Cobtree Playschool For Special Children
GoodBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Maidstone for children from birth to 8+, open sessions in term time, often mornings. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2025. Open since 1990, with 18 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Kent
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Kent 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
ME15 8EBWhat 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, 25 February 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are excited when they arrive. They happily say 'goodbye' to their parents and are keen to find their friends. Staff warmly welcome children and support them to choose what they would like to play with, which helps them to settle. At the start of the day, staff discuss children's well-being with parents, which enables them to adapt daily routines to accommodate any changes. For example, children who had breakfast very early in the morning are offered their snack soon after arrival. This positively promotes children's emotional and physical health.
Children successfully develop their communication skills and make good progress from their starting points. Staff use a range of ways to help children communicate and understand. Visual aids, such as picture cards and personalised timetables, help children to know what is coming next. Staff join in children's play and introduce new words such as 'squeeze' as they narrate what children are doing.
This helps to prepare children well for their next stage in education.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen and improve supervision arrangements to support staff's professional development needs to raise the quality of teaching even further.
- 25 February 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 15 May 2019Good
- 7 December 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Cobtree Playschool For Special Children
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- 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
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.