Playroom Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Whitehaven for babies from a few weeks old up to school age, open 07:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2024. Open since 2011, with 38 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Funded Places for both two/three year olds.
What childcare usually costs in Cumberland
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cumberland 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
CA28 8PFWhat 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 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
The manager has successfully led the staff team through a period of robust and well-informed self-evaluation. This has led to a number of significant improvements to nursery practice, which has impacted positively on the outcomes for children.
There has been a strong focus on professional development for the whole team. As a result, staff are now equipped with key knowledge and skills that promote children's good progress. Staff are wonderful play companions. They join in with children's play and skilfully steer their learning in different directions. These quality interactions from staff help to build children's motivation to learn. For example, after a short drink break, children eagerly dash back to the water tray to continue their play and learning with staff.
Staff plan an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, children benefit from learning and practising new skills, in readiness for the next stage of their learning. For example, babies learn to manoeuvre over soft-play blocks, which promotes good core strength. Toddlers use these core muscles to balance on the see-saw, which gives them the confidence to push off the ground with support from staff. Pre-school children are proficient climbers. They independently scale the climbing net, use their arms to keep steady, and pull themselves up to the top.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen the curriculum for building on children's awareness of diversity to help children to experience, learn about, and develop a respect for people, families, and communities beyond their own.
- 19 March 2024Good
- 27 March 2023Needs improvement
- 5 October 2022Inadequate
- 13 April 2017Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 4 graded inspections.
Still missing for Playroom 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.