The Treehouse Nursery
OutstandingTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Waltham Abbey for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in July 2022. Open since 2008, with 44 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Universal 15 hour Government funded spaces for ALL 3-4 year olds; some parents eligible for a further 15 hours; from April 2024 working parents of two year olds can claim 15 funded hours across 38 weeks; from September 2024 children 9 months and over eligible for 15 funded hours for 38 weeks; from September 2025 all children from 9 months eligible for 30 hours funding.
Worth knowing. As we are open all year round, we stretch the funded hours across the 51 weeks a year. A voluntary consumable charge of 80p per funded hour applies. The consumables charge applies for each funded hour and does not apply to paid hours.
What childcare usually costs in Essex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Essex 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
EN9 3ELWhat 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, 29 July 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are exceptionally well cared for by staff who thoroughly understand their needs. All children, including babies, are encouraged to be independent. For example, babies respond to staff who use their names, and hand out face cloths to their friends after snack time, matching the spoken name to each child. This builds children's sense of self-confidence and helps them to learn to link words to their meaning. All children, including babies, rapidly develop excellent speaking and listening skills. Babies blow bubbles to help develop their mouth muscles. They delight in waving the bubble wand to make new bubbles. Babies respond to simple instructions from staff, who promote their speaking skills. Staff repeat noises that babies make, and leave gaps for them to respond in the conversation. Staff help children to learn new vocabulary, such as 'vitamins' and 'protein', and explore how these things support their bodies.
Staff use their knowledge of each child to balance children's engagement equally.
They recognise where more-confident children may dominate conversations, and take care to give less-confident children the same opportunities to speak and to listen. This helps all children grow in confidence and to be ready for what is to come next. Staff show genuine interest for things that children say, and this helps children to know that their feelings, thoughts and ideas are equally valued.
- 29 July 2022Outstanding
- 7 April 2015Outstanding
- 28 October 2008Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Treehouse Nursery
- What it costs
- Youngest age taken
- 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
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.