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Willowbrook Nursery

Ofsted: Expected standard·
4.6(22 parent reviews)
·115 Dixons Hill Road, Welham Green, Hatfield, AL9 7EE · Hertfordshire
Number of places
40 places
Age range
1–4 yrs
Last inspected
May 2026
Local authority
Hertfordshire

About this day nursery

Willowbrook Nursery in Hatfield, AL9 7EE, provides childcare on non-domestic premises and was registered with Ofsted on 16/02/2024. The setting caters to children aged 1 to 4 years old, with a total capacity of 40 children.

The nursery operates Monday to Friday, from 08:00 to 18:00. Children arrive at the nursery happy, enthusiastically greeting staff.

Older children wear slippers, fostering a sense of belonging. The nursery promotes an open culture of safeguarding, ensuring children are made safer and feel safe.

The dedicated staff offer a nurturing environment where babies form secure attachments with their key person and other familiar staff. The curriculum is tailored for each age group, with a weekly theme providing continuity in learning.

Babies receive support in communication, language, personal, emotional, and physical development. In the toddler room, children build confidence and extend their learning across all 7 areas of development, while pre-schoolers receive opportunities to practice essential early literacy and mathematical skills to prepare them for school.

The setting also demonstrates a commitment to inclusion, with effective systems to identify and assess emerging needs and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

What it's like

Children are happy on arrival at Willowbrook Nursery, enthusiastically greeting leaders. Older children place their shoes in named pockets and wear slippers upon arrival, fostering a sense of belonging. Babies form secure attachments with their key person and familiar staff, who respond to their needs. The baby room provides a safe, cosy, and well-resourced environment for babies to practise emerging skills such as walking and early communication.

Strong safeguarding cultureAge-appropriate curriculumSchool readiness focusSupportive staffPositive transitions

Key facts

Opening hours

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 08:00 - 18:00

Term time / All Year

All_year

Established

2024

Ofsted Inspection — new report card

Expected standard

Last inspected May 2026

Headline: Expected 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

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, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Willowbrook Nursery

Last inspected 13 May 2026

What it's like to attend

Children are happy on arrival at Willowbrook Nursery, enthusiastically greeting leaders. Older children place their shoes in named pockets and wear slippers upon arrival, fostering a sense of belonging. Babies form secure attachments with their key person and familiar staff, who respond to their needs. The baby room provides a safe, cosy, and well-resourced environment for babies to practise emerging skills such as walking and early communication.

Inspector highlights

  • Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, making children feel safe.
  • Babies are well supported to make progress through appropriate experiences, including daily outdoor access, promoting communication, physical, personal, social, and emotional development.
  • Children in the pre-school room develop key skills for school transition, accessing opportunities to embed early literacy and mathematical understanding.
  • Children generally behave well, demonstrating kindness and consideration towards peers and adults.
  • Leaders and staff develop close, supportive relationships with children and families, promoting continuity of care and nurturing interactions.
  • Leaders have developed a clear, age-appropriate curriculum for each room, with an overarching weekly theme for continuity in learning.
  • Parents speak highly of the setting and its leadership, with strong partnerships supporting effective communication and continuity of care.

Areas to develop

  • 1Strengthen staff's understanding of intended learning outcomes for consistent progress.
  • 2Make better use of everyday routines, including mealtimes and self-care, to promote children's independence.

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Leaders have a secure understanding of how to promote inclusion for all children, regardless of their starting points or any special educational needs and/or disabilities, with effective systems to identify and assess emerging needs at an early stage. Staff are well supported to implement individual education plans effectively and collaborate with local authority professionals and specialists to ensure children with additional needs are supported appropriately.

Parent Reviews of Willowbrook Nursery

4.6
(22)
Anika Patel
a year ago

My Daughter has been attending Willowbrook since 10months and she will continue too until reception. Willowbrook is a brilliant nursery. The staff are so friendly and caring. Going beyond most nurseries ensuring my child has a safe, fun environment and always doing brilliant activities. I’m always kept updated with the app and I can always message if I’m ever worried. They supported me during potty training allowing my daughter to feel confident to do this herself. The team at Willowbrook are exceptional. Pascal has built a beautiful nursery and I feel my daughter gets a great mixture of learning with lots of fun activities. I would 100% recommend.

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Michelle Melzack
a year ago

My son started Willowbrook Nursery in the baby room. He had a settling in period to get used to his key worker and his new environment. This was carried out with thought and consideration in every way. The smiles as I carried him in gave me all the confidence I needed knowing I had chosen the right environment for him. He was full of smiles too when I collected him too. His progress continued through each term. He’s been running in laughing and excited to be going when I tell him it’s a nursery day Pascal and her team have been nothing less than attentive and professional and understanding in every situation. They work very hard with all the children and recognise each child’s abilities. I received a call from Pascal telling me she felt my child would benefit from moving onto the next class and could we have a chat to see how I felt about it. I’ve been kept updated on every aspect of development and each stage of progress. I couldn’t be happier or feel more confident in the welfare at Willowbrook. Pascal and her staff are very caring and dedicated and deserve all the very best for taking such good care of my son and all the children in their care Thank you all such much

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Bally Biring
2 years ago

Our two daughters attended Willowbrook (youngest still attending) and they were extremely happy there. Pascal and her team are always welcoming, friendly and professional. You can see they genuinely care about the children. When we moved to the area in 2021 we were looking for a nursery and Willowbrook stood out. Pascal answered all our questions and put to rest any concerns we may have had with past nursery experiences. When our eldest daughter was taught phonics it was amazing to see how quickly she picked it up and it prepared her well for reading and writing at school. The nursery provides a fun way of learning which helps encourage the children to want to do more. Willowbrook is surrounded by large fields where the children play and have picnics outside when the weather is nice. It is lovely to have such a large outside space for them. If there are ever any questions Pascal gets back to you straight away and you can also speak to your child’s key worker via the Famly app. Our youngest will be leaving for school in September and we can’t thank Willowbrook enough for all they have done. We will genuinely miss them.

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Charlotte Harvey
a year ago

I never thought I’d trust a nursery as much as I do at Willowbrook! Honestly the staff are all amazing - so thoughtful and caring not only to my child but me as well. It’s like one big family. They go above and beyond, I can’t recommend them enough!

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Chocolate Chip Cookie
5 years ago

Pascal and her team are amazing. Really friendly and supportive of my daughter who joined them at 10 months. The children are welcoming and inclusive. I love that my daughter gets to play outside every day, walk through the woods, interact with horses - trips into the village. She has so much much fun, and doesn't look backwards at all in the morning! The communication is great, really responsive and supportive. Would recommend (and have done so!)

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Willowbrook Nursery. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Most recent inspection

13 May 2026

Expected 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