Hitchin House

Hitchin House Day Nursery received an Outstanding rating across all areas in its first routine inspection in August 2022. The report, conducted under the pre-November 2025 framework (Quality of Education, Behaviour & Attitudes, Personal Development, Leadership & Management), has been mapped to the new 7-area November 2025 structure. All legacy grades map to Exceptional (95-100) in the new framework: Quality of Education → Curriculum and Teaching (98), Behaviour and Attitudes → Behaviour, Attitudes and Establishing Routines (97), Personal Development → Children's Welfare and Well-being (97), and Leadership and Management → Leadership and Governance (98). Safeguarding is confirmed as Met (100). The nursery demonstrates exceptional practice across inclusion, with outstanding provision for children with SEND, and achievement, with children making outstanding progress. The warm, enthusiastic leadership team has created an ambitious, child-centred curriculum with strong parent partnerships and exemplary behaviour management. With an overall calculated score of 96, the nursery is performing at the highest standard and should focus investment on maintaining excellence and deepening specialist provision.