Willow Nursery and Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Shepton Mallet for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £62.51 a day for 2 Year Old, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2023. Open since 2004, with 43 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Full Day · 8am-5.30pm · £64.13 · £62.51 · £61.37
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Funded hours
A maximum of 15 hours (Early Years Entitlement) or 30 hours (Extended Entitlement) per week can be claimed.
Worth knowing. Additional services e.g. early start (7.30am-8am) & later finishes (4pm-4.30pm & 5.30pm-6pm), snack, resources and hot lunches are not covered by the Early Years Entitlement.
What childcare usually costs in Somerset
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Somerset 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
BA4 5PGWhat 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, 15 February 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children build secure relationships with staff, coming to them for cuddles and reassurance throughout the day. Children seek out staff and initiate play. For example, they say 'chase me' as they run across the grass and ask staff to join them to play hide and seek.
Children enthusiastically get involved in the wide variety of activities on offer. Staff plan a varied curriculum that challenges children. They incorporate children's ideas and requests into the provision for the day. Children show their enjoyment of activities and become engrossed in their play, for example pretending to have a meal in the home corner area.
Parents speak very highly of the staff and the care their children receive. They feel confident leaving their children at the setting, knowing that they will be well cared for. Staff communicate well with parents. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and plans appropriate support for them in partnership with parents and other professionals.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- ensure that all activities are age-appropriate for older children and build on their previous knowledge n ensure that routines are planned so that they fully support younger children, especially those that are new to the setting.
- 15 February 2023Good
- 3 May 2017Good
- 13 February 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Willow Nursery and Pre-School
- Youngest age taken
- 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 £62.51 a day 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.
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.