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Fees, funding & spaces

What it costs, how the funded hours work, and whether there's a space

These are the questions I'm asked most, after what the children eat. I've answered each one here the way I would at the gate: plainly, in my own words, and with a date on anything that can change.

Fees

The day rate

I haven't printed a figure on this page yet, and I'd rather say why than leave you guessing. Our last website was one page with a phone number and a photograph from 2019, and I don't want the fee to go the same way and sit here out of date.

So for now the current day rate comes from me. Ask and you'll have it straight, in one sentence, with what a day here includes. When I do write it on this note, it will carry the date I wrote it, like the September line further down.

Claire

Ask me the day rate

  • From me, not an office.

    I answer fee questions myself. The person who tells you the rate is the person in the baby room.

  • With what it covers.

    You'll get the figure and a plain account of what a day here includes, so you can set it fairly against other nurseries in Bridport.

  • Dated when written.

    Anything I put in writing on this page carries the date I wrote it, so you know it's current and not a number from years ago.

Funded hours

How the funded hours work here

The scheme is confusing enough without me adding to it. Here is what I can tell you plainly, and where I'd rather go through the detail with you than print one rule for every family.

Do you take them?
Yes. If your child qualifies for government-funded hours, you can use them at Wheelwright's Yard.
From what age?
Children start with us at 9 months and stay until they leave for school. Which funded entitlement applies to your child depends on their age and your circumstances, so I'll look at it with you for your child rather than guess here.
What do they cover?
The funded hours cover the care itself. How those hours are set against a day here, and whether anything sits outside them, is part of what I'll tell you with the day rate, so you have the whole picture in one go rather than in pieces.
Term-time, or spread across the year?
That depends on the days you want and the room your child would be in, so it's a question I answer for each family. Say what you need on the form below and I'll come back to you with a straight answer.
What do I need to bring?
If you already have your eligibility code, bring it when you come to look round and we'll sort the paperwork together. If you haven't got that far yet, that's fine. Come and see the rooms first.
Two wooden pegs by the nursery's back door at child height: a small wool coat hangs on one, and the peg beside it is empty
The pegs by the back door. There's usually one waiting.

Spaces

Is there a space in September?

September 2027

Updated 7 October 2026

I'm taking names for September 2027 now.

Whether there's a space depends on how old your child will be next September and which of the two rooms they'd be in, so I won't print a yes or a no here that fits nobody. Tell me below and I'll give you a straight answer: a place in the right room, or how long the list is and where you'd sit on it. I'll change this line as the rooms fill.

Ask about a space

Four things and you're done. I read these myself and reply in my own words.

I only use what you write here to answer you. Nothing goes on a mailing list.

How we handle what you send us

Still wondering?

If it isn't answered here, ask me.

A page can only hold so much. If your question doesn't fit on a note, write to me or come and stand in the yard and ask it there; I'd much rather you asked than wondered. The gate's usually propped open.

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