St Columb Minor Preschool
Good★ 4.3 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Newquay for children from birth to 8+, open 07:00 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 January 2024. Open since 2016, with 72 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 Cornwall
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Cornwall 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
TR7 3HEWhat 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, 31 January 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children show that they feel safe and comfortable. They arrive happy and enter the rooms, giving their parents a brief 'bye' without looking backward. Children quickly find a friend or a familiar member of staff to play with and begin their day. Staff support children's emotional development effectively. They help children to make relationships with each other. Children are kind. For example, if pre-school-age children think a friend is sad, they tell the staff, 'I will look after them.'
There is an ambitious curriculum in place. Staff identify children's interests and plan learning experiences from these to further children's next steps of development.
For example, staff notice that pre-school-age children enjoy playing with water.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- encourage babies to engage in back-and-forth 'conversations' to further develop their speech and language n develop the staff organisation of routine tasks to reduce children's waiting times and keep them focused on their learning n support and coach staff in the toddler room to develop their knowledge of what it is they want children to achieve, to challenge children and extend their learning further.
- 31 January 2024Good
- 15 September 2023Needs improvement
- 22 May 2023Inadequate
- 20 March 2023Needs improvement
- 31 October 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 5 graded inspections.
Still missing for St Columb Minor Preschool
- 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.