Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

Nuffield Health St Albans, Highfield Park Drive, St Albans AL4 0AH
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9.9 53 Reviews
  • Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans, St Albans
Nuffy Bear Day Nursery “St Albans” is conveniently situated on the site of Nuffield Health’s St Albans Fitness and Wellbeing gym. The nursery caters for children aged 3 months to 5 years, where they will be grouped into rooms specially designed for their age and development. Their kind, caring staff work closely with parents to ensure children’s individual learning needs are met.

The Nursery benefits from a home from home environment, delicious, healthy meals prepared on-site by the qualified chef, free gym membership with every full time nursery place, they are uniquely qualified to teach your child to swim from the age of 3 years and support your child being active.

Parents are supported by a flexible, inviting nursery, within which their children can flourish, children can immerse themselves in a wide range of fun, exciting resources, creative activities and free childcare (funding).

The nursery day can be split into sessions. The morning session runs from 8am to 1pm, the afternoon session from 1pm to 6pm and full day sessions are from 8am to 6pm. They offer an early drop off session 07:30 - 08:00 and a late pick up session 18:00 - 18:30.

Care Provided by Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

  • Type of Service
  • Day Nursery – Voluntary / Not for Profit Owned
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care
  • Sessional Day Care

Good to Know

  • Person in charge
  • Tiffany Ballard (Nursery Manager)
  • Number of Childcare Staff
  • 23
  • Registered Charity Number
  • 205533
  • Total Places for Children
  • 48
  • Age Range
    • from 0 years 3 months
    • to 5 years 0 months
  • Opening Times
  • Monday 07:30-18:30
    Tuesday 07:30-18:30
    Wednesday 07:30-18:30
    Thursday 07:30-18:30
    Friday 07:30-18:30
  • When Closed
  • Bank Holidays & 1 week at Christmas

Funding & Fees Guide for Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

  • *Prices as of April 2024*
    - Morning Session - 8am-1pm - £50.50 per session
    - Afternoon Session - 1pm-6pm - £48.50 per session
    - All Day Session - 8am-6pm - £82.50 per session
    - Extended All Day Session 7:30am-6:30pm - £88.00 per session
    - Just An Early Drop Off - 7:30am-8am - £9.50 per session
    - Just A Late Pick Up - 6pm-6:30pm - £9.50 per session


  • All sessions include snacks/meals, except for funding sessions.
    Funding options vary with the option to pay for snacks/meals or provide your child's snacks/meals with no charge.
    We do have a packed lunch policy to follow.


  • Parking
  • There is free on site parking and child/parent parking bays right by the entrance.


Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans Reviews (53)

Total of 53, showing 21-40
9.9

Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.916) out of 10, based on 17 reviews in the last 2 years. Over all time Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans has 53 reviews.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

My son has been attending Nuffy Bear in St Albans since 2020 and has grown and matured well over that time. The nursery staff really care about the kids they look after and there's a warmth to the staff and setting that reassures me he's having fun and in a good place while I'm working.

Reply from Tiffany Ballard, Nursery Manager at Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

Thank you for your kind words & support. We really appreciate it and have very much enjoyed looking after your son during his time with us. Please do let us know if you have any ideas or anything that you would like to see implemented at the nursery with our children.


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Nuffy Bear St Albans is fantastic. They care so much about every child and give my daughter the best care while she's there. She loves going in and doesn't want to leave which says a lot. The staff are all so lovely, nothing is too much trouble. They do a variety of activities as well as lots of songs,
stories and dancing. We love it so much, couldn't recommend it more.

Reply from Tiffany Ballard, Nursery Manager at Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

Thank you so much for your kind words and support. We are more than happy to help with anything you need and support where we can. If you have any other activity ideas that you would like us to introduce at the nursery for our children, then please do let us know.


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Very caring and kind nursery. My son is well looked after and his condition is managed very well. Very professional and safe environment. The food is also very good, with three meals and healthy snacks. A lot of toys and activities for the children.

Reply from Tiffany Ballard, Nursery Manager at Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

Thank you for your kind words, we appreciate your support. Please do let us know if you have any further ideas of activities that you would like to see at the nursery, and we can of course implement this with our children. If there is anything else we can do, please do let us know.


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Both of my children have attended Nuffy Bear and have flourished there - warm and supportive staff provide a lovely environment for children to grow at their own pace while having fun. Swimming and sports lessons are an added bonus!

Reply from Tiffany Ballard, Nursery Manager at Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

Thank you so much for your lovely review and comments - We appreciate your continuous support & have thoroughly enjoyed looking after both your children during their time at nursery. If there are any other classes/activity ideas that you would like for us to implement at nursery for the children, please do let us know.


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

I have had a child at Nuffy Bear since 2019, and my youngest still attends. A lovely nursery with caring, friendly staff. My children are happy going in and at collection. They have flourished there, and I would certainly recommend it.

Reply from Tiffany Ballard, Nursery Manager at Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans

Thank you so much for the lovely review. We appreciate your feedback and have thoroughly enjoyed looking after both children during their time with us and watching them grow into the lovely, kind children that they are.


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My son has been with this nursery for more than a year, and I could say the staff and his carers genuinely care about him and the children they look after. You could see the closeness and bond, they worry as much as we the parents! and they really listen, take on board positive feedback and observations.
Activities are stimulating and fun, the food is amazingly good and nutritious and well varied. We are very lucky and happy we found this nursery, it feels like family and home.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My son has been attending Nuffy Bear Day Nursery, St Albans, for just over 2 years now. It is a loving, homely, stimulating environment. The staff are so caring and lovely to all the family, my son loves every day at nursery, and it is lovely to see him so happy when I drop off and collect.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My son has been going to this nursery for three years. It is a lovely, friendly nursery with nurturing staff. He loves going each day and enjoys a wide range of activities. The staff have worked hard in the Covid-19 times to take the place of the many outside activities such as French class and swimming.
I am happy knowing that my son is learning in a safe environment. The staff really listen and adapt activities to the child. Any concerns I have are taken care of quickly and I can contact the manager anytime by phone or email to discuss my child if needed. The food is also of a very high, healthy quality.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My son has been attending Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans since November 2020. The team have been absolutely fantastic and my son settled in really quickly as they have been so great and attentive with him. Being in lockdown has led to my son having a speech delay, but since he started at Nuffy Bear
Day Nursery St Albans his confidence is really growing, he’s become so much more sociable and the team make a genuine effort to help him to develop which is so fantastic. My son loves going to nursery, he rushes in each day. We always have fantastic communication from everyone about what’s going on and what he’s done each day.
We’d definitely recommend Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans. The nursery offers great care and attention, as well as being a fun place that the kids love attending.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

We send both of our children here, one is three years old and the other, one-year-old and both are extremely happy. The nursery provides a nurturing environment with a great range of activities to engage and develop children. Both of our children love attending Nuffy Bears Day Nursery St Albans and
have built strong relationships with their carers and their peers.
The staff are enthusiastic, adaptable and take a common-sense approach to any issues arising. They ensure the children can be outside daily wherever possible and provide plenty of opportunity for indoor exercise on top of this. Swimming and French lessons add to their offer, outside of Covid-19.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

I would highly recommend Nuffy Bear. My daughter started in October and the transition and support from staff has been outstanding. She goes in happy everyday. There is a wide range of activities to help stimulate her and enable her development. Communication from staff has been excellent.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

We could not ask for a more caring and nurturing nursery for our son. He is growing into a confident little boy and is being well prepared for transitioning to school. He is constantly making lovely memories and great friendships that I hope will last a lifetime. Couldn't fault this nursery or the team
they are amazing.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The nursery has been fantastic with both my children. The children settled very well and both love attending nursery. Me and my wife have been extremely impressed with how the nursery managed the recent changes due to COVID. Thank you for caring for our children so well.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

All the key workers are really friendly, approachable. Their help with potty training was especially helpful for me as a first-time mum! They were especially flexible with us in changing hours to help fit with our home commitments.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My daughter started Nuffy Bear in January 2020 when she was 9 months old, being a first-time mum I was so worried about leaving her. But I and my partner couldn’t be happier with the staff at Nuffy Bear, they are all so loving warming which made my return back to work so much better! She loves going
to nursery and enjoys seeing all the staff and forming a special friendship with all the children. She loves getting involved in all the fun messy activities and exploring the outside area! I would 100% recommended Nuffy Bear!

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My husband and I are so grateful to all of the staff at Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans - we had not planned to put our daughter in nursery quite so early but due to Covid-19, family isolation and both of us working frontline for the NHS the decision was taken out of hands.
The manager and her team
came to the rescue - within hours of my original enquiry they were arranging us a place and reassuring me that she would be taken good care of. I could not have asked for more - the day I dropped my daughter off - she happily trotted off on a new adventure and started to explore her new environment with barely a backward glance.
To say she loves going to nursery is an understatement, as we arrive in the car park she is squealing with excitement and desperate to run to the gate and see who will be there. We don't know everyone by name yet but there is never a face that she isn't pleased to see. She is flourishing and making wonderful relationships with both staff and children. Thank you so much to all staff.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My 6-month-old son attends Nuffy Bear Day Nursery, as a first-time mother I was very apprehensive about nurseries, I was told all about Nuffy Bear by a friend who's child attends, they recommended the nursery highly. Since my son has been attending all I can say is how happy he is there, the staff made
the transition very easy for me, they are so welcoming and knowledgeable.
I love to hear about his day and what he has been up to. The menu is varied and healthy, this is one of the main factors I liked about the nursery.


The nursery has a very loving and caring atmosphere as soon as you walk in, this is lovely to see.


It is so nice for me to be able to drop him off and go to work not having to worry.


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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Fantastic nursery. Our son started in June and settled very quickly. Sara and her team have been so patient and caring. Our son has learnt so much. We would definitely recommend the nursery.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My twins started Nuffy Bear in the Creche at 4 months old and became nursery children at 18 months. Over the nearly four years we have attended Nuffield, we have seen a huge amount of improvement. The quality of learning experience is excellent with not only all the eyfs covered but also Football, French
and swimming lessons included in the program. We have found Nuffy Bear to be very caring and nurturing, whilst flexible to support our family and work commitments. The facilities are fantastic. It would not suprise us to see Nuffield awarded Outstanding at its next Ofsted.

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Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Both my children (4 years and 3 years) attend Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans. Both thoroughly enjoy the activities, space and staff.


Very happy and would recommend.


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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.916)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.916) out of 10 for Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  • a) The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 17 Reviews in the last 24 months.

  • b) The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 17 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  • a) 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months.

    The Average Rating of 4.916 for Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans is calculated as follows: ( (185 Excellents x 5) + (17 Goods x 4) ) ÷ 202 Ratings = 4.916

  • b) 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5').

    The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Nuffy Bear Day Nursery St Albans is based on 17 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    • i) 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4

    • ii) 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 48 number of registered child places is 9.6, which has been reached with 17 Positive reviews. Points = 1

  • When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.

  • If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

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Meet the Team (1)

Tiffany

Tiffany Ballard

Job Title: Nursery Manager

Joined: 2016

Hello, I am the Nursery Manager at Nuffy Bear Day Nursery in St Albans.


I have worked in the childcare sector for 10+ years and have a whole wealth of knowledge and understanding when it comes to children, I am also a mummy to a little girl.


I completed my NVQ Level 3 qualification & have experience being an unqualified practitioner and worked my way up to a senior/ 3rd in charge, deputy & now nursery Manager. I have a huge passion for what I do and I want to ensure that all our children grow & thrive from attending our nursery setting.