Little Orchard Montessori Nursery Sparkwell
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Plymouth for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 07:45 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2025. Open since 2014, with 26 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
All families with children aged three and four years, and some families with children aged 9 months, are entitled to Government funding to attend early years provision.
Worth knowing. A £1.20 per hour Food & Nutrition Charge applies to all funded hours (also stated as £1.30 per hour). All children need to attend either a morning or afternoon session. Little Orchard Montessori Nurseries offer term time-only spaces for two-year-olds and over three's if required.
What childcare usually costs in Devon
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Devon 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
PL7 5DBWhat 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, 20 January 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are warmly greeted by staff. Staff provide carefully planned environments and learning activities for children to play and explore. Staff know the children well, and children clearly feel happy and settled. The curriculum all children experience builds on what they already know and can do. For example, older children excitedly practise and develop their tooth brushing skills as they learn about self-care and keeping teeth healthy and strong. They learn about the importance of making teeth brushing part of a daily routine for life.
Staff working with babies know their care routines and respond quickly to signs they need comfort or support. As babies develop confidence to move around, staff praise and encourage their efforts, and babies' perseverance skills flourish.
Throughout the nursery, staff develop strong bonds with children and children's personal, social and emotional skills blossom. Children are confident and eager to interact with visitors and show kindness and respect towards each other as they play. Behaviour is good. Staff have high expectations of children and support them to share and take turns when needed.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- improve communication with parents to ensure they know children's next steps in learning and how they can continue the learning at home n support staff to engage children more effectively in sustained play and develop their skills of concentration and focus.
- 20 January 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 20 March 2019Good
- 17 February 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Little Orchard Montessori Nursery Sparkwell
- What it costs
- 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.