Angels Day Nursery, Great Barr

Pretend ice creams made with sand, pictures of teeth cleaned with toothbrushes and babies practising their first steps give Angels Day Nursery, Great Barr a recognisable character in August 2022: everyday experiences became opportunities to learn. This is the setting at 810 Walsall Road, Birmingham B42 1EU, identified as Great Barr 2 for enquiries.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 10 August 2022 and found that children were progressing well towards their next stage of learning. Two improvements mattered: staff needed a clearer understanding of what activities should teach, and greater awareness of how room noise could affect concentration.

The nursery accepts children from birth to five and has capacity for 90 children in total. Its opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across the year.

Learning follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children's learning, development and care. In practical terms, the August 2022 activities brought movement, conversation, imagination and everyday knowledge into play, rather than treating learning as a separate part of the day.

Babies practised walking towards adults who sat at their level and encouraged them to move. Toddlers used sand to create imaginary ice creams. Preschool children explored dental care with toothbrushes and pictures, linking the activity to their own memories of visiting a dentist. These examples show how an experience could connect something familiar with a new skill or idea.

Books also had a clear place in August 2022. Handa's Surprise, a story used to explore other cultures and unfamiliar fruits, held children's attention as staff read expressively and invited them to join familiar passages. The lending-library scheme encouraged books to travel between home and nursery, giving families a practical way to continue shared reading.

Conversation ran through activities, with adults making time for discussion. Planning drew on children's interests, and staff reviewed the curriculum with managers. The weakness was precision: adults did not always have a clear picture of the learning intended from a particular activity. Interesting resources alone were not the whole answer.

Room noise was the other concern in August 2022. At times, noise could make concentration harder. For a child who finds busy surroundings demanding, the balance between lively play and space to listen deserves attention.

At the August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, with staff understanding child protection procedures, appropriate supervision and recruitment checks. This is a dated judgement about practice at that visit.

Individual care received close attention in August 2022. Adults comforted children who were upset or tired and responded promptly to changing and cleaning needs. For younger children, those ordinary moments matter as much as the planned activity: comfort and physical care are part of the day itself.

Communication with families combined daily conversations with progress updates through an online app in August 2022. The two channels served different purposes, allowing immediate discussion alongside information parents could revisit. During the pandemic, home-learning packs had also helped families continue activities away from nursery.

Healthy meals and snacks were provided in August 2022, while handwashing routines were accompanied by explanations about germs. Children also learnt everyday safety through adult reminders, such as sitting properly on chairs. Care and learning met in these small routines.

The address is 810 Walsall Road, Great Barr, Birmingham B42 1EU. Choose Great Barr 2 on the enquiry form to direct an enquiry to this setting; its telephone number is 0121 257 5004.

Opening runs from 7.30am until 6.30pm on weekdays, and the nursery operates across the year. The opening window gives working families an early start and an evening collection point; the attendance arrangement needs to fit the family's own routine.

In August 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. That historical offer should be kept separate from decisions about a child's present funding and attendance arrangement.

• Purpose behind play. In August 2022, staff were asked to make the intended learning from activities clearer. On a visit, ask how practitioners explain what an activity is helping a child learn and how they build on it next.
• Sound and concentration. High room noise could affect some children's learning in August 2022. Observe the sound level during activities and discuss how staff support a child who needs a quieter space to concentrate.
• Attendance and funding. Weekday opening extends from 7.30am to 6.30pm. What booking pattern, funded-hours arrangement and written quotation, including meals and non-food consumables, would apply to your child?

Angels Day Nursery, Great Barr suits families seeking care across the year for babies through to children approaching school age, with an opening window that reaches into the early evening. Its August 2022 account gives useful substance: physical practice for babies, imaginative toddler play and everyday health knowledge for preschool children.

The Good judgement provides a dated foundation for choosing it. The sharper decision is how the nursery now handles the two practical teaching concerns raised in August 2022: clarity about learning and the effect of noise. Those are useful priorities for a visit, alongside the family's attendance and funding needs.