Peterpan Pre-School
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A pre-school in Dartford for from 2 years up to school age, open 08:30 to 15:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2025. Open since 1996, with 26 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
15 hours a week of free childcare available; FF2 funding available if eligible; Tax free childcare for working parents; Working parents government entitlement.
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
DA2 7RBWhat 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, 11 July 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are warmly welcomed into this nurturing and engaging pre-school, where they quickly settle and feel at ease. They form trusting relationships with kind, attentive staff who support their emotional well-being and confidence. The environment is calm, purposeful and filled with opportunities for exploration, especially outdoors. Children take pride in tending to the vegetable patch, learning how to care for plants and observing them grow. They eagerly share their knowledge, such as knowing when tomatoes are ripe and when plants need watering.
Staff extend children's curiosity through imaginative conversations and meaningful interactions. Children behave well and are kind to each other, often reminding friends to wear sun hats to play safely outside. They play cooperatively, listen attentively and enjoy a strong sense of belonging. The pre-school fosters a strong sense of community. For example, staff encourage children to help sell surplus crops, supporting them to develop an early understanding of enterprise and responsibility. Parents value the setting's positive ethos and the caring staff who know their children well.
Children demonstrate that they enjoy their time at the pre-school, expressing that they have fun and enjoy playing with their friends. This reflects the positive, welcoming environment where children feel happy, secure and engaged.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to gain more knowledge of how to consistently provide activities for children that have a clear intention and build on their next steps for learning.
- 11 July 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 2 December 2019Good
- 25 September 2015Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Peterpan Pre-School
- What it costs
- 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.
- 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.