Busy Lizzies at Simon Balle

Weekly pond dipping, a farm and a room for small-group phonics give Busy Lizzies at Simon Balle a recognisable preschool character. The school setting brings useful spaces into the nursery day: children can explore outdoors, grow food and practise early reading within the same setting. Its appeal rests on those concrete experiences rather than a curriculum label alone.

At its 9 June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found rapid progress in communication and language, with effective information sharing between nursery staff and Reception teachers. That is a dated judgement. The current nursery offer centres on children joining in September for the academic year in which they turn four, rather than joining throughout the year.

Based at the Larch Centre, Simon Balle All-Through School, on Mangrove Road in Hertford, the setting has 78 places in total. That is whole-setting capacity, not the size of a teaching group. Morning and all-day nursery sessions sit alongside breakfast, afterschool and separate holiday provision, giving families several ways to organise attendance.

Rooms and Ages

The WOW room gives phonics a small-group setting, while light changing tablets add another resource to the nursery's activities. It is a named space with a clear learning purpose, rather than simply an extra room. In June 2022, children who needed help separating from parents also used a quieter room to pause and settle before joining activities. That inspection-time use should be distinguished from the current phonics offer.

Nursery entry follows a single September intake, with children attending for one academic year before moving on to Reception. The programme therefore addresses a particular preschool stage: developing independence, learning to cooperate and preparing for early reading. It is a different proposition from a nursery taking babies and toddlers through successive age-based rooms.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care: here, children learn through supported play indoors and outside, exploring ideas, talking together and working through problems. It is the shared early-years foundation, rather than an extra exclusive to Busy Lizzies. The nursery builds its day around investigation, play and small-group activities, with learning reviewed each half term so staff can identify gaps and plan further challenges.

Early reading has a practical emphasis. Phonics sits alongside vocabulary and listening, while maths and science begin with exploring objects and the natural world. Social learning is equally explicit: children practise sharing, tidying, listening and treating one another kindly. These are useful habits for taking part in a group, as well as preparation for the next stage of education.

Music and Move and mini Yoga are daily sessions in the hall. Their regular place in the timetable gives families a concrete sense of the nursery's additional activities. Gardening club has an equally clear purpose: children cultivate fruit and vegetables for snack time, connecting an outdoor task with something they later eat.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School means a weekly visit to the on-site outdoor setting for exploration and pond dipping. The farm adds contact with tortoises, rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs. These are recurring resources within the setting, so outdoor learning can involve living things as well as play equipment.

A covered outdoor area and enclosed playground support movement between inside and outside in different weather. The garden includes planters and a large mud kitchen, offering both growing activities and messy play. In June 2022, children also used larger school play equipment with staff nearby, practising how to judge a challenge and seek support. The physical environment gives the preschool day more than one scale of activity, from small-group phonics to open-air exploration.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who plans activities and shares achievements with parents at regular intervals. This gives families a consistent point of contact and links day-to-day care with the child's learning. The key person also helps coordinate planning across the staff team and communicates any particular needs, so support is not confined to one adult's knowledge.

Settling begins with a welcome meeting where children meet their key person and become familiar with the setting. If a child remains upset after a parent leaves, staff telephone with an update. That is a practical communication arrangement for families facing an uncertain start, rather than a promise that every child will settle in the same way.

In June 2022, weekly newsletters explained the activities planned for the coming week, giving parents something concrete to discuss with children beforehand. Staff also made time for conversation, allowing children to answer and practise listening. A speech and language therapist contributed expertise that staff used to develop their own language-support practice.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, including staff understanding of reporting concerns and allegations, with safeguarding training refreshed annually. Current arrangements include two SENCOs, paediatric first-aid-trained key persons and a medical form completed at the welcome meeting, with allergy information passed to staff. These describe the support mechanisms families can use, rather than guaranteeing an individual outcome.

Operation Encompass is a partnership with Hertfordshire Constabulary through which the setting receives confidential notification when a child has experienced or been exposed to domestic abuse. A trained Key Adult liaises with police and uses that information to help the setting respond to possible difficulties for the child or family. It adds a specific communication route to the nursery's safeguarding arrangements.

Preparation for school includes transition reports and a meeting with Simon Balle Reception teachers. Teachers from other schools are invited to meet children who will join them. This supports continuity across the move, while keeping the nursery's transition work separate from the admissions decision.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 9am to 3pm during term time. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon; all-day sessions run from 9am to 3pm and include a 30-minute lunch club at noon. Families can therefore choose a shorter nursery morning or a day extending through the afternoon.

Nursery breakfast provision starts at 7.45am, with the latest breakfast-club drop-off at 8.15am. Afterschool nursery sessions run from 3pm to either 4.45pm or 6pm. Those are separate extensions to the nursery day, rather than part of the funded 9am-to-3pm window.

Holiday Club accepts children aged three and four who attend Busy Lizzies Nursery, alongside Reception-to-Year-6 children from any school. Its booking patterns are 9am to 3pm and an extended 8.30am to 5pm session. It operates in the October and February half terms, Easter holidays and the first three weeks of the summer holidays. Nursery term-time attendance and holiday care should therefore be considered separately when planning the year.

Holiday activities use the Larch Hall, playground and Astro turf, with resources including construction play, board games and a quiet reading area. Holiday bookings have a 10-day free cancellation period; after that, payment is expected even if the booked sessions are unused. Nursery and wraparound application forms are downloadable, and enquiries can be made by telephone or email.

Getting There

The address is Larch Centre, Simon Balle All-Through School, Mangrove Road, Hertford, SG13 8AJ. On-site parking cannot be used between 8.15am and 9.15am or between 2.45pm and 3.30pm; a free car park near the fire station requires a permit. Those restrictions overlap the nursery's start and finish, so they matter to the daily travel plan.

Funding and Paid Extras

Busy Lizzies offers 15-hour and 30-hour funded nursery attendance during term time, with funding usable only between 9am and 3pm. For families claiming 15 hours who are not eligible for 30, additional nursery hours within that window are charged; breakfast and afterschool care are paid separately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Nursery snacks carry no additional charge, and the shorter afterschool booking includes a snack while the later booking includes a meal. Holiday Club children bring their own packed lunch and sun protection, and its lunch policy excludes nuts.

Attending this nursery does not guarantee a Reception place at Simon Balle. Families must apply through Hertfordshire County Council's admissions process. Shared premises and transition meetings can help children prepare for school, but they do not replace that application.

• A single preschool year. Entry is in September for children turning four during that academic year. Families seeking a mid-year start or care for a younger child need to weigh that intake structure against their plans.
• The school calendar matters. Nursery attendance is term-time, with separate holiday bookings; the nursery also closes at noon on term-ending days. Plan cover around those shorter days as well as the main holidays.
• Funding stops at the nursery window. Funded hours apply between 9am and 3pm and cannot pay for breakfast or afterschool provision. A longer attendance day therefore needs a separate budget for wraparound care.
• Lunch and individual care. The all-day session includes lunch club, and allergy information is shared through the welcome-meeting medical form. At a visit, what should children bring for nursery lunch and personal care, and how will the current arrangements meet your child's allergy needs?

Busy Lizzies suits families seeking a defined preschool year with either morning sessions or all-day nursery attendance, plus the option of breakfast and afterschool extensions. Weekly Forest School visits, the farm, gardening club and the WOW room give that year a concrete mix of outdoor exploration and early reading.

The Outstanding judgement dates to June 2022; the present decision rests equally on whether the September intake, term-time calendar and separate wraparound charges fit family life. For children preparing for Reception, the transition meetings and reports offer practical continuity. The school application remains a separate step.