The Ducklings Day Nursery - Skelmersdale
OutstandingTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in Skelmersdale for babies from 9 months up to 5 year olds, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in January 2025. Open since 2016, with 71 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
All children aged 3 & 4 and most over 9 months old are entitled to free Government Funding, allowing you to receive up to 30 hours of Free Childcare for 38 weeks of the year.
Worth knowing. Funded Only: term-time only, up to six 5-hour sessions per week. Stretched Offer: 51 weeks of the year, funding spread over 12 months. Meals charged at £2.50 per session. Option to send a packed lunch.
What childcare usually costs in Lancashire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Lancashire 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
WN8 9NHWhat 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.
- 31 October 2025 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 3 January 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Leaders and staff create an environment that is welcoming, supportive and places the child at the centre of everything they do. Staff are exceptionally nurturing and greet children and their families with smiles on their arrival. Children feel safe and form secure attachments with staff, who promote a strong sense of belonging to each child. This helps children to feel happy and settle quickly. In addition, children benefit from valuable praise and encouragement from staff, which supports their self-esteem and confidence well.
Staff are excellent role models and have high expectations for children's behaviour.
Children show respect for people and their environments. They fully understand the expected behaviours. They develop strong and secure relationships with adults and peers. They display kindness and consideration for their friends. Children play wonderfully together, for example through role-play activities such as going to the hospital. Children practise essential social skills, including empathy, sharing and cooperation. Children's behaviour is exemplary.
- 3 January 2025Outstanding Safeguarding: Yes
- 9 January 2019Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Ducklings Day Nursery - Skelmersdale
- What it costs
- 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.
- What does it cost, all in? 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.