Owl & Bear Daycare
Good★ 4.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Chatham for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 to 18:30, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2023. Open since 2018, with 72 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 Medway
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Medway 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
ME5 7PQWhat 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, 20 June 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
All children settle quickly in this welcoming and friendly setting. Staff enable children to form nurturing relationships with them. This helps children to feel happy and safe. Staff gather detailed information from parents and carers when children first start, to find out what children already know and can do. This enables staff to plan for each child's individual needs.
Children benefit from a well-planned curriculum that helps them to develop good levels of independence. This is embedded from the baby room right through to the pre-school. For instance, the youngest of children are encouraged to pour their own drinks into their beakers at mealtimes and are learning when they need to wipe their noses. Older children see to their own self-care needs and get their own shoes and wellington boots on ready for outdoor play.
Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They have attended appropriate training which has helped them to be fully consistent with their behaviour strategies. Children's ages and stages of development, and their special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are now planned for and taken into account more effectively. Older children are positive role models for the toddlers.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- improve the provision for babies to develop their gross motor skills within the inside environment n improve the organisation of transition times so that children remain positively engaged in purposeful learning.
- 20 June 2023Good
- 10 April 2019Good
- 13 July 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Owl & Bear Daycare
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.