoons so that by pre-school they can manage tongs and pincers, picking up small items confidently. Staff prepare children well for their next stage of learning and eventual move to school.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- focus staff development on giving babies enough time for babbling and building on ways to ask older children questions to enhance their thinking and language skills even further n strengthen partnerships with other settings children attend to plan more consistently for all children's next stages of development.
- 11 December 2024Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 7 March 2019Good
- 17 April 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Karebears Childcare
- 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.