Portland Place Pre-School
GoodBirth to 5Long established
A pre-school in Retford for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 to 16:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2023. Open since 2012, with 25 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 Nottinghamshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Nottinghamshire 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
DN22 8PPWhat 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, 7 June 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy, comfortable and confident. Staff support children to build a sense of self and pride. They talk about their likes and dislikes and encourage children to do the same. Children learn to be proud of what they achieve. Staff help them to identify things they can do and praise them when they achieve something new.
Positive attitudes to learning are embedded by staff as they engage frequently with children. This supports children to engage for prolonged periods. Because of this, children learn new skills, such as how to spin a hoop around their bodies independently.
Children develop friendships with one another. Staff support the building of these friendships as they encourage children to join others' play. Children learn to be polite and kind to one another. They are encouraged to use good manners, such as when asking for a turn with the toys. They enjoy the responsibility of carrying out tasks and working with their friends. Children help staff to set up certain items in the garden. They learn to risk assess the outdoor space together. For example, they check the gates are locked and the slide is safe to use.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to have consistently high expectations when helping children to manage their behaviour and understand what they expect of them n strengthen staff's modelling of words to help develop children's speaking skills further.
- 7 June 2023Good
- 6 July 2017Good
- 23 November 2016Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Portland Place Pre-School
- 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.