Children 1st Nursery Limited
GoodBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in St. Albans for children from birth to 5, open 12:00 to 16:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2025. Open since 2022, with 28 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
AL1 1HLWhat 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, 25 February 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are incredibly comfortable in the nursery. Staff welcome them with enthusiasm and sunny smiles. Very quickly children wash their hands and settle at the table for lunch. Staff engage in lively discussions with children, enquiring about their morning and how they are feeling. This helps children to feel settled, safe and secure. Staff show tremendous kindness to children, and this helps them to develop kindness and empathy for others. Children take the time to write notes and letters to their friends and teachers.
Children show high levels of respect for the rules. Staff act as excellent role models and offer praise for positive choices. This helps children to develop a secure understanding of the expectations. As a result, children are developing a sense of right and wrong, which leads to exemplary behaviour and positive attitudes to learning and play.
The nursery curriculum is highly ambitious. It has been well designed by leaders to give children a fully rounded early education. Children benefit from the carefully constructed design that offers the opportunity for children to make continuous progress across the seven areas of learning. This ensures that they are fully prepared for the transition to school.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to develop more meaningful interactions with the youngest children to ensure that they are able to access the same high-quality teaching as older children.
- 25 February 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
Still missing for Children 1st Nursery Limited
- 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.