Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery Watford
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.4 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in Watford for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 to 18:30, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in May 2023. Open since 2019, with 72 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Eligible families can access 15 or 30 hours funded childcare and may also use Tax-Free Childcare.
Worth knowing. Additional charges apply for meals, consumables (such as nappies, wipes, and sunscreen), trips, and any extra hours beyond the funded entitlement.
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
WD17 4NTWhat 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.
- 28 December 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 23 May 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff provide a warm and caring environment for children. They recognise the cues of babies and younger children, such as when they become tired. Babies respond positively to the gentle reassurance of staff and settle quickly to sleep, demonstrating that they feel safe and secure in their surroundings.
Children behave well and enjoy the activities on offer. The oldest children demonstrate good levels of focus and concentrate on the tasks they complete. For instance, they sit and mix ingredients together to make dough for lengthy periods of time. Staff deal with any minor disagreements swiftly, gently reminding children of the need to be kind to one another. Children respond well to this support and form strong bonds with those around them.
Children across the nursery develop their language and communication skills. Staff speak to babies, who babble back to staff in turn. This builds on their emerging understanding of how to use and control their voices. Toddlers build their vocabulary as they play imagination games in the garden with staff. Children who speak English as an additional language hear the correct pronunciation of words as staff repeat words back to them clearly. This helps them to become effective communicators.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- review staff deployment to help staff make the most of all opportunities to build on children's learning n support newer members of staff to develop professional relationships with parents to promote the already good sharing of information about children's learning and development even further.
- 23 May 2023Good
- 19 August 2022Good
- 22 September 2021Needs improvement
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery Watford
- What it costs
- Youngest age taken
- 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
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? 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.