Dovedale Nursery CIC
Not yet inspectedTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Chelmsford for babies from 10 months up to school age, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Ofsted has not yet published a graded inspection. Open since 2025, with 99 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Free entitlement for 9 months, 2, 3 and 4 year olds is only applicable to the term dates below giving a total of 38 weeks a year of funding (Funding follows a financial year April to March not the academic year September to August).
Worth knowing. You may book additional sessions in school holidays if they are available, but these will be charged at a normal session rate.
What childcare usually costs in Essex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Essex 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
CM2 0JQWhat 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.
Still missing for Dovedale Nursery CIC
- What it costs
- 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
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.