Starjumps Nursery Potters Bar

An upstairs outdoor play area, outings to the woods and access to swimming give Starjumps Nursery Potters Bar a strongly active character. Its home at the Furzefield Centre shapes the nursery day: children can explore beyond their usual play space, while a sensory room provides somewhere quieter. Movement and a place to pause both have a role here.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 11 December 2024 inspection. It accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has 44 places in total, with care across 50 weeks of the year. Morning, afternoon and full-day bookings give families different ways to use it.

The December 2024 practical reservations matter alongside that grade. In December 2024, children sometimes needed longer to answer questions, and noise disrupted concentration during group activities. These are useful points to explore when judging how the day would work for your child.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care; here, play brings together language, physical skills and early number work. In December 2024, children hunted for hidden numbers in soft play and experimented with adding water to sand. Those examples put learning into something children could handle and investigate, rather than separating it from play.

Stories, rhymes and songs also featured that December. During outdoor storytelling and materials play, staff introduced vocabulary that helped children describe what they were doing. The questioning needed more patience, however: children did not consistently have enough thinking time before responding. For parents, the distinction is between being asked a question and having room to work out an answer.

Fine movement had its own place in the day. In December 2024, children drew with chalk outside and shaped dough into snowmen, adding sticks for arms. Matching dinosaur quantities to numerals brought counting into another practical activity. The physical materials gave children different ways to practise using their hands and understanding numbers.

Outdoor and Community Life

An upstairs outdoor area usable in different weather conditions extends the nursery's play space. Regular outings include the woods, soft play, swimming and dance studios. This gives families an active offer that reaches beyond the nursery itself, with different settings for movement and exploration.

In December 2024, children also took part in football and gymnastics, alongside swimming lessons and woodland visits. Community outings included a supermarket, helping children connect everyday places with the people who work there. Self-portraits and learning about Christmas and Diwali added opportunities to explore identity and celebrations. These were experiences of the nursery at that time, rather than a fixed timetable of sessions.

Settling sessions adapt to the individual child. That flexibility gives the early days a personal starting point, rather than requiring every family to follow the same introduction. The nursery also maintains connections with its local Family Centre, adding a link beyond its own childcare provision.

In December 2024, familiar key persons helped children settle, and staff supported children through disagreements over sharing. One example involved finding more drawing space so children could continue together. Clear expectations and praise for positive choices were part of that daily practice. The emphasis was on helping children manage a difficulty and return to play.

At the December 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised personalised support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with staff adapting teaching and using assessment to plan their next steps. That dated judgement gives a firmer basis for assessing inclusion than a general promise of support.

The Baby Sensory Area offers a place for relaxation and sensory exploration, and children across the nursery can use it. Its practical value is the choice of a calmer space alongside the more active experiences. In December 2024, the nursery employed 14 childcare staff, and leaders used supervision and professional development to support their work; that is a staffing snapshot, rather than a current room allocation.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery occupies the first floor of the Furzefield Centre on Mutton Lane, Potters Bar, EN6 3BW. Bookings run Monday to Friday: mornings are 8am to 1pm, afternoons 1pm to 6pm, and full days 8am to 6pm. These are separate attendance options, so a family wanting a shorter day has a choice of morning or afternoon.

There is no minimum weekly session commitment, and children can start throughout the year. Care runs across 50 weeks. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01707 850 555 or by email to Starjumps.pottersbar@inspireall.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered. The part-time funding arrangement for eligible children from 9 months to 4 years starts in the term after they reach 9 months and consists of three five-hour sessions each week across 38 term-time weeks. Eligibility remains a condition; that pattern should not be read as a promise of a funded place for every child.

For paid sessions, meals are included in the session fee under the January 2026 terms, while families supply nappies and wipes where needed. Food provision comprises afternoon tea, breakfast and a hot lunch. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the nursery fees and funding terms setting out the booking structure.

Accepting a place involves a refundable holding deposit, except for families using supported two-year funded sessions, and a separate non-refundable registration charge goes on the first invoice. Fees are collected in advance by direct debit; childcare vouchers and payments from a Government tax-free account are also accepted. These payment arrangements matter when planning the first invoice as well as ongoing care.

• Thinking time and group noise. The December 2024 improvement points concerned rushed responses to questions and distractions during group work. During a visit, ask how staff now give children time to answer and keep those sessions manageable.
• First-floor setting. Both the nursery and its outdoor provision are upstairs. For families using a pram or needing step-free access, how does the route to the nursery work in practice?
• Funding pattern. The funded part-time arrangement uses three five-hour sessions over 38 term-time weeks. Compare that pattern with the childcare you need during holidays and across the working week.

Starjumps suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day care, especially those who value woodland outings and access to physical activities. The quieter sensory space adds another useful dimension. Its December 2024 Good judgement sits alongside specific improvements needed in questioning and group noise, so those everyday interactions deserve attention when choosing it. Flexible settling and the absence of a minimum weekly booking commitment make the attendance offer adaptable.