Swallow Risers Playgroup and Out Of School Club
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Chatham for from 2 years up to school age, open 08:15 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £16.50 a session, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2023. Open since 1993, with 30 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Term time only, 39 weeks a year.
| Age | Session | |
|---|---|---|
| All ages | £16.50Preschool A.M. or Preschool P.M. |
Before you start
One-off charges to take a place.
- £10.00 registration fee
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £4.90 a session Wraparound Lunch Club
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
Free Early Education for 2, 3 & 4 year olds; 15 hours per week for 3 and 4 year olds.
Worth knowing. You may have to pay for extra costs such as: meals, nappies, additional hours, additional activities, such as trips.
What childcare usually costs in Medway
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Medway 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
ME5 7QBWhat 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 July 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children walk eagerly and happily up the path to this friendly setting, where they are welcomed by staff. Staff promote children's positive attitudes to learning well, encouraging and praising them. This supports their engagement and motivation.
Children delight in joining in with sports day, proudly sharing their medals with their friends. Staff ensure that children are safe. They remind children to take their water bottles and hats outside when playing in the sun. Children follow the routines of the setting well. They wait for their friends to have their turn, share the dressing-up toys together and behave well.
Staff use children's interests to plan an ambitious curriculum that includes every child. For example, children's interest in learning about people who help them was extended by staff to promote children's understanding of stranger danger. This supports children's understanding of the wider world. Staff successfully prioritise children's language and communication, physical, social and independence skills.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen arrangements for sharing information to support new staff so that they have a firm understanding of children's individual learning needs from the outset n strengthen the arrangements for involving parents in their child's learning in the setting and at home.
- 5 July 2023Good
- 25 January 2019Good
- 4 June 2018Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Swallow Risers Playgroup and Out Of School Club
- 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 £16.50 a session 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.
- 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.