Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Hospital
Good★ 4.4 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in St. Albans for children from birth to 8+, open 07:00 to 19:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2025. Open since 2010, with 51 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
AL3 5PNWhat 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.
- 23 January 2026 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 25 March 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children at this nursery arrive happy and excited to be there. They wave through the window at staff waiting to greet them. Staff provide a variety of activities and experiences for the children to choose from. For example, babies smile and laugh while playing peek-a-boo in a mirror, and toddlers pour lentils from one container to another as they practise their fine motor skills in preparation for learning how to pour their own drinks. Older children develop their larger muscles as they learn to balance on the beams in an obstacle course.
The provider's curriculum is well designed to support children's personal, social and emotional development. Older children work collaboratively with a variety of bricks and materials to build their ideal home. When children show disappointment that their ideas were not chosen, staff support them to regulate their emotions and talk through how they are feeling.
Staff support children to have a love of books and early reading. Babies crawl onto the laps of staff to look at books. Younger children explore their favourite story while searching for the fruit and insects hidden in the sand tray. Staff encourage the children to repeat the familiar words from the story, which helps them to build their vocabulary.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support the staff team in strengthening the delivery of the planned curriculum so that they know exactly what they want all children to learn n support the staff team to have a clear understanding of the behaviour management strategies in place so that they are consistently implemented across the whole setting.
- 25 March 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 23 July 2019Outstanding
- 13 May 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Hospital
- 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.