Stepping Stones Pre-School
GoodBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Lynsted Lane for children from birth to 5, open 09:00 to 15:00, 7 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2022. Open since 1999, with 20 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
ME9 0RLWhat 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, 20 January 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are tenderly welcomed into the pre-school. Their hands are held as they are guided through to a variety of exciting activities set out ready for them, such as water play and dinosaur worlds. Children, including those who are new, all settle quickly. The small staff team know all children well and they create a family feel to the pre-school. Children develop warm, caring relationships with staff and form good friendships with each other. For example, they share toys with their friends as they play and giggle together, playing hide and seek.
Children take part in a wide range of activities to encourage physical development and strengthening muscles, such as play dough disco, wake up and shake up and dancing with scarfs, pretending to be super heroes. Staff are highly skilled in planning a challenging curriculum for each child to support their individual needs.
They are able to bring all areas of learning into each activity and are good at making links across the curriculum to deepen children's understanding of key concepts. For example, they delight in making pretend drinks, while counting, talking about full and empty and safety in the home.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen the presentation of activities to children, to enable them to always be fully engaged from the start and ensure that their learning is not disturbed n improve staff understanding of how to embrace children's cultural backgrounds and how to plan more effectively for this.
- 20 January 2022Good
- 15 March 2016Outstanding
- 23 March 2011Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Stepping Stones Pre-School
- 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.