Yellow Star Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in St. Albans for babies from 3 months up to school age, open 07:30 to 17:45, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2022. Open since 2012, with 37 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Government funding for children aged 9 months and older.
Worth knowing. Funding begins the term after your child turns 9 months.
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
AL4 8AAWhat 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, 24 February 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children play and learn happily alongside their friends. They chatter together and willingly share equipment and toys. Babies concentrate while they feel textures with their hands and feet. They listen to the words that staff use to describe what they are doing, helping to expose them to new words and phrases. As children grow, they become articulate and confident speakers.
Babies and very young children practise climbing low, shallow steps before they slide down a short slide. They repeat this several times, smiling at the enthusiastic staff who give them encouragement. Older children crawl through tunnels and move equipment around the garden, which helps to support their physical development. Children use their imagination, creating a beach using strips of artificial grass to represent sand. They negotiate how the beach is formed and listen to the ideas of others. This contributes to children's increasing ability to make decisions in a democratic way.
All the babies and children have opportunities to join sessions run by professionals who visit the nursery on a regular basis. For example, each group sings and uses sign language together. Children and babies watch in anticipation as puppets and other props bring stories and songs to life. Later, the nursery staff repeat the songs. Babies move their hands and begin to copy the familiar signs that staff use during the songs. This helps to strengthen babies' ways to communicate.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- help staff to encourage children to solve problems, find different solutions and answer questions for themselves n review the planning and organisation of adult-led activities to allow children sufficient time to complete and repeat tasks at their own pace.
- 24 February 2022Good
- 28 October 2016Good
- 2 May 2013Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Yellow Star Nursery
- What it costs
- 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.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.