Wainscot House Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in St. Albans for children from birth to 5, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £115.00 a day, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2024. Open since 1992, with 60 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
To make things easy our inclusive package for those families not receiving funding is a day rate of £115 which includes the nappies, meals, wipes, suncream etc.
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15 hours or 30 hours per week; 30-hour entitlement for children of eligible working families from age of 9 months to age 2; 15-hour entitlement for Early Learning 2-year-olds (families receiving additional support); 30-hour entitlement for children of eligible working families of 2-year-olds; 15-hour entitlement for families of 3- and 4-year-olds (universal entitlement); 30-hour entitlement for ch.
Worth knowing. 51 weeks of stretched funding; minimum of 2 days at Wainscot per week required to receive funding; voluntary contribution towards consumables of £3.53 per day; parent declaration form each term; child must be the age of the funding bracket before the start of the term.
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
AL3 5LWWhat 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, 6 June 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy and settled in the nursery. They quickly build strong and trusting relationships with the attentive and friendly staff. This helps the youngest children confidently play and explore, knowing they can seek reassurance or comfort when they need it. Babies snuggle up with staff to share books. They look at the pictures and listen intently to the words and descriptions staff use. This helps children foster a love for books and stories from a very young age. Through a planned curriculum, staff follow children's interests, helping them build on what they already know and understand. For example, older children look through magnifying glasses to find and look at brightly coloured bugs and insects hidden in a tray. Staff talk to them about the size and characteristics of the creatures, helping to introduce new concepts and words for children to repeat and practise while they play.
From a very early age, children learn to share and to be kind to others. Staff give consistent and gentle reminders to help children begin to regulate their behaviours and feelings. Children attending the pre-school class create their own rules. In a group, they decide which are the most important rules. Staff write these, using the children's own words, and display them on the wall for all to see. This helps children begin to understand aspects such as democracy and negotiation.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- give children more time to identify and solve problems and to find different ways of doing things for themselves n review and effectively embed consistent methods to regularly share information with all parents, so that they are fully informed about how they can support their children's continued learning and development at home.
- 6 June 2024Good
- 5 January 2015Outstanding
- 18 July 2011Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Wainscot House Day Nursery
- 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.
- Is £115.00 a day still the rate? 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.