Honest, hourly pricing tailored to your family. Discover transparent rates, meal plans, and funding options at The Nest.
| Childcare Category | Working Hours | Food & Drink Timings | Childcare Prices | Food Prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Day Childcare | ||||
| 3 months+ until school age OR school age in holiday time (inc.INSET) | 7 Hours minimum | Breakfast : 7:30am Lunch : 12:00pm Tea : 4:30pm |
£8.15 per child per hour | Breakfast : £2.75 Lunch : £4.00 Tea : £3.75 |
| School age - Term time | ||||
| Before School Care | From 7am to School Registration (Includes drop off) |
Breakfast (inc.) | £20.00 per child per day | Included |
| After School Care | School End up until 5.30pm* (Includes pick up) |
Supper (inc.) | £28.00 per child per day | Included |
Standard hourly rate is £8.15 per hour. Food and beverage will be charged according to children’s booked hours. See timings above.
Any additional hours requested outside of your ‘regular booking pattern’ will be charged at a rate of £10 per hour.
* After school care can be extended up until to 7pm. Additional time will be charged at our hourly rate.
Shuttle Bus Transport Fee per journey for The Pheasant Nest – £6 per child.
For Government Funding information, please see our separate Funding Policy.
Parents who are eligible can access both Government Early Years Entitlement (EYE) funding and the Tax-Free Childcare scheme through The Nest. The team can talk you through both schemes and where to find more information.
We have intentionally kept our fee structure as simple and transparent as possible, in order to allow parents to do any sums they need to and know exactly what to expect.
We have a standard hourly rate for childcare. Once your booking pattern is agreed, you only pay for the time you need, so no paying a flat day rate – just honest and transparent pricing.
Our only requirement is that there must be a minimum of 7 hours care for each day. Time can be determined to the nearest 15 minutes. All other costs, including food, shuttle bus etc are charged as taken and in line with our current pricing.
We are based in Winchester, Hampshire. We have two fabulous settings, one in Winchester itself and the other located just 12 minutes outside of the City.
Absolutely! It is so important to us to get the children outside every day. The Family Nest in Winchester has a superb, secure and safe back garden, with an own oversized sand pit, terrace and plenty of lawn space. The Pheasant Nest is on a farm and has an outdoor bias. Here the children have over an acre of thoughtfully designed land, enough said… it’s truly wonderful!
Flexibility has been one of our founding principles, we’ve built care that adapts to your changing needs. Across both Nests we are open 7am–7pm Monday to Thursday (and until 6pm on Fridays). You choose the exact hours you need, with our 7 hour minimum, creating a fully tailored booking pattern where you pay for the care you require. For eligible families, we also accept Tax-Free Childcare and Government EYE Funding, making high quality care more affordable.
Yes, both of our Nests have been inspected on the new framework and both received some of the highest grading in Hampshire, with The Pheasant Nest even receiving an ‘Exceptional’ in inclusion, deeming it ‘worthy of National dissemination’. Our lovely Ofsted inspector even left our setting with a tear in their eye, in awe of what we had created for the children! Very proud! Our full reports can be found online:
Our ideal settling period for babies and children starts around two months before they are due to join The Nest, with the invitation to join our weekly ‘Little Nestlings’ sessions. These ‘introduction and integration’ sessions are for you (or any of your child’s care giver) to stay and play with your ‘Little Nestling’.
There is no typical day, everyday is different at The Nest. Our approach is child-led, reactive and flexible; promoting curiosity, independence, and emotional wellbeing.
We do have what we call ‘rhythms’ of the day, which are usually centred around eating; breakfast is served at 7:30am, the children prepare snack for mid-morning, lunch is at midday and supper around 4:15pm.
Food plays a critical role in our provision. All of our food is home-cooked; a conscious decision to ensure conscious consumption – it is because we cook ‘in-house’ that we know what’s in our food, ensuring it is nutritionally balanced, varied and appropriate for every age group. Mealtimes are treated as an event at The Nest rather than a simply a functional process; children serve themselves and each other, promoting independence; team members sit with the children modelling positive behaviours and above all ensuring a safe environment is maintained.
We don’t age segregate children at ‘The Nest’, we use ‘family grouping’ with all ages of babies and children sharing the same spaces, just like a real family home environment and it works beautifully! While our daily rhythm brings everyone together for meals and group play, our teams are knowledgeable to read the needs of all children in our care and they dynamically shape resources to ensure all ages receive the mix of peaceful, sensory stimulation as well as the big physical adventures as and when they require them.