Lydiard Millicent Pre-school
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Swindon for from 2 years 6 months up to school age, open 08:40 to 14:40, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2025. Open since 1992, with 29 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Universal 15 hour childcare for 3 and 4 year olds, eligibility criteria for the extended 30 hour funding.
Worth knowing. Voluntary consumables for funded places: £50p per session.
What childcare usually costs in Wiltshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Wiltshire 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
SN5 3LRWhat 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, 19 March 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children excitedly arrive at the welcoming pre-school, where staff greet the children with a happy smile, clearly pleased to see them. Children easily separate from their parents, eager to see their friends and explore the pre-school.
Staff know the children very well and use this knowledge to provide a range of activities that are engaging and stimulating, both indoors and outdoors. Staff understand how important it is that children have good communication and language skills. They provide many opportunities for children to learn new words and gain the skills needed for later reading and writing. Books are an important part of the environment. Children can be seen enjoying books, both on their own and with a warm and interested adult, throughout the day. For example, children enthusiastically join in with their story ideas as they look through wordless books with adults, learning new vocabulary such as 'dazzling'. Children are eager to learn and are making good progress.
Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff intervene if minor disputes arise, supporting children to understand how they are making others feel and helping them to find ways they can resolve the dispute. For example, when young children want to play with the cars in the same space where others are building, staff support them by showing them their actions are starting to upset other children. They support children to find a new place to play. Staff are excellent role models.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- provide support to all children to help them engage in learning and feel valued, to help children make even more progress.
- 19 March 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 1 July 2019Outstanding
- 4 March 2015Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Lydiard Millicent Pre-school
- 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.