Food
Meals freshly prepared on-site, no additional charge
Sandhills Day Nursery Heath Mill
Ofsted: Good
(Jul 2025)
Number of places
71 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Jul 2025
Local authority
Staffordshire
About this day nursery
Apricot Day Nursery, nestled in the heart of St Neots, offers a nurturing and intimate environment for children's development. The nursery welcomes children from a young age and is open for 51 weeks a year, operating from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm.
They pride themselves on a flexible approach, aiming to accommodate individual family needs without additional charges for food, enrichment activities, or consumables. The curriculum, known as the Brighter Learning Approach, goes beyond the traditional Early Years Foundation Stage, offering real-life experiences and child-led learning across six core areas: My Happy and Healthy Self, Wonderful World, Super Steam, Raving Readers, Mini Maths, and Confident Speakers and Communicators.
The nursery incorporates the Montessori approach in a home-like setting, encouraging learning through play. To prepare children for school, the "Next Stop School" programme focuses on building confidence, social skills, and independence, even offering a £30 Clarks voucher for school shoes to graduating children.
The nursery is split across two sites for optimal age-appropriate experiences, with three rooms each having access to its own outdoor play area. A key person system ensures tailored care and communication with parents, facilitated by verbal updates and a parent app.
Meals are freshly prepared on-site using seasonal ingredients, catering to dietary requirements, and safety is a top priority with robust policies and staff training. Weekly baby clubs and open days also foster a strong community feel among parents.
Our ethos
Apricot Day Nursery employs the Brighter Learning Approach, which goes beyond the EYFS to offer real-life experiences and child-led learning across six core areas. They integrate the Montessori approach within a home-like setting, encouraging learning through play and fostering skills for school readiness through their "Next Stop School" programme.
What it's like
Children are happy, confident learners. They greet visitors with a cheerful hello and eagerly share their learning with them. Respectful relationships between staff and children are evident, and an effective key-person system is in place.
Montessori approachOutdoor learningBrighter Learning ApproachNext Stop School programmeNo extra charges for food or enhancements
Pricing & funding
Funding accepted
Tax-Free Childcare
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
Opening hours
7:30am - 6:30pm, 51 weeks a year
Term time / All Year
All Year
Session types
Full day, Early start, Late finish
Established
2019
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating for Sandhills Day Nursery Heath Mill
Last inspected 29 July 2025
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
What it's like to attend
Children are happy, confident learners. They greet visitors with a cheerful hello and eagerly share their learning with them. Respectful relationships between staff and children are evident, and an effective key-person system is in place.
Inspector highlights
- Leaders have introduced purposeful professional development for staff, strengthening their focus on children's learning and improving teaching quality.
- There are secure spaces for both quiet activities and active play that support children's physical and emotional well-being.
- Staff monitor children's development to identify any gaps in learning and work effectively with external professionals to implement agreed targets.
- Staff demonstrate secure knowledge of how to report any concerns about a child's welfare and actively keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date.
- Through play, staff promote children's mathematical development, encouraging them to investigate size and shape and use related terms.
Areas to develop
- 1encourage staff to regularly reflect on their interactions with children to promote greater engagement and independence in children's learning
- 2obtain detailed information from all parents more promptly to ensure their views are used effectively to enhance each child's individual planning and care.
Inspection #10379988 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
What parents say
Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection
Parents and carers value the close relationships all staff develop with their children.
Parents are happy with the setting and appreciate how attentive staff are to their children's individual needs, such as creating activities that support oral health and managing emotions.
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
Leaders allocate funding based on the specific needs of eligible children. For instance, resources have been purchased to support children who are experiencing difficult times, helping them to express their feelings. Staff work effectively with external professionals to implement agreed targets for children with learning gaps, and recent training has strengthened staff's ability to access additional funding quickly, enabling timely support and early intervention.
Outdoor space
There are secure spaces for active play that support children's physical well-being. For example, staff skilfully roll and spin bracelets across the floor to encourage babies to crawl and reach. Low-level furniture allows babies to pull themselves up and practise standing, helping to strengthen core muscles in preparation for walking.
Parent Reviews of Sandhills Day Nursery Heath Mill
5.0
(2)
Stephanie Norton
3 years ago
My child started at Sandhills Heath Mill in March 2023, and I couldn't be happier with her transition, and this is mainly down to the wonderful people and environment there! Her keyworker made me feel immediately at ease on our settling-in days and was so warm and loving towards my little girl; I knew that she would be ok! The deputy manager has also been an incredible support and always checked in to see if I was ok through my transition back to work (which is also so important to have!). The staff have also been very supportive of our use of cloth nappies, which I was very worried about as not many people use them. The food menu is also very varied; I love checking my app to see what has been offered (and mostly eaten!). My little girl has really thrived there the past few months, and I am just so thankful we chose Heath Mill!
Read on Google
Jo Wright
10 months ago
Wonderful nursery environment. Thank you for showing me around. We can’t wait to get stuck in with the messy play.
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for Sandhills Day Nursery Heath Mill. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Date: March 2022
- September 2025Good
- July 2025Good
- January 2025Requires improvement
- November 2024Requires improvement
- June 2024Requires improvement
- May 2024Requires improvement
- April 2022Good
- March 2022Good
Frequently asked about Sandhills Day Nursery Heath Mill
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