Stepping Stones
Good★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Maidstone for children from birth to 8+, open 09:00 to 15:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2025. Open since 2016, with 24 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
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
ME14 1UAWhat 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, 5 June 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children show they feel happy, confident and secure in this nursery. Staff build warm, trusting bonds with children. They respond with care to each child's needs.
They take time to get to know new children and offer calm reassurance and attentive care. Staff also model polite and respectful behaviour throughout the day and this impacts positively on the children. For instance, children are becoming patient and consider the needs of others around them. Staff offer children high praise for their individual achievements and support them well to continue to keep on trying.
Careful consideration is given to ensuring children develop physically. Children practise their skills in balancing and enjoy operating play equipment that helps strengthen their core muscles. Staff provide many opportunities for children to explore their fine motor movements. For instance, they successfully transfer coloured rice and pasta into different containers with tweezers. Children are enthusiastic as staff encourage their independence skills. Staff support children to put on their own shoes, provide opportunities for children to prepare their own snack and encourage children to make independent choices in their play and exploration. Children grow in confidence and independence and develop skills for future learning.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support and focus training and professional development for all staff to further improve the quality of the already good curriculum and teaching n enhance opportunities for children to learn about and reflect on their differences and understand what makes them unique, to prepare them for the diverse world around them.
- 5 June 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 12 July 2024Needs improvement
- 19 October 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Stepping Stones
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- 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
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? 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.