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St Nicholas Pre-School in Bournemouth

Ofsted: Good
(Mar 2025)
·
5.0(19 parent reviews) ·St Nicholas Church, Broadway, Bournemouth, BH6 4EP · Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole
Number of places
20 places
Age range
2–4 yrs
Last inspected
Mar 2025
Local authority
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole

About this day nursery

St. Nicholas Pre-School, situated in Southbourne, Dorset, offers a nurturing and stimulating environment for children aged 2 to 5 years. Established over four decades ago, the pre-school operates during term time, accommodating up to 20 children each weekday.

Located within the hall of St. Nicholas Church, near Hengistbury Head and St. Katharine's C of E Primary School, it provides a convenient and community-integrated setting. The dedicated and experienced team focuses on learning through play, aiming to cater to the individual needs of every child.

The curriculum adheres to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. The pre-school is Ofsted registered and received a 'GOOD' rating in its July 2019 inspection across all key areas, including leadership, teaching quality, personal development, and children's outcomes.

St. Nicholas Pre-School supports government-funded childcare, offering 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds and up to 30 hours for eligible three and four-year-olds.

Our ethos

We pride ourselves on our nurturing environment where children learn through play and we strive to meet the individual needs of every child.

What it's like

Children enjoy attending this calm and caring setting, quickly settling into activities and building strong bonds with nurturing staff. Staff provide a wide range of learning opportunities inside and outdoors, carefully planning the environment to enable children to make their own choices. These engaging activities help children build knowledge and skills across all areas of learning, ensuring good progress from their starting points.

Learning through playExperienced teamOfsted rated GoodEYFS curriculumGovernment funded childcare

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)
Pricing on request

This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.

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Key facts

Opening hours

weekdays during term time

Age range

2-5 years

Term time / All Year

Term Time

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for St Nicholas Pre-School

Last inspected 13 March 2025

Overall effectiveness
Good

What it's like to attend

Children enjoy attending this calm and caring setting, quickly settling into activities and building strong bonds with nurturing staff. Staff provide a wide range of learning opportunities inside and outdoors, carefully planning the environment to enable children to make their own choices. These engaging activities help children build knowledge and skills across all areas of learning, ensuring good progress from their starting points.

Inspector highlights

  • Children enjoy attending this calm and caring setting and quickly settle into exciting activities.
  • Staff provide a wide range of learning opportunities inside and outdoors, carefully planned for children to make their own choices.
  • The calm environment helps children immerse themselves in learning opportunities that interest and motivate them.
  • Staff consistently interact with children in a supportive and encouraging manner, using questions to check understanding, introduce new vocabulary, and extend learning.
  • The staff team is passionate, reflective, and has high expectations for children's learning, working closely with other professionals and undertaking training to support children's needs.

Areas to develop

  • 1implement strategies to consistently help children understand and manage their feelings to fully support children's emotional development
  • 2make the most of all opportunities to encourage children's independence to enable them to learn and practice the skills they need ready for school.
Inspection #10388453 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

What parents say

Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection

create perfect conditions for children's learning

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

The staff team has high expectations of children's learning and work closely with other professionals to make sure all children get the help and support they need. Staff recently undertook training on how to support children's language and communication. They use this new knowledge to help them identify any gaps in children's speech and language development and to implement a range of teaching strategies to address these concerns swiftly.

Outdoor space

Staff provide a wide range of learning opportunities inside and outdoors. The environment is carefully planned to enable children to make their own decisions about what they play with. For instance, younger children beam as staff teach them how to pedal and steer trikes and how to navigate obstacles on their scooters.

Parent Reviews of St Nicholas Pre-School

5.0
(19)
Heidi Magill
10 months ago

This is a wonderful little nursery. My boy has been there a year and loves going in. He’s thrived in that time. The staff team are all lovely; really experienced and caring. They organise visitors for the different topics as well as for music and dance lessons. The children always seem so happy to be there. I definitely recommend going to visit.

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Alisha
10 months ago

I absolutely adore this Pre-school & so does my little boy. We looked around 2 other Pre-schools before finally choosing this one. We instantly knew it was the right place for our son. Wendy & team are exceptional & go above and beyond for all the children. This isn't just a job for them, it's clear that they genuinely adore all of the children which is just so special to see! I would 100% recommend this lovely Pre-school to anyone 💗

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Natalie Vardanian
3 years ago

Lovely little preschool with happy, attentive & caring staff. My little boy was very shy before he started and it’s been a precious time watching him grow in confidence and blossom at St Nicholas. He really enjoys his days there and tells us all about what he’s been up to during his time there, he always looks forward to going in and brings home the most gorgeous little bits he’s been working on, not to mention the best nativity 🤩 My other son went to a different nursery and he definitely didn’t enjoy it like my son does at St Nicholas. It’s a warm nurturing environment with a heart and the staff are worth their weight in gold. My little boy is hopefully going to St Katharines this September, where he has already made some school friends from St Nicholas. Highly recommend this lovely little preschool.

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damo ofar
3 years ago

Both of our kids went to St Nicholas, and both still talk about it and the staff there years later. A really friendly easy going pre school, all the staff are amazing and Wendy makes sure everyday is new and exciting for them. Looking into the windows in the morning, at the efforts of all the days activity's set up prior, was so exciting for the kids. Very imaginative, fun, and the reason our girl is so creative. I Highly recommend and miss this school.. keep up the great work.

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Sarah loughlin
3 years ago

We would highly recommend St Nicholas Pre-School. It is a lovely friendly setting which the children clearly enjoy attending, there's always morning smiles on their way in. The teachers are wonderful and our boys adore them. My eldest was quite shy so we thought it would be good for him to meet some other St Katharine's classmates before starting school, this couldn't have worked out any better! By the time he started school he wasn't shy anymore and had 12 friends to start school with! We are very grateful to Mrs Ormesher and the other teachers (Kay, Miles and Harris) for the fantastic care and support they have given out children. We are already looking forward to enrolling our little girl once she is old enough 🙂

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for St Nicholas Pre-School. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Ofsted records show this provider has closed and was never graded. There's no inspection history to display.

Frequently asked about St Nicholas Pre-School

About the setting

St Nicholas Pre-School registered in 2014. It operates from the church hall in St Nicholas Church, in Southbourne, Dorset. The pre-school operates from 9am to 1pm Monday Tuesday and Wednesday and 9am to 3pm Thursday and Friday. It is open term time only. All three staff members have a level 3 qualification. The setting offers government funded places.

URN
EY481145
Registered person
Ormesher, Wendy Catherine
Day care type
Full day care
Register
Early Years Register
Establishment type
Childcare on non-domestic premises

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