Sturminster Marshall Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Wimborne for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 08:30 to 16:30, 5 days a week. £6.50 an hour for under 2's, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2023. Open since 1993, with 32 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
| Age | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2'sbirth to 2y | £6.50per hour for under 2's | |
| 2-3 year olds2y to 3y | £6.00per hour for 2-3 year olds | |
| 3-4 year olds3y to 4y | £5.00per hour for 3-4 year olds |
Before you start
One-off charges to take a place.
- £10.00 Late payment feepayment is due within two weeks of receiving
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £1.00 a day Snack chargesYou may opt out of this additional fee upon registering your child.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
30 hours - for children aged 9 months to 4 years; 15 hours - all 3 and 4-year-olds; 15 hours supported 2 year olds.
Worth knowing. Funding can be used against ALL our opening hours.
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
BH21 4AYWhat 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, 9 March 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy when they arrive at the pre-school. They adapt well to the changes made due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Older children understand that their parents and carers no longer come into the pre-school, although staff welcome parents in to help their children settle at their own pace. The warm and friendly staff greet the children. Most children leave their parents at the entrance gate and walk confidently into the pre-school.
Children benefit from meaningful learning experiences and are developing knowledge and skills to help them in their future lives. For example, they use a range of tools that support their hand-to-eye coordination and develop the muscles in their hands in preparation for early writing. Older children squeeze pipettes to pick up and drop water into containers. Younger children use rolling pins and cutters to manipulate malleable dough.
Children demonstrate that they feel comfortable and safe. They behave well and have positive relationships with staff and each other. Older children show kindness as they move their chairs around at snack times so that younger children can join them and sit next to their friends. Older children enjoy tasks, such as being 'special helper', and check the environment for any hazards before group time. This helps to give children a sense of responsibility.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- ensure that all staff can successfully support what children need to learn next through the planned activities and their interactions n strengthen children's language development even further by incorporating rich and varied vocabulary during activities and conversations n build on the good partnerships with parents further, to ensure that all parents are informed about their children's current learning needs so that they fully support children's learning at home.
- 9 March 2023Good
- 17 May 2017Good
- 21 May 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Sturminster Marshall Pre-School
- 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
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- Is £6.50 an hour still the rate? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.