Apsley Lock Pre School
Good★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Apsley, Hemel Hempstead for children from birth to 5, open 09:15 to 12:15, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in October 2022. Open since 2005, 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 Hertfordshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Hertfordshire 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
HP3 9WUWhat 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, 19 October 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are enthusiastic to join in with learning where they have opportunities to extend their communication and language skills, including through songs at circle time, such as the 'hello song'. Staff encourage children through positive interactions to confidently describe what they see, using rich language and vocabulary. The children have rich experiences exploring outdoors, where they confidently find out about understanding the world around them.
Children have positive relationships with staff, who encourage them to explore tools, such as pipettes, to further develop their fine motor skills, experimenting with liquids and sensory play. Children have opportunities to talk about the colours they see, where staff encourage them to extend their learning further by having a go.
Children play cooperatively with one another and show curiosity, where they develop their own ideas and create pieces of art. They take part in adventurous walks and collect leaves and sticks. Staff extend children's experiences through investigations of berries, spiderwebs and pumpkins, talking about what they see.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- sharpen the focus on children's individual learning needs to build precisely on what they can already do and what they need to do next n support staff to manage group activities and understand how this supports children's engagement to learning.
- 19 October 2022Good
- 8 December 2016Good
- 7 March 2013Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Apsley Lock 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.