Poppys Day Nursery Ltd
OutstandingTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Staplehurst for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 to 18:15, 5 days a week. £10.00 an hour for 2-year-olds, and they take the funded hours. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in February 2023. Open since 2008, with 35 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.
| Age | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| 2-year-olds2y to 3y | £10.004 & 5 days per week £12.001, 2 & 3 days per week | |
| 3&4-year-olds3y to 4y | £11.755 days per week £13.004 days per week £16.751, 2 & 3 days per week |
Before you start
One-off charges to take a place.
- £216.00 Registration feeDoes not apply to those children who only access a totally Free Early, not refundable
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £10.00 per 15 minutes Late collection chargefor every 5 minutes past collection time
- £30.00 Late payment feefor each due payment that is not delivered by the 10th of each month
Funded hours
Free for Two (FF2) Entitlement up to 15 hours per week, Working Parent Entitlement up to 30 hours per week, Universal Entitlement up to 15 hours per week, and Working Parent Entitlement of an additional 15 hours per week (totalling 30 hours per week).
Worth knowing. Free Early Years Education is offered and accessed over 38 weeks of the year only. All funded hours are non-transferable and cannot be carried over or transferred to another setting if unused. The nursery reserves the right to make discretionary amendments to the Free Early Years Education sessions provision with 1 term notice. The nursery reserves the right to extend the Free Early Education hours accessed on behalf of the parent/ career beyond the sessions stated at its discretion.
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
TN12 0BUWhat 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.
- 17 March 2026 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 23 February 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are safe, extremely happy and thrive at this nursery. They thoroughly enjoy playing and exploring in their environment, which provides excellent learning opportunities. Children access exciting learning opportunities in the superb outdoor area. For example, children build towers in the builder's area or use their imagination in the mud kitchen. Younger children flourish through learning songs and rhymes and have an excellent choice of resources. Throughout the nursery, it is wonderful to see the very high levels of engagement and concentration children.
Children receive outstanding care and seek support from staff. Even younger children are able to independently manage tasks, for example, putting on shoes and using cutlery successfully. Highly skilled staff, involve children in planning and focus on their interests. Children recently visited their local supermarket and made shopping lists focused on the sound of the week. The role-play corner was then turned into a shop for children to practise this through their play. Staff give excellent thought and care, so children have the best experience possible and make exceptional progress. For example, the older children excitedly enjoyed making a road for their cars, using pens confidently, and a long roll of paper to strengthen their early writing skills even further.
- 23 February 2023Outstanding
- 19 July 2017Good
- 11 April 2014Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Poppys Day Nursery Ltd
- Youngest age taken
- 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.
- Is £10.00 an hour 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.
- 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.