Jack in a Box Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.9 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Dover for children from birth to 8+, open 08:00 to 16:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2023. Open since 2004, with 26 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
We accept 3 and 4-year-old 15 hour universal funding (full parents), 2-year-old funding (must be eligible), and tax-free childcare payments.
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
CT17 9HJWhat 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, 12 July 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are very excited to enter the setting. They separate from parents straightaway and come running through the door into the calming room. Staff have made recent changes to the layout and design of the room to make it more of a home-from-home environment for children. This helps them to settle quickly and become engrossed in their learning.
Children display good social skills. They willingly help one another throughout the day. For example, at snack time, children kindly pour each other drinks of milk.
Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour, praising them when they are helpful. This helps to encourage children's positive behaviour. Children happily play together and have fun as they create their own games.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance opportunities for all children to fully extend their speech, language and vocabulary, particularly children with delayed speech n support staff to further develop children's self-care skills and help them take more responsibility for themselves.
- 12 July 2023Good
- 10 January 2018Good
- 24 March 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Jack in a Box Nursery
- What it costs
- 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
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.
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.