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Foresters Den Abbey Nursery

Ofsted: Strong standard·
4.7(15 Google reviews) ·34 Sun Street, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1EJ · Essex
Number of places
44 places
Age range
1–4 yrs
Last inspected
Jul 2026
Local authority
Essex

About this day nursery

Foresters Den Nursery offers a nurturing and stimulating environment across two locations, Cheshunt and Waltham Abbey, dedicated to fostering the development of children into future leaders. The day nursery prides itself on a nature-led approach, encouraging children to learn, explore, and thrive outdoors in all seasons, which builds confidence, independence, and curiosity.

They understand the demands of modern family life, providing flexible childcare options where parents can book hourly and adjust schedules weekly to genuinely fit their needs. The nurseries operate with extended opening hours, from 7 am to 7 pm, 50 weeks a year, offering reliable support for parents managing work, travel, or varying schedules.

A warm, family-first care philosophy ensures that the environments feel like an extension of home, providing comfort and security for the children. To support children's well-being, all meals are fresh, healthy, and cooked onsite by dedicated nursery cooks, with careful attention paid to allergies and dietary requirements.

Parents are kept engaged and informed about their child's day through a dedicated app, which provides daily photos, videos, updates, and learning observations. The Waltham Abbey branch, located on Sun Street amidst historical landmarks, offers creative and natural learning spaces, complete with a garden for daily outdoor play, catering to children who thrive in exploratory and natural settings.

Similarly, the Cheshunt nursery features a dedicated baby outbuilding for infants aged 9 months and older, alongside spacious indoor and outdoor play areas. They invite families to book a viewing to experience their nature-rich settings firsthand and meet the team.

Our ethos

At Foresters Den Nursery, children learn, explore and thrive through nature. Our nurseries offer warm, child-led care wrapped around the flexibility towards families’ needs. Children build confidence, independence and curiosity outdoors, exploring in all seasons.

What it's like

Children flourish in this nurturing and joyful setting, arriving excited and often not wanting to leave. They feel safe because staff know them incredibly well and respond quickly to their cues. Babies settle with ease, exploring sensory materials and developing language rapidly. Children enjoy rich experiences, developing fine motor skills, showing resilience, and building close relationships with staff, which contributes to their strong academic, social, and emotional flourishing.

Nature-Led LearningFlexible ChildcareExtended Opening HoursFresh Meals Cooked OnsiteParent App

Pricing & funding

Pricing on request

This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.

Request pricing →

Key facts

Food

All meals cooked onsite by dedicated nursery cooks. Cater for allergies and dietary needs.

Opening hours

7am to 7pm, 50 weeks a year

Age range

9 months+

Term time / All Year

All_year

Session types

hourly booking

Registered with Ofsted

2024

Waitlist

Request a viewing

Ofsted Inspection — new report card

Strong standard

Last inspected Jul 2026

Headline: Strong standard

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

AchievementStrong standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesStrong standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingStrong standard
Curriculum and teachingStrong standard
InclusionStrong standard
Leadership and governanceStrong standard
Age range
1 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted report for Foresters Den Abbey Nursery

Last inspected 9 July 2026

What it's like to attend

Children flourish in this nurturing and joyful setting, arriving excited and often not wanting to leave. They feel safe because staff know them incredibly well and respond quickly to their cues. Babies settle with ease, exploring sensory materials and developing language rapidly. Children enjoy rich experiences, developing fine motor skills, showing resilience, and building close relationships with staff, which contributes to their strong academic, social, and emotional flourishing.

Inspector highlights

  • Children achieve consistently well across all areas of learning, developing secure foundations in their communication, language, and personal, social, and emotional development.
  • Behaviour and attitudes are securely embedded across the setting, with children behaving well due to consistent routines and well-planned activities.
  • Leaders and staff promote children's welfare and wellbeing superbly, building warm and trusting relationships.
  • The curriculum and teaching are highly effective, with an ambitious curriculum that reflects secure knowledge of child development.
  • Inclusion is a strength in this setting, with leaders identifying children's needs early and providing effective support.
  • Leadership is reflective and ambitious, with leaders knowing the setting well and understanding the community.
  • Parent partnerships are excellent, with parents and carers feeling heard and supported.
  • Children enjoy rich experiences every day, exploring puzzles, tunnels, and role-play, and developing fine motor skills.

Areas to develop

  • 1Leaders should deepen the already successful work on inclusion so children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, or those who may face barriers to learning experience commendable levels of individualised support that lead to transformational impact over time.

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities access the full curriculum due to effective adaptations and specialist guidance, including speech and language therapists. Staff use visuals, objects of reference, and regulation tools, and adapt routines sensitively.

Outdoor space

Children enjoy daily outdoor play, climbing, balancing, and running freely in large open spaces. Babies enjoy walks in buggies, observing nature. Staff encourage appropriate risk-taking to help children learn safety and develop physical skills.

EAL / language support

The curriculum is inclusive, and staff prioritise communication and language for children who need extra support. They use Makaton, visuals, and repetition to aid learning.

Google Reviews of Foresters Den Abbey Nursery

4.7
(15 Google reviews)
CE Surridge
4 months ago

Foresters Den Abbey Nursery is a fantastic setting for early childhood. The dedicated staff work well together and show genuine care for the children. Communication is effective, keeping parents well-informed, and suggestions are welcomed. Every child and parent receives respectful treatment. This nursery comes highly recommended for anyone seeking quality early years care for their child.

Read on Google
Kayleigh Hawkins
4 months ago

Couldn’t be happier with this nursery, all the staff are friendly and very approachable and professional. No question is too much. Children are happy and have so much fun here. You can see the big smiles on their faces. The famly app is amazing and communication through that is good. You can tell how much the nursery staff love ther jobs and how much they care for the children. X x

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Tom McCormack
4 months ago

I couldn’t be happier with the nursery Bella attended. From the very beginning, the staff were incredibly warm, welcoming, and genuinely caring. It was clear every day that Bella was in a safe, nurturing environment where she was encouraged to learn, play, and grow with confidence. The team always took the time to communicate with me, sharing updates about Bella’s day and celebrating her progress, which meant a lot as parents. The atmosphere was friendly, positive, and well-structured, and Bella absolutely loved going in each morning. I am so grateful for the care, patience, and kindness shown to Bella, and i would highly recommend this nursery to any parent looking for a supportive and loving place for their child.

Read on Google
Melissa Payne
7 months ago

My one year absolutely loves this nursery. She always goes in smiling & comes out happy. The staff are great & very caring. The Family App is great as it gets updated throughout the day so you can see what your little one has eaten etc & also the staff upload pictures & videos which is always lovely to see. Would recommend this nursery 100%.

Read on Google
Justaboymum
7 months ago

I have had my son at another nursery but once I saw this met with the director and staffing I knew it was the perfect place for my family. My son has been here from 9months old and his confidence in speaking, and showing amazing skills in his understanding shows me that the staff talk to him and explain things. They use a app called family and my daily updates are beautiful to see how much he’s ate, what he’s been doing and also to message through to the girls to ensure my son is okay through his day is a privilege and puts my mind at ease. I’m so happy and thankful for all the teams hard work and it’s lovely to see it’s such a happy environment where all members of staff know my son even if they are not in his age range they still show a great interest in him and his interests. Thank you everyone at foresters xxx

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Foresters Den Abbey Nursery. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Most recent inspection

9 July 2026

Strong standard

Only one graded inspection on record — a trend chart will appear here once a second graded report is published.

View full Ofsted report

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This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more