Jack & Jill's Day Nursery

A garden of more than an acre, resident pygmy goats and a sheltered outdoor gazebo give Jack & Jill's Day Nursery a clear identity: nature is part of the learning day, alongside indoor play. Gardening Club and Cooking Club turn that emphasis into practical experiences, from tending plants to exploring ingredients. For a child who enjoys making, investigating and moving, there is plenty here to catch the imagination.

Based in Hemel Hempstead, the nursery has capacity for 93 children and accepts children from 6 months to 5 years. At its April 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall. That dated judgement sits alongside a current offer combining Forest School, which uses practical exploration outdoors, with refurbished indoor spaces for imaginative play, books and creative activities.

Families can choose full days, morning or afternoon sessions, with an early bird option and term-time-only attendance also offered. The funding arrangements deserve careful attention: attendance conditions and the choice of package affect how funded hours fit a family's week.

Rooms and Ages

Four named rooms organise the age groups: Snowflakes covers the baby stage up to 1 year, Raindrops is for ages 1 to 2, Sunbeams for ages 2 to 3, and Rainbows for ages 3 to 5. The nursery's overall starting age is 6 months. These stages give families a straightforward picture of the progression from baby care towards preschool, while keeping the whole-setting capacity separate from the size of an individual room.

Indoors, the refurbished spaces contain resources for pretend play, language, reading and creative exploration. Outside, the garden and forest provide a different setting for discovery. The gazebo adds shelter for outdoor activities, so the outdoor offer involves more than an uncovered play space. This combination will matter to families who want substantial time with nature alongside indoor experiences.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning and care, including communication, physical development and social development through play and everyday experiences. It is the shared foundation for early-years provision. Here, free play, adult-supported play and planned activities provide different ways for children to engage with it.

Free play gives children room to choose an activity and pursue an idea; adult-supported play adds help or a new challenge to what they have started. Planned experiences include sensory activities and outdoor learning. The balance matters: a child can explore independently, then receive support to take that exploration further. Reading corners, creative materials and mud kitchens give that approach concrete places to happen. The learning approach explains these different forms of play.

Gardening Club involves planting and looking after plants, linking practical care with discovering where food comes from. Cooking Club introduces ingredients and making food together. Both offer a useful connection between learning and ordinary life: children handle materials, make choices and see what their efforts produce.

Regular music and dance activities involve visiting teachers, while yoga adds movement, balance and opportunities to relax. Preschool activities include sorting, measuring and counting games, with puzzles and building blocks used to explore shapes. Storytelling and creative work sit alongside these experiences. Early number and language learning therefore has practical materials to work with rather than relying on abstract instruction.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School adds regular learning in natural surroundings to the nursery's indoor provision. Den building, searching for insects and creating with natural materials give children things to investigate together. Storytelling around the fire pit adds another setting for language and imagination. Resources include bug discovery sets, equipment for building dens and tools intended for children.

Participation in Forest School sessions is encouraged rather than compulsory, and children are introduced gradually according to their comfort. There is no specific uniform; waterproofs, wellies and layers are recommended. That makes the outdoor emphasis a practical clothing consideration, while allowing a child time to become familiar with the sessions.

Pygmy goats, guinea pigs and a tortoise add animal care to the day through feeding and gentle handling. This is an opportunity to practise responsibility in a tangible way. In April 2022, outdoor play also included an obstacle course where older children considered climbing and jumping safely, and imaginative food-making in a mud kitchen. Those examples show how movement, conversation and decision-making came together at that time.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with introductory sessions before a child's first full day, and parents work with staff on a personalised plan. For families beginning baby care or moving from another setting, that gives the start a gradual structure. The nursery also welcomes telephone contact when parents have concerns or questions, providing a direct route to the team during attendance.

In April 2022, staff discussed children's development with parents and suggested activities to continue at home. Children were helped to share, wait for a turn and listen to instructions. Songs in children's home languages were also part of the day, giving language support a connection to the children and families in the room. These are useful examples of the relationships and communication seen then, rather than a description of every current routine.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well supported, with staff working alongside other professionals to help them participate and progress. Current SEND arrangements involve collaboration with parents to adapt care and activities to individual needs. The practical question for a family is how those adaptations will work for their own child across indoor activities and outdoor sessions.

Baby routines include sleep, feeding and play, with staff working with parents during settling. Food is prepared on site by in-house chefs using local produce, with options including halal, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free meals. In April 2022, older children practised independence at mealtimes by serving food and pouring drinks; dietary needs and preferences were taken into account.

There were also two areas for improvement in April 2022: staff development needed to concentrate more precisely on improving teaching, and daily routines sometimes cut short children's chosen activities. These points matter alongside the positive findings. A play-led approach depends on adults having both the knowledge and the flexibility to let an idea develop.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm. Full days run from 8am to 6pm, mornings from 8am to 1pm, and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm; the early bird add-on runs from 7.30am to 8am. Families can combine full days and half days, rather than having to use the same length of session throughout the week.

The enquiry form sets out minimum patterns of 2 full days, 3 half days, or 1 full day plus 2 half days. Year-round and term-time-only attendance are offered. For year-round funding stretched across 50 weeks, the attendance requirement is at least 20 hours weekly, including a Monday or Friday. This is a separate condition from the general minimum booking choices and can shape which pattern works financially.

Getting There

The nursery's address is Buncefield Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 7HY; the site is also identified as Woodwells Farm, Wood Lane End. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01442 244903 or by email at enquiries@jackandjillsdaynursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 30 hours funding for eligible children from 9 months, 15 hours funding for government-supported 2-year-olds, and 15 hours universal funding for 3- and 4-year-olds. The nursery stretches funded hours over 50 weeks for its year-round arrangement. Private childcare is offered too, and additional paid hours are separate from funded entitlement.

Food, non-food consumables and activities are separately itemised extra charges, including alongside funded hours. All-In packages bundle those charges with the relevant care arrangement, while funded-only packages allow families to opt out of the food and enhancement costs. This distinction is central to comparing packages: funded entitlement and a fully inclusive attendance package are different things. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding information sets out the structure.

Funded-only booking patterns have restrictions on days, and those days may change each term. The nursery decides the allocation, with Mondays and Fridays prioritised, so a requested pattern is not guaranteed. Fees are spread across 12 equal monthly payments and include bank holidays, public holidays and inset closures. These payment terms mean the monthly bill does not simply follow the number of days attended that month.

A registration charge applies to nursery children except those attending funded-only sessions; a refundable deposit may be charged for funded-only attendance. Leaving normally requires a month's notice or payment in lieu, while grant-funded attendance can require up to a term's notice, ending at a term boundary. These terms deserve attention before committing to an attendance package.

• Funded days and working patterns. Stretched funding requires at least 20 hours weekly and a Monday or Friday, while funded-only arrangements have their own day restrictions. At a visit, discuss the exact combination of funded and paid attendance needed for your working week.
• Time to finish play. In April 2022, routines sometimes interrupted activities children wanted to continue, and staff development needed greater precision. Ask how the current team protects sustained play and develops teaching through training.
• Outdoor participation. Forest School includes practical exploration and fire-pit storytelling, with gradual introductions and participation encouraged rather than compulsory. Discuss how outdoor sessions, clothing and any individual adaptations would work for your child.
• Food and package choices. Meals, consumables and activities are separately itemised, with All-In bundles and opt-out arrangements for funded-only packages. Families managing allergies should confirm current food preparation and dietary practice, alongside the package they choose.

Jack & Jill's suits families seeking morning or afternoon attendance as well as full days, especially those who want gardening, cooking and regular outdoor exploration to feature in their child's nursery life. The garden, animals and sheltered gazebo give that offer substance.

The April 2022 Good judgement provides a dated quality reference, with useful strengths and clear improvement points beneath it. The decisive practical consideration is how the attendance package fits: stretched funding, restricted funded-only days and bundled extras need to work together for the family's schedule. For children drawn to nature and making things, the learning offer gives this nursery a recognisable character.