Willows Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.8 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Aylesbury for children from birth to 8+, 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 They do not publish prices, so ask.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 August 2023. Open since 1994, with 130 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 Buckinghamshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Buckinghamshire 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
HP21 8BDWhat 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.
- 18 June 2025 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
- 29 November 2023 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 8 August 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are confident to explore their play space. Staff give children reassurance and encouragement to extend their play within their familiar rooms. They support children's transition to their next stage in learning effectively. They share children's current interests and stages of development to help their new key person to plan for their developmental next steps. For example, young children settle quickly and confidently into mealtime routines.
Children show high levels of curiosity, exploring the space and resources available to them. They want to know more. Older children use their voices to question and discover. For example, they ask adults how to make a paper airplane, watching demonstrations and attempting to copy the techniques themselves.
All children have continual opportunities to explore both indoor and outdoor environments. Staff recognise that some children learn better outside than in. For example, they extend the challenges for some children to make marks using twigs in the mud. Other children use role play to show a clear understanding that writing carries meaning through labelling and making shopping lists.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to understand how to enable less confident children to communicate what they would like to do next.
- 8 August 2023Good
- 18 January 2018Good
- 9 May 2013Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Willows Day Nursery
- What it costs
- 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
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.