Opening hours
Monday to Friday from 7:30 am until 6:30 pm.
Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden
Ofsted: Expected standard·
3.8(13 parent reviews)
·Leavesden Green Junior Middle & Infant School, High Road, WATFORD, WD25 7QZ · Hertfordshire
Number of places
72 places
Age range
1–4 yrs
Last inspected
Mar 2026
Local authority
Hertfordshire
About this day nursery
Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden, registered in 2023, is a childcare setting for children aged 1 to 4 years, operating from Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 6:30 pm, all year round. The nursery is located on the grounds of Leavesden Green Junior Middle & Infant School in Watford.
The dedicated staff, guided by a new leadership team, warmly welcome children and gather detailed information about their individual needs before they even start. The nursery has an impressive capacity of 72 children.
While the latest Ofsted rating is 'Requires Improvement', the nursery is diligently working on targeted improvements, particularly in consistently sequencing their EYFS curriculum to better sustain children's interest and support learning outcomes. They also aim to enhance support for older children in emotional regulation and to provide parents with more consistent ideas for at-home learning.
The setting prioritises children's physical development, with ample outdoor opportunities for activities like chalk drawing, which helps build gross motor skills. Although children with SEND are quickly identified, there is a focus on acting swiftly on emerging concerns.
Parents have expressed positive feedback about the new management and their children's happiness at the nursery.
What it's like
Children at Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden are happy and confident, understanding nursery expectations and behaving well. While staff get to know children's interests, the curriculum is not consistently sequenced, limiting children's progress as activities often fail to sustain their interest. This means intended learning outcomes are not fully supported.
Nurturing staffGood behaviourPhysical developmentValued staffNew leadership improvements
Pricing & funding
Funding accepted
15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)
Key facts
Term time / All Year
All_year
Established
2023
Ofsted Inspection — new report card
Expected standard
Last inspected Mar 2026
Grade summary
Exceptional
—
Strong standard
—
Expected standard
Needs attention
—
Urgent improvement
—
Each dot represents one of the six inspection categories. Headline is the average of the six grades, rounded up.
Category grades
AchievementExpected standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesExpected standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected standard
Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
InclusionExpected standard
Leadership and governanceExpected standard
Age range
1 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating for Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden
Last inspected 27 March 2026 · Lisa Smith
Actions the provider must take
- develop the curriculum to ensure that it clearly identifies what it is that children need to learn, how this reflects their individual needs and offers appropriate challenge, to help them make at least good progress
- improve the arrangements to provide support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to meet their individual needs.
What it's like to attend
Children at Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden are happy and confident, understanding nursery expectations and behaving well. While staff get to know children's interests, the curriculum is not consistently sequenced, limiting children's progress as activities often fail to sustain their interest. This means intended learning outcomes are not fully supported.
Inspector highlights
- Children are eagerly welcomed by nurturing staff, who gather detailed information about them before they start.
- Children understand the expectations and rules in the nursery and behave well.
- Children benefit from many opportunities to develop their physical skills.
- Staff speak positively about their role and feel valued and supported by leaders.
- A new leadership team has made improvements that have positively impacted outcomes for children.
Areas to develop
- 1Leaders and staff should continue to build on partnerships with parents to provide specific ideas to support children's individual learning at home.
- 2Leaders should consider ways to target professional development more precisely to staff's needs so training strengthens practice and improves consistency.
- 3Leaders should build on staff practice to support older children to understand their own and others emotions in preparation to self-regulate their behaviour.
Inspection #10392217 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly. Emerging concerns are not always acted on swiftly to ensure children get the help they need and reduce any differences in their learning. Children with SEND are settled in the nursery and have strong bonds with the staff team. Additional funding is not always used effectively to support children to make the best possible progress in their learning.
Outdoor space
Children benefit from many opportunities to develop their physical skills. Outside, children enjoy making large marks with chalk, moving their arms and shoulders to create big circles and lines. These large movements help develop their muscles and core strength.
EAL / language support
Progress is less rapid for children who are bilingual or speak English as an additional language. There are inconsistencies in the quality of practice for children who are bilingual or speak English as an additional language, resulting in gaps in these children's language and social skills not always closing as quickly as they could.
Parent Reviews of Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden
3.8
(13)
Ana Santos
3 months ago
Very happy with my choice since beginning.. my little one always happy to attend nursery and came home on a daily basis telling us what she have done.. she loves spending time in the garden and nursery have a good outside area.. staff is always supportive.. the environment looks like home.. ❤️
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Marieta Onisca
7 months ago
Very nice nursery. My son Ianis really loves the stuff ❤️ Highly recommend 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
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Evelyne Velcheva
3 years ago
Be on the look out for child neglect and discrimination. I really wanted to like this nursery but unfortunately had to stop my child from going there due to neglect, low hygiene and discrimination. The staff are lazy and careless. They let my child walk wet all day and in obvious distress when I provided two pair of leggings - outrageous! My advice to you parents would be to not ignore any signs of child neglect or any suspicious vague behaviour from the staff. Good luck
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Neal Dobbs
4 years ago
My little one loves attending Ashbourne Leavesden! It’s a great nursery with incredible staff. On the days she doesn’t attend she always asks to go and see her friends and teachers there. The teachers are amazing, they’re so kind and nurturing and are always thinking of fun creative activities for the kids. One of my favourites things is the new Famly app, it makes it so easy to see what my little one has been up to and see what’s she’s eaten, how long she’s napped for etc. It’s so nice to get these notifications through the day when I’m at work and see pictures of what she’s doing. I highly recommend Ashbourne Leavesden!
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Nm S
4 years ago
I had to take my child out of this nursery due to neglect of personal care Lack of communication with staff and incidents involving my child not being watched and injuring himself. My child was left with a chemical reaction to a nappy all day, when staff knew he was sore and in pain and did not contact me When they were told not to put their cheap nappies on my child, Leanne the staff member stated there was no nappies and wipes in the bag, when there was 3 nappies and wipes The deputy manager Erin knew my child was sore and did not contact me all day There response was I'm sorry After I took my child out of the nursery, the nursery fraudulently claiming for the funding that was available Avoid this nursery at all costs, the turn over of staff is terrible and noone knows what they are doing.
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Date: May 2025
The most recent inspection point has been hidden because the parsed entry didn't match the headline Ofsted rating (Requires improvement). We're re-checking it against the original report.
- June 2025Requires improvement
- May 2025Requires improvement
Frequently asked about Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Leavesden
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