Footsteps Nursery & Pre-School
Good★ 4.8 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Hemel Hempstead for children from birth to 8+, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in March 2022. Open since 2015, with 30 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
HP1 1ELWhat 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, 31 March 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children demonstrate secure attachments with staff. They confidently leave their parents at the door and settle quickly in their activities. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and are motivated to join in with planned activities.
For example, babies take part in a planned sensory activity to promote self-feeding and independence skills. Staff know children well and know what they enjoy. They make good use of their interests to engage them in learning. For example, children practise counting skills as they play with a dinosaur small-world scenario. Children increase their confidence as they explore the environment and make choices for themselves. All children show that they feel safe and secure.
The nursery places high value on building children's literacy skills. In each age range, children have free access to age-appropriate books. Staff read them to children enthusiastically. Children show high levels of engagement during story sessions. Older children are well prepared for school. They listen attentively at group time and learn to do things independently. For example, they recognise their own names for self-registration and put on their coats and shoes.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- use the outdoor area more fully, to ensure that children who learn better outdoors have more opportunities to do so, to support development across all areas of learning n develop systems for staff training and supervision, to ensure they happen more frequently and staff receive feedback to improve their performance further.
- 31 March 2022Good
- 12 August 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Footsteps Nursery & 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.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.