Nursery options in Hitchin?

[MunsteadWood]

Thinking of moving from London to Hitchin. DS is nearly 20mo and goes to a lovely nursery which he really enjoys. Have been looking online to see what our options might be if we moved but not finding very much. Lots of places seem to be age 2+ (which I guess would be fine by the time we move but we're thinking of ttc again so all being well would have a DC2 at some point so would need somewhere for him/her when I went back to work after maternity leave) Also struggling to find places with long enough hours as both DH and I would be working in London (although I'm only doing a few days a week and we could prob both wfh a bit to be nearby for pick ups). Any Hitchin mums on here who also commute for work? What do you do? We could look at childminders I suppose but DS loves his London nursery so much I'd rather find him a similar environment. Am I just looking in the wrong places?

acrewood nursery in Arlesey is a 10 minute drive away from Hitchin and goes from ages 0-5 x

forgot to add they are open from 7am to 6:15 x

Ah, brilliant, thanks! We don't have a car at the moment but I guess will probably get one if/when we move. Will check this one out.

There is a bus too, the 9A, and it takes roughly 15 mins x

We're also looking to move from London to Hitchin. I've put DS (25 mo) on the list at Highbury lodge but didn't realise it was 2+ - is it? I'm expecting another so that could be a slight problem at some point!

Oooh, I somehow missed Highbury Lodge. Looks great - and says 6wks to 5yrs so no worries on age limit. Thanks @kiwiblue I'll send an enquiry off there too.

How did you initially find out about nurseries? Was it via Herts council website or somewhere else?

I think I just googled and used Google maps! I found four, two are North of station so I ruled them out for now based on where we intend to live (one's called toad hall, other I can't remember). Then there's Highbury lodge which seems to have a very good reputation. I also enquired at millennium first steps which is right by station, they don't have a waiting list so I haven't registered for now.

Personally I'd find travelling out of Hitchin for a nursery too much especially if you're intending to commute into London, I find it hard enough now to get DS to nursery and myself to work!

Highbury Lodge Staff are lovely, though the actual business ethics aren't great!

Toad Hole & Kinders Mill are lovely and have great feedback, so does Smartys near the train station.

Steer clear of Bluebells. Ofsted ratings are currently shocking and going downhill rather than up!

Oops! Not Smarty's, I Meant Millennium Next to the station!!

Which area are you looking at moving to?

oopsydaisy92 what do you mean by business ethics?

They all seem good, although from my initial contact with them, I was more impressed with Highbury lodge than Millennium, although I'd have to go and see them to really judge of course. Also, Highbury lodge has a waiting list of at least 6 months and Millennium has none (although that could be affected by the fact Highbury lodge has no fee to register).

Thanks so much for all these tips. Clearly my initial google search was not very thorough! I've sent off a load of enquiries, fingers crossed. Tricky to know how to time things as we've started at looking at houses in Hitchin but haven't found anywhere yet and still need to sell our current house, so timescales pretty uncertain. @kiwiblue Do you know when you're going to move or have you just put your DS on waiting lists so you can be more confident of having a space for him once you do find somewhere? Feels like a real juggling act getting everything lined up!

@munsteadwood we don't want to move before September as I'm due then and don't want to move before the baby is born. I just put DS on the Highbury lodge waiting list to be more confident (also we'd put an offer in on a house where that one would be the best location, but didn't get it). As there's no waiting list for millennium I figured that's an option too. I agree it's really tricky. We've looked at quite a few houses but not success yet so I'm also not sure how long it'll take!

Hey mums, I am also looking to make the move from London to hitchin. Just wondering what the fees are for the nurseries as it's not clear on websites

Thanks

Hey,
Just found this thread and was hoping you could give me updates on how you got on? I have a 23 month old baba and I’m looking to move to Hitchin early next year. Any advice on nurseries would be massively appreciated. Thanks