Mary Poppins Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Chesterfield for babies from 3 months up to school age, open 07:30 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 They do not publish prices, so ask.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 2022. Open since 1996, with 70 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
There are free nursery places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
What childcare usually costs in Derbyshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Derbyshire 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
S41 0LJWhat 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, 6 January 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive at the setting with enthusiasm and settle quickly. They behave well and are eager to learn. For example, children relish playing outside and are keen to explore the winter weather. Toddlers develop a sense of wonder as together with staff they stamp through the fresh snow, laughing as they make patterns with their boot prints. Pre-school children explore where the frost has been as they use binoculars to see the icy patterns on the walls which 'sparkle'. Children enjoy jumping, running and stretching on the spot outdoors. This leads to new learning as children talk with staff about how to keep their bodies fit and warm.
Children have many opportunities to develop their early mathematical skills. Older babies play with shape sorters and are encouraged by staff to find the matching shape. Staff and toddlers count milk bottle tops as they post them down a tube, where children delight in seeing the same number shoot out from the other end.
Pre-school children pretend to follow a recipe and weigh out ingredients that they then mix in a bowl. They are supported by staff, who stretch children's understanding by encouraging them to estimate what items may be 'lighter' or
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to embed children's growing independence skills within routine activities n support staff to raise all their interactions with children to a consistently high level.
- 6 January 2022Good
- 1 March 2016Good
- 28 October 2013Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Mary Poppins Day Nursery
- 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.