Pippins Preschool
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in West Malling for from 2 years up to school age, open 09:00 to 16:00, 5 days a week. £48.30 a day for ages 2, 3 and 4, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in May 2023. Open since 2013, with 20 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Term time only, 38 weeks a year, minimum 2 days a week.
| Age | Full day | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ages 2, 3 and 42y to 3y | £48.309am – 4pm | £24.159am – 12:30pm or 12:30pm – 4pm, 3.5 hrs |
What a funded hour still costs
Funded hours cover the childcare. These are charged alongside them.
- £3.00 to £6.00 a session Funded Children aged 2, 3 and 4
Funded hours
15 hour Government funding for 3 and 4 year old children and eligible 2 year old children, and some families may also be entitled to 30 hours of Government funding.
Worth knowing. Voluntary Contribution for Funded Children: £3 per morning or afternoon session, £6 per full day.
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
ME19 5FBWhat 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, 9 May 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy and settled at the pre-school, and their behaviour demonstrates how much they enjoy themselves. Staff create a welcoming and calm environment, where they provide a wealth of activities to interest children. Children happily enter and go straight to the large outdoor area. They delight in splashing in muddy puddles, preparing pretend pancakes in the mud kitchen and tenderly washing baby dolls. They have close bonds with their key person and enjoy playing alongside them, smiling as they interact together.
Children are inclusive of one another and are happy to invite friends into their play.
They share the resources and enjoy helping each other, such as making play dough from scratch. Children are given lots of choice, including how they want to use resources. This allows them the freedom of creativity and increases their engagement. They focus and concentrate carefully on many activities, such as guessing the musical instrument, story time, creating emotion faces and building outdoor dens.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen staff's understanding of the specific intent for planned group activities, ensuring they are clear on what they want children to learn - ensure personal hygiene practices meet the needs of all children appropriately.
- 9 May 2023Good
- 21 September 2017Good
- 17 January 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Pippins Preschool
- Meals
- Nappies
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.
- Is £48.30 a day still the rate? 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.