Shooting Box Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Sittingbourne for babies from 3 months up to school age, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in December 2022. Open since 1992, with 26 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Free Early Years Funding (9 Month followed by 2, 3 & 4 Year Olds).
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
ME9 8AEWhat 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.
- 14 November 2024 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 20 December 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are confident and are aware of their surroundings. They develop close bonds and attachments with their key person and other staff. When children arrive, staff greet them at their level with hugs and cuddles. This helps support children's self-assurance, confidence and sense of belonging.
Children thoroughly enjoy stories. They listen carefully, fully immersed in the story due to the animation of staff voice, use of pitch and tone, to support children's vision of the story. Children retell and predict familiar stories. For example, young children tell staff what the Gruffalo is going to do next. Older children listen with excitement and astonishment at stories about elves. They relate the story to experiences of characters at home during Christmas time. Children show a thirst for knowledge and are eager to learn.
Children learn to make close friendships and develop relationships with others. For example, children in the baby room greet their friends with hugs and kisses, pleased to see them and introducing them to their play. During group activities, older children find loops on the parachute for their younger friends to make sure they are included in the activity.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: - provide children with opportunities to explore a range of media and materials to help further support children's imaginations in art and design n extend staff's knowledge and practice to support children with SEND to have space for their play, and develop staff's strategies to fully support their needs and promote their ongoing development.
- 20 December 2022Good
- 13 April 2017Good
- 13 March 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Shooting Box Day Nursery
- 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.