First Steps Nursery

Albury Road, Merstham, Redhill RH1 3LS
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9.7 55 Reviews
  • First Steps Nursery, Redhill
First Steps Nursery offers excellent care and education for babies, toddlers and preschooler’s from three months to five-year-olds in a fun, stimulating learning environment.

The nursery building has been specifically designed with children in mind, complete with a purpose-built preschool. They have four bright and modern age-specific play rooms and the nursery boasts a large outdoor area with plenty of outdoor space allowing the children lots of room to explore their outdoor learning environment.
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care

Owner

  • First Step Nursery Ltd
  • Privately Owned

Person in Charge

  • Jacqui Tidey (Director)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 20

Total Places for Children

  • 60

Age Range

  • from 0 years 3 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Funding & Fees

  • We offer 15 and 30 hours funding. We have a minimum of 2 days attendance


    Please contact us for more information


    Please contact the nursery for fees

Opening Times

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

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays & Christmas

Parking

  • They have parent parking down their driveway at the rear of the nursery.

First Steps Nursery Reviews (55)

9.7

First Steps Nursery has a Review Score of 9.7 (9.734) out of 10, based on 12 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time First Steps Nursery has 55 reviews.

Overall Experience
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  • 12
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Date Published
  • 55
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  • 12
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Reviewer Connection to First Steps Nursery
  • 47
  • 7
  • 1
Total of 55, showing 41-55
Review from Nicola (Mother of Child) published on 28 February 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The nursery is very good. My child is in the baby room and I feel the care in this room is exceptional taking into consideration the individual needs of each child. The nursery now offers e-learning which allows parents and careers to communicate much more easily.
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Review from Maria (Mother of Child) published on 28 February 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Lovely nursery facilities, recently refurbished to a good standard.
Baby room has a sleeping area equipped with individual cots. Truly amazing staff, very caring.
Welcoming atmosphere.
My kids love it and I highly recommend it.
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Review from Jana (Mother of Child) published on 28 February 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The nursery is very clean but I wished it is not the staff (teachers) who have to do the cleaning. This should happen after all staff and kids are gone and not when there are still children around.
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Review from J C (Mother of Child) published on 20 February 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 3.0 out of 5
The staff who look after the children are great and the kids are happy there. That is the reason they are still there; the management at the nursery I think is an issue. Communication with parents is seriously lacking. At the time of a lot of staff turnover, there was no explanation or reassurance given
to parents. All email communication from the owner is curt and the impression is that she is more concerned about money than the children. We also feel that the children are given too many sweets and sugary.
Reply from Jacqui, Director at First Steps Nursery
Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. After your meeting, I am confident that we have addressed any communication difficulties and that you have confirmed you are now more than happy…read more
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Review from C M (Mother of Child) published on 16 February 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Great nursery. Very caring atmosphere. My daughter is very happy here and always keen to go in. She comes home happy, having enjoyed herself. Would not hesitate to recommend.
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Review from K M (Mother of Child) published on 15 February 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both my children have been to First Steps in Merstham and they have both enjoyed it. My youngest will return at a later date as I feel the staff put the children first and due to this the children thrive. I would recommend this nursery to anyone that wants the best for their children.
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Review from Kirsty H (Mother of Child) published on 15 February 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 3.0 out of 5
My three youngest have all attended First Steps Nursery. They have always enjoyed their time at nursery and will regularly get up in the morning asking if they are going to nursery today. When there were additional needs they were on the ball and got things in place quickly and have always been helpful
and supportive.
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Review from Stefan M (Father of Child) published on 14 February 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
The overall experience is good, over the 2 year period I noticed the excellent progression of my daughter in early learning. There are good nursery and preschool activities (shopping, visiting the local community, the library) outdoor activities (playing in the garden and socialising) and inside activities
including arts and crafts.
Another positive is the daily feedback on our child in the preschool environment.
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Review from Caroline U (Mother of Child) published on 20 January 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
My daughter started at First Steps in September and settled really well. She loves the baby room and the staff in there. The staff are friendly and caring towards my child which is always one less thing to worry about! It means I can work knowing she is happy and settled.
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Review from T W (Mother of Child) published on 30 December 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
Lovely nursery. My daughter was there for 4 years and now my 8-month-old son is there too. They have recently redone the garden and nursery and are still renovating to bring everything up to high standards. Nice and clean.
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Review from C S (Mother of Child) published on 23 December 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I have only good things to say about First Steps Nursery. Our little boy has been going there since he was 8 months. The staff are outstanding and they have taken such good care of him. He is a very happy boy and enjoys every day there. They have a big variety of toys and activities and they are constantly
getting new things to challenge their little minds. An amazing place altogether.
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Review from C N (Mother of Child) published on 18 July 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son has been attending First Steps for the past two years. I have nothing but praise for the dedicated staff who always have the children's best interest at heart. The variety of activities for learning in immense both indoors and out. The nursery chef is fantastic and was able to cater for my sons
dairy free diet.


Since starting as a baby my son has blossomed into a confident, outgoing child. I will definitely be using the nursery to care for my second baby when the time comes to return to work full time.

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Review from Chris N (Father of Child) published on 18 July 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
This is a fantastic nursery with excellent caring staff. Since my daughter started at the nursery the staff have been fantastic, her key-worker helped and offered advice during her free settling in sessions. When the time came to leave her on her first day my wife and I were happy in the knowledge she
had built a bond with her key-worker. The baby unit is not too big with just 12 babies which allows babies to receive continuous care from a small team of dedicated staff. I would not hesitate to recommend this nursery.
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Review from Laura T (Aunt of Child) published on 18 July 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My niece has been attending First Steps Nursery for 2 years and she is very happy there and settled in really well. All the staff are extremely friendly and helpful and really well trained. I would recommend this family owned nursery to everyone.
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Review from Natalie (Mother of Child) published on 6 January 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My child has been going here for nearly a year now and all I can say is that it is brilliant. Before First Steps she went to a playgroup and hated it, cried every time she went in and was unsocial and not very confident. First steps have helped her to build up her confidence in social settings and around
new people and within the year she has grown, developed and made lots of friends. She happily goes into the nursery and has NEVER cried (even when she was settling in).


The staff are friendly and easy to talk to, they let you take home your children's folders whenever you like and my daughter frequently comes in and talks about the staff and says she loves them. She comes home at the end of every term with a massive bundle of paintings, collages and drawings. They take the children on trips to the local nursery or park which is something I have never seen another nursery do but is hugely important.


All I can say is thank you and I don't want my child to leave to go to school, I wish I could keep her at First Steps forever!

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Current Review Score: 9.7 (9.734)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.7 (9.734) out of 10 for First Steps Nursery is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.7 out of 5 from 12 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 12 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:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.734 for First Steps Nursery is calculated as follows: ( (113 Excellents x 5) + (22 Goods x 4) + (8 Satisfactorys x 3) ) ÷ 143 Ratings = 4.734
  2. 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 First Steps Nursery is based on 12 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 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
    2. 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 60 number of registered child places is 12, which has been reached with 12 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Child Vacancies

Posted: 19 Nov 2025

We have spaces available for 2 years plus from January 2026. Looking for childcare for your little one? Waiting list is now open for 2026. First Steps Nursery is a family run nursery offering excellent childcare for children aged 3 months- 5 years. Book your visit now! we look forward to meeting you.

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Awards / Recognitions (1)

Meet the Team (2)

Alice

Alice

Job Title: Manager Joined: 2015

Alice our Nursery Manager has worked at First Steps for over 10 years. Alice oversees our fantastic staff team as well as supporting the children in an environment where they can grow, learn and flourish.

Gemma

Gemma

Job Title: Deputy Manager Joined: 2023

Gemma, our Deputy Manager, joined First Steps in 2023. Gemma is a dedicated childcare leader with a passion for our little ones, supporting the children in a nurturing and inspiring environment and is dedicated to staff wellbeing.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact First Steps Nursery to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. First Steps Nursery has an Enhanced Service - more info.