Heirs and Graces Day Nursery, Tring

A Victorian house, covered decking and woodland learning give Heirs and Graces a character that extends well beyond its rooms. Based at Florence House in Tring, it brings babies and older children together on one site, with a garden and separate spaces for different stages of development. For siblings, that means sharing a nursery address while having an age-appropriate day.

The nursery has capacity for 48 children, accepting ages from three months to five years. At its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Outstanding and found an ambitious education, effective support for children with SEND and effective safeguarding. That is a strong assessment, but it belongs to that visit rather than being a fresh judgement on today's practice.

Forest School and visits involving St Joseph’s Care Home broaden the offer beyond indoor play. Full days, mornings and afternoons provide different attendance patterns; the important financial distinction is between paid sessions, which include the extras package, and funded hours, where that package is voluntary.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room has a maximum of six babies, with home routines informing care and a separate sleep room. The cap describes the baby's immediate group, rather than the whole nursery.

For one- to two-year-olds, the Jungle Room combines space for crawling and toddling with soft play, sensory equipment and access to covered decking with climbing equipment. Movement has a clear place in the day. The physical provision gives children opportunities to practise emerging mobility rather than keeping exploration at floor level indoors.

The Balloon Room serves two- to three-year-olds, combining sensory activities and seasonal themes with garden play and a comfortable book corner. Pre-school, for three- to five-year-olds, adds group activities, imaginative play, a quiet reading space and vegetable growing in the garden.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS is the shared early-years framework followed throughout the nursery. Themed activities and indoor and outdoor play connect children's learning with development and preparation for school.

Forest School adds child-led outdoor exploration, including making dens, looking for bugs and creating things from natural materials. Yoga uses gentle movement and breathing, while Zumba brings active movement and rhythm into the activity offer. These are different experiences from room-based play, though access to some activities depends on the funded-hours extras arrangement.

In March 2023, babies explored flowers through smell and touch before painting, while older children built with bamboo. Estimating water in the mud kitchen and noticing changing textures brought investigation and problem solving into play.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden and covered decking provide outdoor space at the nursery itself. Woodland learning takes children into a different setting, where natural objects can become tools for imaginative play. In March 2023, children used a tree stump in pirate play and painted using sticks; they also remembered woodland safety rules. Outdoor experiences were doing more than providing fresh air.

The Community Inclusion Project links preschool children with St Joseph’s Care Home in Tring through activities such as gardening, crafts, baking and shared stories. It gives children contact with older people through things they can do together, rather than an abstract lesson about community. Visits and activity materials for the care home also feature in the current funded-hours extras package.

In March 2023, visits to the museum, church and memorial gardens, alongside visiting teachers and dentists, introduced children to people and places beyond their nursery group.

Relationships and Communication

Babies settle gradually, with a parent staying for the first settling visit and familiar blankets or bedtime toys welcome. Home routines shape care, helping staff build on what already comforts the baby.

In March 2023, babies' personal routines reflected information shared by parents, and key people worked across settings using Share the care forms to exchange children's interests and abilities. That matters for children attending more than one provision: useful information can travel with the child rather than each setting working in isolation.

Famly provides daily parent updates through the funded extras package and itemised invoices, bringing information about the child's day and charges into one system.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that links between the SENCo and health professionals helped children with SEND progress, and that safeguarding practice included staff training, recruitment checks, first-aid refreshers and additional sleep training. Those findings give substance to the dated assessment rather than relying on a general assurance about care.

The current funding policy describes working with local authorities to support eligible children under the SEND Code of Practice. It also identifies EYPP and Disability Access Funding as possible additional support and says the voluntary extras payment is not requested in those cases. Eligibility matters here; this is a defined arrangement rather than a promise to every family.

An on-site chef prepares meals, the nursery states a nut-free policy, and funded-hours meals and snacks are charged separately through the voluntary extras package. Families declining that package supply food and drink, including snacks, with ingredients clearly labelled; storage for these meals is very limited and non-refrigerated.

Sessions and Attendance

Paid full days run from 8am to 6pm, mornings from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. The separately charged Early Start Session runs from 7.30am to 8am and requires advance booking.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across 50 weeks, closing for the Christmas and New Year period and the last complete week of July; bank holidays also bring closures. Those planned breaks need to fit the family's childcare calendar, especially the summer maintenance week.

Goldfield Nursery School families can use a morning collection at 11.30am, followed by lunch and afternoon care, or an afternoon drop-off at 12.15pm. These services run only when Goldfield is open, sit outside funded hours and do not include collection at 3.15pm. This is a transport and care arrangement, not an admissions advantage.

Getting There

The address is Florence House, 2 Christchurch Road, Tring, HP23 4EE. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01442 891818 or by email to info@heirsandgracestring.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the working-parent entitlement for eligible children from the term after they turn nine months, universal funding for three- and four-year-olds, and funding for eligible two-year-olds. Hours can be stretched across the year, and term-time attendance is also offered. Eligibility and a family's preferred attendance pattern remain separate matters.

Paid session rates include the extras package, covering meals and snacks, basic non-food consumables and seasonal items such as suncream and waterproof overalls. During funded hours, these are charged separately through a voluntary package that also includes activities such as Forest School. Parents can choose whether to take the package each term; it is not a condition of receiving funded hours.

The choice covers the whole package for at least a term. Declining it means supplying meals and losing access to some activities, including Forest School: the decision changes the child's day as well as the invoice.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Billing is monthly and includes booked sessions missed for family holidays or sickness; withdrawal requires a full month's notice or payment in place of notice. The planned closure weeks are excluded from charges.

• The funded extras choice. Meals, consumables and activities are grouped into a voluntary package, with decisions lasting at least a term. Discuss how a day works for a child whose family opts out, including Forest School and meals from home.
• Baby settling and sleep. The Baby Room has a six-baby maximum and a separate sleep room. During a visit, ask how your baby's existing routine would shape settling and rest.
• The childcare calendar. The last complete week of July and the Christmas and New Year closure interrupt year-round attendance. Build those breaks, and the notice terms, into your family plans.
• Food allergies. The nursery states a nut-free policy and requires ingredient labels on food brought from home. Families managing allergies should confirm current practice for both chef-prepared and parent-supplied meals.

Heirs and Graces suits families seeking full days or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with a separate early-start option. Its appeal lies in the combination of a small baby-room cap, outdoor exploration and contact with the wider community, supported by a strong March 2023 inspection assessment.

Families need to be comfortable with the funded extras structure and annual closures. The package choice affects both costs and access to activities.