The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School

235 Attenborough Lane, Attenborough, Nottingham NG9 6AS
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9.9 45 Reviews
  • The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School, Nottingham
The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School provides high-quality childcare within a warm, friendly 'home from home' setting.

They have a team of dedicated and enthusiastic staff who tailor every activity to the development of each individual child. This ensures the development of every child to their full potential through fun and stimulating play, making confident, happy children.

At Secret Garden Attenborough, babies start their journey with the nursery in the Papillon Room, a dedicated space for pre-walkers with its own sheltered play area to the rear, and move to the Mariposa room with direct access to a large garden and play area.

The Butterfly Room for pre-school age children is divided into two sections for younger and older children who have direct access to a covered outdoor play area and garden. All rooms are designed to maximise free flow which promotes children’s choice and easy access to the outdoors.

Each child has a key worker in each room, enabling the staff to form a strong bond with every child and to get to know them extremely well.

Secret Garden Childcare is a small, family-run business with a focus on nature and the environment. They focus on using natural materials and accessing the outdoor environment to maximise learning opportunities.

Extra-curricular activities on both sites include Rockabillies music sessions for the toddlers, while the pre-school children benefit from forest school, regular walks to the Attenborough nature reserve and feeding the ducks, taking full advantage of local opportunities for learning about the world.

No learning opportunity is lost; even a rainy day can make for a fun learning activity, kitted out with wellies, brollies and waterproofs!
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Sarah Whittaker (Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 23

Total Places for Children

  • 49

Age Range

  • from 0 years 2 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Funding & Fees

  • Full Day 8am-6pm £64.21p,
    Half Day 8am-1pm/1-6pm £42.10p,
    Full Week £305.26p (Monday - Friday),
    Early start 7:30-8am £3

Opening Times

  • Monday 07:30-18:00
    Tuesday 07:30-18:00
    Wednesday 07:30-18:00
    Thursday 07:30-18:00
    Friday 07:30-18:00

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays & Christmas

Parking

  • Parking is available on Attenborough Lane or Shady Lane.

The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School Reviews (45)

9.9

The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.942) out of 10, based on 26 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School has 45 reviews.

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Total of 45, showing 1-20
Review from S K (Mother of Child) published on 17 July 2025 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
A wonderful childcare setting. Caring and attentive team. Child-led service working collaboratively with families to provide a nurturing and happy environment. 100% recommend!
Reply from Sarah Whittaker, Area Manager at The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School
Thank you so much for this lovely review. We are so pleased that you've been happy with the care received.
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Review from Imogen R (Mother of Child) published on 25 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter is in the baby room. This nursery is lovely. The staff are incredibly friendly and have done such a good job making sure my daughter feels safe and secure when she is there. There is lots of feedback and various activities for them to do, I especially love the walks to Attenborough nature
reserve. The food is nutritious and varied. Everything is focused on the individual child and the staff make sure that they get the attention they need.
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Review from L E (Father of Child) published on 18 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Great experience with out first child, excellent staff and clear support of our son's development. Staff keep us well updated and our son clearly quickly began to enjoy going to nursery and has good bonds with key worker members of staff.
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Review from L P (Mother of Child) published on 18 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The nursery feels like a home from home for my child. The staff are kind and loving towards all the children, which is so clear in the bonds they make. They are also very supportive of parents and any questions or queries they might have. Their communication is regular and we receive many pictures everyday
of what our children have been doing. My child genuinely loves being there and it is clear they are being given the chance to thrive during their time there. They go above and beyond when organising events for children and families, including Christmas social events for the parents/guardians alone and Mother's Day Breakfasts. I have complete trust in the nursery, which, as they look after the most precious thing to you as a parent/guardian, is the most important thing.
Reply from Sarah Whittaker, Area Manager at The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School
This is so lovely to hear. I'm so pleased you are so happy with the nursery and enjoy all the events we do. Thank you so much for taking the time to write us a review.
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Review from HN B (Mother of Child) published on 17 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Both of our children have been through this nursery. We have been so pleased with the level of care and support our children received. Their confidence grew and the staff have helped them to settle in quickly.
I would highly recommend this nursery.
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Review from M E (Mother of Child) published on 17 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our son attends Attenborough Day Nursery 4 days a week. He absolutely loves going to nursery. His speech has come on hugely since moving to the toddler room.


The staff are all second to non. They all take an interest in him and known him well. The activities that the staff do with the children

help with development and the reports they provide are really detailed.


The staff use the app so we get daily updates and photos of what our child has been up to that day, which is much better than a verbal handover which some nurseries do. The app is also used to communicate between staff and parents as well which is useful, particularly as drop off and pick up can sometimes be quite busy


We would recommend The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery to any parent looking to put their child into nursery.

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Review from W G (Father of Child) published on 17 March 2025 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter's been at Secret Garden about 6 months. lovely nursery. She's always happy to be dropped off, seems to do a range of activities and the food she gets is cooked on site and isn't processed.


Staff all lovely and keep us informed on how she's getting on. They strike a sensible balance about

illness.


So far very happy.

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Review from Ashley G (Father of Child) published on 24 June 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My child has been attending The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery for 6 months now and he's loved it since his very first day. Perfect location next to our favourite nature reserve, particularly love that they take the children around there weather permitting. The staff are incredible, very accommodating
and willing to help whenever you need anything. They do their utmost to encourage my child's development with engaging activities. Really like the app that is used to keep updated on my child's day and the staff are very responsive to messages. There is a good variety of healthy and nutritious foods throughout the week. The nursery also goes out of its way to put on various events throughout the year to get parents involved which has helped us to meet other parents and get to know the staff more.
Overall, I highly recommend this nursery and am thankful for all that they do!
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Review from I H (Father of Child) published on 27 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son absolutely loves going to nursery, as did my daughter before she moved through to preschool. The staff are friendly and caring and provide fun and varied activities for the children to take part in each day. There is a great outdoor space for the children to use, and we would highly recommend
this nursery to other parents.
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Review from Olivia S (Mother of Child) published on 27 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son loves attending this nursery. The staff are so caring and welcoming and happy with him. They have so many opportunities for outside play and all play is well thought out and full of imagination. My son absolutely thrives there. They have been very supportive with his eating and providing help
and advice when needed. He has been attending the nursery for almost a year and I’m so happy for him.
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Review from K C (Mother of Child) published on 27 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The Secret Garden is a lovely setting and offers a calming environment for children to explore.
Our little boy is thriving and enjoys and loves attending.
It’s lovely that the children get to visit the local nature reserve and get to make their own decisions about playing inside or outside.
All the
food is homemade and is really tasty.
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Review from Jessica R (Mother of Child) published on 27 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We could not be happier with the care that our child receives at the Secret Garden. The staff are so warm and approachable. There are always really interesting activities organised for the children to engage in and so much thought and creativity goes into learning tasks. The communication is amazing
and we always have a thorough handover at the end of the day as well as receiving updates throughout the day including photos of activities. Our son is able to attend a weekly forest school whilst at preschool and he really enjoys this. Our son has settled in so quickly and looks forward to attending. He always comes home excited to talk about his day. We cannot recommend this preschool enough and our son is thriving in their care.
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Review from K F (Mother of Child) published on 26 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The Secret Garden Nursery has been nothing short of incredible! My daughter started 8 months ago after moving back to the U.K. She had a speech developmental language delay and since starting the nursery has improved her speech and communication skills so much!
She is happy and looks forward to coming
to the nursery daily.
We're so happy with her care and service provided by the staff here.
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Review from Dan S (Father of Child) published on 26 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The staff are lovely and always there to help. One of the ladies also kindly offered her time when we were expecting our second. We could not be happier with our children attending this nursery and will always recommend it to others!
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Review from Beth P (Mother of Child) published on 26 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter started at Secret Garden Attenborough in January 2024 when she was 13 months old. Transitions are always difficult for babies but the nursery were so supportive, kind and understanding (to me and my daughter). They made it as forward as possible. Fast forward nearly three months and she
is so happy and settled here. We had to go and collect something that I'd left behind on a day she doesn't go and when I didn't drop her off she was upset! It was proof to me that she really loves it and enjoys her time here. The staff are really warm, kind and seem genuinely concerned for and interested in her. I also really like the app they use because it means I can get a sense of what she is up to during the day and how she is getting on. Communication is really good. Additionally, we use re-useable/washable nappies and the nursery has adapted this with no word of complaint, which I really appreciate must have been quite an adjustment. I highly recommend this nursery.
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Review from H F (Mother of Child) published on 26 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son started in the nursery in September 2023 just before he turned one. He settled in very quickly and has developed lovely bonds with the staff in the baby room. They do lots of varied and interesting activities to help the children develop different skills and it is fair to say my son is absolutely
thriving at the Secret Garden. He is getting ready to move up to the toddler room and there have been lots of transition sessions to make sure he does this without any issues. I completely trust the staff and love the daily updates we get, especially seeing how much of his dinner he has eaten. Knowing my son is enjoying himself in such a nurturing, caring and stimulating environment is a weight off my mind.
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Review from C G (Mother of Child) published on 26 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
All the staff at the nursery are brilliant! The moment we arrived for our visit they were professional and welcomed you with a warmth that you can tell the nursery is family orientated. The staff that showed us around were brilliant and very knowledgeable. We loved the ethos of allowing the children
to have a lot of outdoor fun and activities which includes forest school. This has been perfect for my child and has developed her skills in so many ways. Every morning and pick up they have been friendly and always know what's going on with my child. There is nothing too much and they are great at putting development goals in place and helping your child to hit the goals set through play. They have a chef that cooks all the meals which is great to know your child's getting nutritious food daily. I would highly recommend this nursery to everyone as they really go the extra mile and nothing is too much for them. My child loves it and loves going to nursery.
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Review from Jessica L (Mother of Child) published on 22 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My child has been attending The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery since September 2023 and he has thrived during this time! My partner and I are incredibly happy with every aspect of the nursery. The staff are wonderful and we feel like they have become another family to us. They cannot do enough
for us or our child. The meals provided are healthy, nutritious and appropriate to each child’s needs. The activities are engaging and age-appropriate and there is always something new to do! We love that we get regular updates throughout the day via the app which include what he has eaten, when he has slept and had a nappy change. We receive some lovely photos at the end of each day which gives us the reassurance he has had a good day! We’re always informed if our child is unwell or has had even the slightest injury and we know we can trust the staff to take the best care of him. We often recommend the nursery to other parents we know and can’t thank them enough for all they do!
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Review from Lucy B (Mother of Child) published on 18 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I can not recommend this nursery enough! My daughter was really unsettled at another nursery, but the team at Attenborough have been amazing! My daughter is shy and quiet, yet she is never ignored, and the team know her well and give her all the comfort she needs. She has come out of herself in ways
I could never have imagined. I am so very grateful to all of the team and know that my daughter is cared for in the best way.
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Review from Becky S (Mother of Child) published on 12 March 2024 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
We could not rate The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School highly enough. Our son has been attending for around 18 months now and absolutely loves it. He will come home chatting all about his day and what him and his friends have been up to. We are kept consistently informed about what
activities the children have been doing that day via the app and the nursery consistently offers a wide variety of different activities every day.
But aside from all of that, for us, the staff are what make the nursery outstanding. Everyone seems to genuinely care about our son's well-being and everyone is so friendly, kind and supportive. On a number of occasions we have had to last minute request additional days for our son or change the rota of his attendance and management is always so understanding and accommodating.
Thank you to everyone at Secret Garden - you really make it such a special place for the children!
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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.942)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.942) out of 10 for The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 26 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 26 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 4.942 for The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School is calculated as follows: ( (291 Excellents x 5) + (18 Goods x 4) ) ÷ 309 Ratings = 4.942
  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 The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School is based on 26 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 49 number of registered child places is 9.8, which has been reached with 26 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

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (0)

Meet the Team (1)

Sarah

Sarah Whittaker

Job Title: Area Manager Joined: 2011

Sarah Has worked at Attenborough Day Nursery since we first opened in 2011. She started as Manager and is now Area Manager overseeing both the Attenborough and Westbridgford sites.


Sarah has a Level 4 qualification and holds a teaching qualification from when she was a childcare Assessor and Trainer.


Sarah is very passionate about Early years and providing high quality childcare for the families.


"Children's early years are so important and I believe in providing an environment that is nurturing and engaging to help children learn and develop. It's really important to me that the nurseries are a homely environment and work closely with the children's families putting each child at the heart of everything we do.


We like to offer the children a wide variety of opportunities such as forest school sessions, music session, tennis session as well as making use of the beautiful nature reserve next door."

Frequently Asked Questions about The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is the Age Range of Children that The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School accepts?

The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School accepts Children aged from 0 years 2 months to 5 years 0 months.

What Days & Hours is The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School Open?

The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School is open: Monday 07:30-18:00, Tuesday 07:30-18:00, Wednesday 07:30-18:00, Thursday 07:30-18:00, Friday 07:30-18:00.

How many Children does The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School have capacity for?

The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School has capacity for a total of 49 Children.

How far is The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School to the centre of Nottingham?

4.6 mile(s) as the crow flies, distance by road may be significantly further.

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. The Secret Garden Attenborough Day Nursery & Pre-School has an Enhanced Service - more info.