Home from Home Day Nursery Academy

A dinosaur park, drama sessions and a carefully staged move between groups give Home from Home Day Nursery Academy its character. The St Albans setting combines play chosen by children with teaching built around their interests, while home visits and introductory sessions make the first steps into nursery a shared process with parents. Its purpose-built house has three outdoor areas. There is room for learning to move beyond the group rooms.

Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding on 30 January 2025, finding that teaching tailored to individual children supported rapid progress. That judgement has concrete detail behind it: language developed through stories and conversation, outdoor mark-making, and activities that helped children manage their feelings.

There are 76 places in total. Fledglings and Squirrels serve the younger groups, approximately birth to two, while Bees, Badgers and Owls cover approximately two to four. Full days and ad hoc half days provide different attendance options, with the shorter sessions carrying an important booking restriction.

Rooms and Ages

Fledglings and Squirrels form the younger end of the house; Bees, Badgers and Owls form the older end. These are approximate group bands rather than fixed birthday deadlines. A Transition Coordinator organises time with new practitioners and in the next environment before a permanent move, giving changes between groups their own preparation.

Owls adds individual teaching and activities in small groups as children approach school. That creates a more structured stage within the nursery day, rather than making school preparation a separate offer. Elsewhere, resources for the youngest children include baskets and treasure boxes within reach, tents, tunnels and opportunities to fill, empty and transport objects. Children can investigate what objects do through movement and repetition.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework: children learn through play and teaching that develops communication, physical skills, relationships and later foundations such as literacy and mathematics. Home from Home plans around children's interests, combining activities they choose themselves with direct teaching. Its learning and development page explains how observations shape each child's next steps.

Drama, dance and movement add creative experiences, while yoga provides another way to explore movement and feelings. These sessions are included within private fees; funded attendance has a different extras structure. Makaton is used to support communication and inclusion through signing alongside other ways of communicating.

In January 2025, babies explored accessible baskets, shared books with adults and heard their early sounds repeated back in conversation. Older children retold stories using props, extending both vocabulary and their understanding of sequence. Outside, large chalk shapes brought early writing and mathematical ideas into physical play. The examples connect learning to something children can handle, hear or make.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor provision is part of everyday learning. The dinosaur park, den-building and obstacle courses give children different ways to explore space and materials; spare clothing, rain suits and sun hats support time outside in changing weather. The three outdoor areas also give the house more than one setting for play.

In January 2025, outings included regular contact with an older generation through a community craft club. A cathedral exhibition offered babies a sensory experience, while older children examined its artwork. The same destination supported different experiences according to the children taking part. These were purposeful outings, rather than a fixed timetable of identical trips for every group.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts at home. A home visit is followed by at least two introductory visits with a parent, arranged around the family's diary. This gives key practitioners time to learn about routines, interests, dietary needs and allergies before children begin attending alone. Shorter initial stays are recommended where practical, and parents can telephone or visit during the day while their child settles.

Written daily information covers experiences, eating and sleep. Communication also includes monthly newsletters, termly summaries and Parent Staff Consultations in January and July. Each child has an individual development file, used to connect observations with planning. Families therefore receive both everyday care information and a longer view of their child's learning.

The Parent Staff Association (PSA) gives parents a route into nursery life beyond individual conversations. It brings families and practitioners together around the children's welfare and keeps parents involved in current issues. Regular social gatherings include quiz nights and an annual charity ball, adding opportunities to meet other families as well as contribute ideas.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and highlighted sensitive transitions, respectful care and strong partnerships with parents. Those findings concern the nursery at that date; the practical mechanisms continue through key-person communication, introductory visits and coordinated moves between groups.

In January 2025, babies kept familiar care patterns from home, and key persons accompanied children into their next group. Familiar resources were introduced before a move, so children could encounter new activities while still in surroundings they knew. Older children were encouraged to recognise when they needed food or rest, and to understand handwashing and toothbrushing.

Current support roles include SEND specialists, designated safeguarding responsibilities and health and safety leadership. All staff, including ancillary and administrative employees, must hold paediatric first-aid certification under the nursery's employment policy, and continuing professional development is expected across the team. These are arrangements for staff preparation and oversight, rather than substitutes for the dated safeguarding judgement.

A chef works with the leadership team on children's food, and meals are home-cooked using fresh produce. Dietary requirements and allergies form part of the settling information gathered from families.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 52A Bernard Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 5QN. The nursery has its own car park, within a set-back site close to the city centre. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email to admin@homefromhomedaynursery.com or by telephone on 01727 811212.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.15pm on weekdays across the year. Full Day bookings use that same window. Half days are ad hoc only: morning options run from 7.30am to 12.30pm or 8am to 1pm; afternoon options run from 12.30pm to 5.30pm or 1pm to 6pm. The shorter options therefore serve occasional additional attendance rather than an unrestricted regular half-day arrangement.

Waiting lists follow date order, with siblings receiving priority and separate internal and external lists for each end of the house. September is the main intake, although admissions also take place during the year. This is a durable booking rule, not an indication of how many places can be booked now.

Public holidays and weekends are closed, as is the period from Christmas Eve until the first working day of the new year. Fees remain payable during closures and other non-attendance. Monthly payment is made in advance, so the financial arrangement extends beyond the days a child actually attends.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal 15 hours government funding for three- and four-year-olds, starting from the school term after their third birthday, and the extended 30 hours funding for eligible families. Funding can also apply from nine months through means-tested support or for working families who meet the criteria. Families using under-three funding must contact the office, and parents are responsible for keeping eligibility codes valid.

Private fees include meals, snacks and drinks, alongside formula, bottles, nappies, wipes and creams. Parents supply particular nappies they want used, including cloth nappies. Yoga and drama are also included in private fees. This reduces the everyday items families need to pack, while preserving the exception for chosen nappies.

For funded hours, meals and snacks are charged separately, as are nappies, other consumables and seasonal items. Drama, yoga, outings and some reporting services also fall within additional services. Families can opt out by contacting the office; those services are not a condition of taking the funded entitlement. The distinction between private fees and funded hours matters more than a headline description of what nursery fees include.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees page sets out payment and notice terms: one month's notice for attendance changes and ordinary leavers, a full term for children accessing funding, and two months for school leavers.

• Half days have a restriction. Morning and afternoon options are ad hoc only. Families seeking a regular shorter day should weigh that rule against the full-day pattern before planning attendance.
• Funding changes the extras structure. Meals and consumables included in private fees become separately charged services during funded hours, with an opt-out route. How would the entitlement be distributed across your child's intended attendance?
• Moves between groups are planned. A Transition Coordinator arranges familiarisation with the next environment and practitioners. On a visit, discuss how that process would work alongside your child's existing routines and confidence.
• Closures remain chargeable. Public holidays and the Christmas closure sit within the year-round fee arrangement. Include those periods, and the applicable notice requirement, in the family's childcare budget.

Home from Home suits families who value outdoor exploration, creative sessions and a gradual start built around home visits and familiar adults. It serves both regular full-day attendance and occasional morning or afternoon half days, provided families understand the ad hoc restriction on shorter bookings.

The January 2025 Outstanding judgement gives the offer a strong inspection foundation. The more useful details are the mechanisms beneath it: interest-led planning, individual next steps, coordinated group changes and several routes for parent communication. Funding requires careful reading because the private-fee package and funded-hours extras operate differently. For families comfortable with that structure and the year-round payment terms, this is a substantial nursery offer with clear attention to both learning and everyday care.