Mama Bear's Day Nursery
Good★ 3.2 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Paignton for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in April 2025. Open since 2011, with 67 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 Torbay
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Torbay 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
TQ4 7EJWhat 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.
- 20 September 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 1 April 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff welcome children and their families warmly as they arrive at the nursery.
Toddlers and pre-school children independently hang up their belongings on their designated peg and join their peers, ready for the day ahead. Staff plan their curriculum well and know what they want each child to learn. Babies develop their communication skills effectively. Through interactive songs, they learn sign language and say single words. For instance, babies say 'duck' and 'quack' as staff sing the rhyme 'Five Little Ducks'. Toddlers start to join words together to form simple sentences. Staff encourage them to learn new vocabulary linked to springtime, such as daffodil and sunflower. Older children speak in full sentences and can make their needs and wants known. They confidently talk about the pictures they have drawn, saying that they will place them in an envelope and that the envelope needs to be sealed.
Children play cooperatively and enjoy the company of their friends and adults alike.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- develop the key-person system more effectively to help babies form close bonds so they feel settled and secure n develop the organisation of lunchtimes to ensure babies' care needs are met rapidly.
- 1 April 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 19 February 2020Good
- 30 July 2013Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Mama Bear's Day 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.