Swanmore Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Southampton for from 2 years up to school age, open 08:30 to 15:30, 5 days a week. £9.00 an hour for 2-5 years old, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2025. Open since 2010, with 26 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
£9 per hour for 2-5 years old
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
Government funding is available to 2 year olds of working parents can claim 15 hours of funding and all 3 year-old children the term after their third birthday.
Worth knowing. The funding available covers over 38 weeks of the year.
What childcare usually costs in Hampshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Hampshire 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
SO32 2PAWhat 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, 27 June 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff consistently help children to develop a love of reading and books. Children sit enthralled when adults read stories to them with energy and passion. Staff ask children thought-provoking questions about these stories. This helps children to think in more detail about the characters. In addition, staff support children to borrow books from the pre-school 'library'. Children talk to staff about the stories they choose, investigating the pages happily together.
Adults gently encourage children to solve problems. For instance, staff support children to work together to complete a variety of puzzles. They ask children to discuss the safest way to ride scooters and give children the language they need to ask for help. This develops children's critical thinking skills and builds on the secure relationships they have with staff.
Staff have created an inclusive learning environment for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, staff engage children's interests outside by growing plants together that are safe to touch and taste. This nurtures children's independence and curiosity. In addition, staff talk to all children about respecting the needs of others. This helps children with different strengths build positive relationships with each other.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance staff teaching strategies to help children fully understand new learning during group activities n extend the curriculum to provide further opportunities for children to learn about cultural diversity and different communities different to their own.
- 27 June 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 11 December 2019Good
- 17 March 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Swanmore 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 £9.00 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.