The Cottage Nursery
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Watchfield, Nr Swindon for babies from 3 months up to school age, open 8am to 6pm. £8.70 an hour for all ages, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in May 2024. Open since 2008, with 85 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
All ages – £8.70 per hour
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
30 hour working parent funding from 9 months, 3-4 years universal funding (15 hours), 2-year funding for families receiving additional support (15 hours).
Worth knowing. Funding offered between 9.00am to 3.00pm term time only. If you attend beyond these hours you will be billed at our hourly rate. If taking a fully funded place with no additional hours lunch is a voluntary charge of £3.75 per day.
What childcare usually costs in Oxfordshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Oxfordshire 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
SN6 8TSWhat 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, 7 May 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children excitedly arrive. They confidently separate from their parents or carers.
They are welcomed by kind and attentive staff who know them and their families well. All children are respected as unique individuals. Children's behaviour is exceptional. Children are extremely polite and helpful, and they play in a friendly and inclusive environment. They forge excellent relationships with others. The kindness and consideration shown towards each other are fostered from a very early age. Staff help children to understand the meaning behind the class boundaries and also encourage children to create boundaries. This helps children to make the right choices and ensures they are meaningful to them. Older children recognise the importance of turn-taking, including others in their play and listening to others when speaking in groups.
Staff engage children in purposeful learning experiences, supporting each child to build on their prior knowledge and skills. For example, in the baby room, staff strategically place sensory resources higher to encourage babies to stand and reach up. Older children enjoy a wide range of activities that focus on promoting their communication and early writing skills. For instance, children enjoy painting with water, or they delight in making patterns with various tools in sand and flour.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- allow more time for children to problem-solve to support them in developing their critical-thinking skills n review and strengthen the strategies used to build on the communications with other settings that children attend.
- 7 May 2024Good
- 12 June 2018Good
- 26 June 2017Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Cottage Nursery
- 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 £8.70 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.