Rookies Day Nursery
Good★ 3.9 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in Stevenage for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 April 2025. Open since 2018, with 94 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
SG2 8RHWhat 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.
- 24 June 2026 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 30 April 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy in this child-focused and nurturing nursery. Staff are attentive to children's emotional needs. They provide them with comforting cuddles as they begin to feel tired. Children are confident and inquisitive. They explore the varied range of appealing activities that reflect their interests with enthusiasm. Staff know children well and support their development. All children make good progress.
Staff support children to be independent. Babies are encouraged to feed themselves while younger children manage risk as they help to prepare their own healthy snack. They show high levels of perseverance and keep on trying to cut strips of pineapple in response to staff praise. Older manage their own hygiene and self-care. Staff prioritise children's communication and language skills. They use a carefully selected core book over several weeks to encourage children to remember and join in words and repeated refrains through repetition. Children enjoy joining in with familiar songs and rhymes and staff introduce them to new words, such as seahorse. Younger children discover how pressing and removing buttons from dough creates interesting patterns and textures. Older children solve simple mathematical problems, such as subtraction and develop strong critical thinking skills. They show enthusiasm for writing, with some confidently able to write their own name independently.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- concentrate more sharply on implementing a sequenced approach to children's learning n refine the organisation of routines during the day to minimise waiting time for children n strengthen and embed the support for staff to adapt their teaching to precisely match the individual learning needs of children.
- 30 April 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 4 July 2019Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Rookies Day Nursery
- 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.