Scribbles Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.9 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Epping for babies from 4 months up to school age, open 07:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2022. Open since 2020, with 105 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
From the term after your child turns 9 months funding is available to working parents who meet the criteria. This also extends to the working parents of 2 year olds. All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours universal funding from the term after their 3rd birthday. The extended 15 hours are also available to parents of 3 and 4 year olds who meet the criteria.
Worth knowing. When you start at the nursery you will be asked to completed a funding form which needs to be rechecked and signed every term to confirm that there have been no changes to your eligibility or the hours you want to claim.
What childcare usually costs in Essex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Essex 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
CM16 6ARWhat 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.
- 26 January 2022 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 14 June 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children part from their parents and carers confidently and settle quickly into their nursery day. They are keen and active learners, who are excited about the day ahead of them. Children are greeted by smiling staff, who spend time speaking to their parents to understand how the child has been since they last attended the nursery. Any information shared is quickly recorded within each room, so that other staff are aware.
Children enjoy participating in the wide range of activities organised by the nursery staff. They also join in with external extra-curricular experiences, such as yoga, dance and sports. Children have good relationships with each other and with staff.
They giggle excitedly when, being read a story, staff joke with them by reading the wrong names. Children quickly inform them that they are wrong and correct them.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- build on staff's knowledge of how children learn, including through newly introduced teaching strategies to ensure children across the nursery receive consistently high levels of learning.
- 14 June 2022Good
- 23 December 2021Inadequate
Rated Good or Outstanding at 1 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Scribbles Day Nursery
- What it costs
- Meals
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.