Stratton Playgroup
GoodBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Bude for children from birth to 5, open sessions in term time, often mornings. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in May 2023. Open since 1992, with 23 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
EX23 9APWhat 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, 3 May 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy and confident in this nurturing playgroup. Staff support children to feel welcome and secure. Children explore a wide variety of activities that enable them to make good progress in their learning and development. Staff are confident in the curriculum and use their observations of children and knowledge of their interests to adapt activities to each child. For example, children have shown an interest in insects. Subsequently, staff created an activity exploring toy insects with magnifying glasses where children built their knowledge of insect body parts and of how magnifying glasses work.
Indoors, staff guide children to develop confidence in mathematics, particularly counting and number. Children confidently count the number of children present.
Later, children vote for which fruit to include in their group snack, and they count the total number of votes. They develop knowledge of concepts such as 'more than' and 'less of'.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance the support for older children to help them to concentrate more, become more deeply involved and extend their learning further n ensure that children who prefer to play outdoors experience the breadth of the curriculum, particularly mathematics and literacy
- increase opportunities for children to read books and listen to stories to help them develop their imaginations to explore people, places, times and events beyond their own experiences.
- 3 May 2023Good
- 16 October 2017Good
- 4 December 2013Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Stratton Playgroup
- 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.