Squirrel Nurseries (Watford Lanchester)
Good★ 4.5 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Watford 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 February 2022. Open since 2014, with 42 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
WD17 3HDWhat 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 July 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 22 February 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children settle well and enjoy coming to nursery. They play well alongside and with their friends and particularly enjoy the outdoor area. Children are able to develop a range of skills to help them for future learning. For example, they lift large planks and blocks as they construct a raised walkway, developing their upper body strength and solving problems when they notice a gap or a plank that is too long or short. Staff support them to solve these problems as they encourage them to stand back and observe their creations, to help decide what to adapt to refine them.
Children benefit from a curriculum that is ambitious and supports them to embed core skills, Staff focus on the development of language skills, and echo things that children say to help improve their pronunciation. Children link words that start with the same sound, such as 'cat' and 'carpet' and staff help them find the rhyming word 'mat' to help them to explore and play with words. Such activities support the development of all children, including those who speak English as an additional language. Staff use audible cues, such as 'ready, steady go' to help children to learn how to link words to actions, even when they change the resources. This helps children to follow simple instructions. Older children learn to link letters to the sounds they make, such as the initial letter of their name.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- help staff to manage larger groups of younger children, to enable them to respond more successfully to these children's spontaneous interests n review the organisation of large-group activities, particularly at times of transition, to help staff to support children to be more equally engaged at these times.
- 22 February 2022Good
- 18 August 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Squirrel Nurseries (Watford Lanchester)
- 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.