St. Paul’s Nursery

Somerville College was one of the the first Oxford colleges to offer child-care facilities, thanks to the foresight and originality of the Nobel prize-winning Chemist Dorothy Hodgkin. During her years at Somerville, Hodgkin saw for herself the clear need for women to have childcare provision in order to work unimpeded. Today, Somerville remains one of the few colleges to offer childcare to its academics and postgraduates.

Originally established as a work-place nursery for Somerville students and staff, the St. Paul’s Nursery today offers childcare provision for 16 children between the ages of 3 months and 5 years. Priority is given to members of Somerville – however, we are also open to families who are not connected to the College.

The aim of the Nursery is to promote a positive environment for learning through experimenting, investigating and by example. Children are encouraged to develop at their own pace and we try to build up each child’s confidence and self-esteem. As it is quite a small Nursery, we pride ourselves on our family environment.

Opening Hours, Rates and Ofsted

The Nursery is open from 8.45 am – 5.15 pm, Monday-Friday. We close for the major public holidays (Good Friday, Easter Monday and the May Bank Holidays), for one week prior to the August Bank Holiday and for ten days over Christmas (the Christmas closure period).

St. Paul’s Nursery is registered with Ofsted. The last inspection was carried out in November 2024, with an Ofsted rating of Good. The Nursery is registered to receive all relevant government funding for the education and care of three- and four-year olds, and we follow government guidance on staff-to-child ratios.

Description	Cost type	Unit price	Cost unit
Daily space	Additional optional hours	£70.96	Daily
Morning Space	Additional optional hours	£45.78	Daily
Afternoon Space	Additional optional hours	£40.06	Daily
Meals/snacks	Additional optional services	£7.83	Daily
Voluntary Training donation	Additional optional services	£70.69	Daily
Additional daily space with 30 hours Gov Funding	Additional optional hours	£31.97	Daily
Funded space 30 hours	Free entitlement	£0.00	Hourly
Funded Space 15 hours	Free entitlement	£0.00	Hourly

We offer a subsidised rate for Somervillians (Somerville Staff, students, alumni and their partners) – please contact the Nursery Manager for further details.

We also have a consumable charge of £8.69 a day, covering meals and day to day necessities i.e. wipes, nappy cream. If families wish to provide their own consumables there is no charge

Prospective parents are welcome to view the Nursery and its facilities by making an appointment. For further information, please email nursery@some.ox.ac.uk.

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REGISTER YOUR CHILD (POST-APPLICATION)

Read the 2024 Ofsted Report

Read the 2019 Ofsted Report

Read the 2015 Oftsed Report

St. Paul’s Nursery Outdoor Space Refurbishment

In Summer 2024, Somerville College ran a successful crowd-funding campaign to raise money for a much-needed refurbishment of the outdoor space at St. Paul’s Nursery. Read more about the inspiring transformation we created below!