St Matthias Pre-School & Childcare Centre
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Torquay for children from birth to 8+, open 08:30 to 15:30, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in November 2024. Open since 1997, with 28 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 Torbay
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Torbay 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
TQ1 1HWWhat 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, 29 November 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive eager to play with their friends. They learn in a home-from-home environment where they feel safe and secure. There is an effective key-person system. Children benefit from warm, trusting relationships with staff who know them well. Staff ensure that there are exciting opportunities for learning based on children's stages of development. They encourage children to take managed risks in the well-equipped outdoor learning area. Children demonstrate particularly good physical skills. They confidently jump from one log to another and pull themselves up onto swings made from tyres. Staff support children as they learn to climb on low-level branches and climb up and down a wooden ramp into a tree house.
Children demonstrate very good levels of perseverance for their ages.
Staff provide children with a varied and progressive curriculum. They carefully consider what children know and need to know next. Children demonstrate particularly good skills in mathematics, confidently counting and recognising shapes. Staff have high expectations of what children can do for themselves. They support them to become more independent over time. For instance, they patiently teach children how to put on their own coats. Staff have a shared understanding of how they intend to build on children's knowledge and provide a consistent approach to their learning.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- build in frequent opportunities during activities for staff to check children's understanding so they benefit fully from taking part in the learning task n target support more effectively to quieter, less-confident children to help increase their confidence and engagement, particularly during group activities.
- 29 November 2024Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 1 February 2019Good
- 6 March 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for St Matthias Pre-School & Childcare 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.