Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Cheshunt

A separate sleep room for babies, natural resources for toddlers and a large garden reached directly from Pre-school give Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Cheshunt a clear shape. Children move through age-specific spaces, with quieter rest and outdoor exploration built into the surroundings. The practical appeal is easy to understand. Consistency in everyday care deserves closer attention.

At its 29 April 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged achievement, behaviour and routines, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance to meet the Expected standard, while children's welfare and wellbeing received Needs attention; safeguarding standards were met. That is a mixed assessment rather than an overall grade, with the concerns centred on hygiene and safer eating.

The nursery has capacity for 83 children aged three months to five years, at Goffs-Churchgate Academy on College Road. Flexible sessions come with a minimum booking of two sessions per child.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Den accommodates children from three months to two years and has a separate sleep room, giving babies somewhere quiet to rest away from active play. Movement between stages can take account of a child's development as well as age, so the room boundaries allow some flexibility.

Toddlers, for children aged two to three, uses a curiosity approach with natural resources and aims to minimise plastic use. Pre-school, for ages three to five, opens directly onto the large garden, allowing children to move between indoor and outdoor play. These are different environments for different stages, rather than one shared space serving every age.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and everyday routines help children build skills across the areas of learning. Practitioners track individual development and plan enrichment around each child's next steps. The toddler room's use of natural resources adds a concrete approach to that framework.

In April 2026, activities connected physical movement with early number work, including counting while balancing on stepping stones. Familiar stories were revisited during group time, while pipe cleaners and play dough gave children practice with the hand movements needed for later writing. Learning was woven into play rather than confined to a separate lesson.

A library and art room were used in April 2026 for smaller groups, conversation and creative activity. These spaces offered a calmer setting for children to concentrate. Staff had age-specific learning goals, but confidence in putting the curriculum into practice varied, and opportunities to extend children's learning were sometimes missed. The resources and planning therefore need to be considered alongside how consistently adults use them.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden includes a mud kitchen and a construction area, with a sensory area adding another type of exploration. For preschool children, direct access makes the garden an extension of their room rather than a separate destination.

In April 2026, children washed bikes together outdoors, sharing equipment and taking turns. That example combines a practical task with learning to cooperate. During the same month, some changes between activities were less organised, leaving children briefly wandering before staff redirected them. How the day moves between play, meals and quieter activities matters as much as the spaces themselves.

Settling periods are tailored to the individual child. This allows the start of nursery to respond to a child's needs rather than follow one identical timetable for everyone. Seasonal lunches and snacks are served daily, with dietary requirements accommodated and support for babies moving onto solid foods.

An app gives parents updates about care and activities, alongside access to their child's educational plan. That brings everyday information and learning plans together, helping families follow both what happened during the day and what practitioners are working towards.

At the April 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that SEND support included individual plans, reviews and work with parents and outside professionals, but was still becoming consistent; it also identified insufficient support with nose hygiene and instances of children moving around while eating without staff intervening. Those are specific concerns about ordinary care, even though children had positive relationships with staff.

In April 2026, visual prompts and straightforward language helped children understand activities and routines. Smaller groups supported communication, and calming spaces were used when children needed help with emotions. Personal care, including nappy changes, was handled sensitively. The picture combines considerate relationships with routines that needed firmer implementation.

The April 2026 action required staff to establish safer eating habits and follow hygiene procedures consistently by 3 June 2026. Families should treat the action as a concrete point to discuss, rather than assume a completion outcome.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Flexible sessions are offered, with at least two sessions booked for each child. The opening window gives families the boundaries of the day; the session arrangement allows attendance to be planned within the nursery's offer.

The nursery opens for 51 weeks each year, closing on bank holidays and over Christmas. Families organising care across the year need to allow for those closures. Enquiries can be made through the Cheshunt contact form or the new-parent telephone number, and visits can be booked.

Getting There

The address is Goffs-Churchgate Academy, College Road, Cheshunt, EN8 9LY. The nursery's location should be considered alongside the attendance pattern a family intends to use.

Funding and Paid Extras

The fee package includes food and milk, together with nappies and wipes. Having those routine supplies included simplifies what parents need to send from home and makes them part of the childcare package. Families should obtain current prices in a written quotation from the nursery.

• Eating and hygiene. The April 2026 action set a 3 June 2026 deadline for safer eating and consistent hygiene procedures. Ask what changes followed and how adults now support children during meals and with nose hygiene.
• Consistency between activities. In April 2026, staff confidence with the curriculum varied and some transitions left children briefly without a clear activity. On a visit, discuss how staff organise the move from play to meals and how they extend learning for different children.
• Flexible attendance. A minimum of two sessions applies to each child, within a weekday opening window ending at 6.30pm. Ask how the flexible session arrangement would fit your intended attendance and how funded hours, if applicable, would be treated in the quotation.
• Dietary needs. Lunches and snacks can accommodate dietary requirements, and babies receive weaning support. Families managing allergies should confirm the current arrangements for their child before starting.

Ashbourne's Cheshunt branch suits families seeking flexible session-based care from babyhood through preschool, with a separate place for babies to sleep and direct garden access for older children. Natural materials, a mud kitchen, a construction area and app communication give parents tangible reasons to consider it.

The deciding issue is everyday consistency. The April 2026 findings combined positive relationships and purposeful activities with a welfare judgement of Needs attention. A family's decision should turn on the nursery's response to the eating and hygiene action, alongside whether its session arrangement fits their week.