Scallywags Child Care Centre
Good★ 4.9 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Weymouth 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 December 2024. Open since 2009, with 78 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 Dorset
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Dorset 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
DT3 5AJWhat 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, 17 December 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff provide a warm and welcoming environment where children arrive happy and settle quickly. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, based on children's interests and next steps in learning. As a result, children are interested and engaged.
Children who prefer to learn outdoors have many opportunities to play in the wellplanned gardens. They use bats and balls to develop their hand-eye coordination and ride on scooters and bicycles. They enjoy water and sand play, learning about volume and measurement as they fill and empty containers of different sizes.
Children behave well and have a positive attitude to learning. Children share, close relationships with the staff, who get to know them well. This helps to build strong attachments and ensures that children feel safe and secure. Babies confidently explore the environment, for example, moving train carriages around a track.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- ensure that staff in the nursery room deploy themselves effectively, particularly at transition times, so that they are available to support children in their chosen activities n provide more opportunities for toddlers to hear and use number in their play to further support their understanding.
- 17 December 2024Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 29 May 2019Good
- 18 February 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Scallywags Child Care Centre
- 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.