Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone

149 Hockers Lane, Weavering, Maidstone ME14 5JY
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9.9 125 Reviews
  • Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone, Maidstone
This cottage-style nursery was graded by Ofsted as ‘Good in all areas’ in December 2021. Located near Bearsted on the edge of the North Downs; an area of outstanding natural beauty, Pennies Hockers Lane perfectly balances rural surroundings with the convenience of swift access to main routes, such as the M20.

The main features of Hockers Lane include catering for children from three months to five years and four separate rooms, arranged by age, for nursery age children.

The nursery ensure parents have an active involvement in decisions on care for their children. There is an extensive garden with Pennies Pit Stop, sensory snug, book nook large sandpit, play equipment and sheltered areas. While meals are prepared daily by a trained chef and made with fresh ingredients sourced from local suppliers.

Pennies offers an annual social calendar of events for children and parents and has rooms that are designed specifically for babies, toddlers, and pre-school aged children.

Pennies fully-inclusive fees cover all food, drinks, nappies and formula milks for the babies and children in their care.
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Caroline Hannant and Kathryn Fox (Nursery Managers)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 30

Total Places for Children

  • 55

Age Range

  • from 0 years 3 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Funding & Fees

  • Per day:
    Under 2's £111.75
    2-3 yrs £109.75
    Over 3's £108.75

Opening Times

  • Monday 07:30-18:30
    Tuesday 07:30-18:30
    Wednesday 07:30-18:30
    Thursday 07:30-18:30
    Friday 07:30-18:30

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays & Christmas

Parking

  • No parking restrictions on Hockers Lane - other than not in front of neighbours driveways.

Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone Reviews (125)

9.9

Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.944) out of 10, based on 15 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone has 125 reviews.

Overall Experience
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Date Published
  • 125
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Reviewer Connection to Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone
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Total of 125, showing 121-125
Review from Corinne C (Mother of Child) published on 19 February 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
An exciting place for your child to play and learn. Excellent staff who are caring and accommodating. Great resources and fun activities that are organised and varied. I feel relaxed leaving my child here.
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Review from Daniel (Father of Child) published on 12 November 2015 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter (2.5 years) has been in Pennies nursery for almost a year now. At the beginning our daughter was happy to be at the nursery. However, after a couple of staff changes (due to maternity leaves), she became a little unsettled as her most trusted carer had suddenly left. We raised this problem
with Pennies and we were amazed at how quickly our issue was addressed. Within a couple of weeks the nursery had made significant changes within my daughter's group and our daughter was even happier than before.


The nursery has helped our daughter gain confidence in key abilities required at this age. All her activities are carefully documented and can be reviewed online (including a history of photos, which is nice as we don't get to see what she is up to at Nursery). All carers have good qualifications and there appears to be a passion for helping kids develop. Pennies practices a good balance between fun activities and daily 'chores', which is exactly what we were looking for.


The facilities are also very nice with a reasonably large play area.


We highly recommend Pennies to anyone looking to send their toddler to Nursery on a full-time or part-time basis.

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Review from Marina T (Mother of Child) published on 19 October 2015 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My 3 year old boy loves everything about Pennies! He loves his teachers and his new friends. He was very comfortable in the new environment when he first joined and has felt the same ever since! He is happy with the activities and toys and he adores the cooking class. They spent plenty of time outdoors
enjoying the weather no matter what. The food is of great quality and there is communication between the parents and the nursery. I as a mother would recommend Pennies to friends and family.
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Review from Kirsty C (Mother of Child) published on 14 October 2015 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I had moved my daughter from a previous nursery where there had been a lot of issues and my child was very unhappy there. Within her first week of being at Pennies she had settled in great! And has never been upset upon me leaving her once since!
All of the staff are fantastic and I have every confidence
that they look after my child to the very best standards.
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Review from Melissa B (Mother of Child) published on 14 October 2015 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our 1 year old son has been at Hockers Lane for a full day once a week for a few months and he has settled in nicely. The surroundings are ideal and not too overwhelming for both child and parents. We have seen our little boy develop such a lot since he has attended the Butterflies Room and he has gained
confidence and skills which I believe have been helped by his time there.


There is no hassle in dropping him off and picking him (yes parking can be an issue, but we have only ever waited a couple of mins to get in and out). I love that we can just drop him off with his bag and coat and know that he is in safe hands and all of his needs are catered for. Also no need to pack food and nappies, which make life easy for working parents!


Speaking with my friends too, Pennies are one of the only nurseries to offer trips included in the price. We love getting updates on how he is getting on and meeting his development milestones via their online journal. It makes you feel you are still part of your child's life whilst out working.


The team at the nursery are all very friendly and their strict security ensures your child's safety is paramount. I would recommend this nursery to anyone looking for childcare in the Kent area.

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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.944)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.944) out of 10 for Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 15 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 15 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.944 for Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone is calculated as follows: ( (171 Excellents x 5) + (8 Goods x 4) + (1 Satisfactorys x 3) ) ÷ 180 Ratings = 4.944
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone is based on 15 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 55 number of registered child places is 11, which has been reached with 15 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (9)

Meet the Team (3)

Caroline

Caroline Hannant

Job Title: Nursery Manager Joined: 2007

I have worked for Pennies for nearly 18 years, I have worked alongside a great team and successfully progressed from being Head of Unit, Third in Charge, Deputy Manager at Newnham Court to Nursery Manager at Hockers Lane.


I love being apart of such a great team and I share my enthusiasm, with the teams, for arts and crafts, messy play and sensory exploration, promoting great learning opportunities for the children. My work family has extended and the team, children and parents, couldn't have made me feel more welcome.

Kathryn

Kathryn Fox

Job Title: Nursery Manager Joined: 2024

Hi, my name is Kathryn and I joined Pennies in April 2024. I have worked in Early Years establishments for the past 23 years. Back at the beginning of my career, I gained an NNEB in childcare, working in various day nurseries and school settings, with children aged between 3 months to 5 years. More recently I have achieved a BA Hons (first class) degree in Early childhood studies and spent time teaching children in Preschool settings. Having the opportunity to be part of the Pennies family is wonderful and enables me to continue to fulfil my passion within the Early Years and continue to be part of children’s early childhood journey.

Sarah-Lou

Sarah-Lou Stepney

Job Title: Deputy Manager - Early Years Professional Joined: 2001

Hi, my name is Sarah-Lou and I started Pennies at Hockers Lane in 2001 as a Level 3 Practitioner. Before joining Pennies I worked for another family run company and during this time I completed a Level 2 and 3 NVQ in Childcare and Education. In 2005, when Newnham Court opened, I decided to take a new post there. During my time at Pennies I have gained experience working with children from 3 months old to 11 years old. I have also had 2 children of my own, Millie and Jake. In 2016 I took on a Development Coordinator role at Pennies which allowed me to work with all 3 nurseries and to support each setting with their CPD. I’ve now come back to Hockers Lane as Deputy manager.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. Pennies Day Nursery - Hockers Lane, Maidstone has an Enhanced Service - more info.