Bright Eyes Day Care Nursery

Play-dough cakes, song puppets and an indoor climbing frame give Bright Eyes Day Care Nursery’s November 2022 nursery day a concrete character: imaginative play sat alongside music and physical activity. These were experiences children could join in with, rather than simply watch.

Bright Eyes has capacity for 76 children aged two months to five years in Kingstanding, Birmingham. At its 24 November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall. The practical appeal is an opening window stretching from early morning into the evening.

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children’s learning, development and care, bringing play and everyday routines into their education. In November 2022, children shaped play dough into cakes and used a pretend oven, giving imaginative play a practical sequence to follow.

Music also involved children’s choices that month. They requested songs, played instruments and matched puppets to rhymes. Physical play used different equipment for different stages: older children rode toys around the garden, while younger children climbed wooden steps on the indoor climbing frame and used its slide. A sports coach led weekly outdoor activities, with group games giving children practice in taking turns.

The November 2022 improvement priorities concerned the purpose and organisation of learning. Staff needed to make the intended learning in planned activities more precise, and some changes between activities needed better organisation to keep children involved. Those points matter alongside the enjoyable activities themselves.

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding, good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities through work with other professionals, and strong parent partnership supported by settling arrangements and information sharing. For families, the useful detail is how care connected home, nursery and outside support.

In November 2022, independence was practised through ordinary tasks: older children put on their coats, helped themselves to fruit and cleared away, while toddlers helped tidy toys. Staff sat with children at meals and talked about healthy eating. Such routines gave children opportunities to participate in their own care.

The address is 584 Kingstanding Road, Kingstanding, Birmingham B44 9SH. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas.

In November 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. This is a dated funding position, rather than a promise of eligibility for an individual child.

• Learning between activities. November 2022 improvement priorities included keeping children engaged during changes of activity. On a visit, look at how staff manage these moments as well as the activities themselves.
• Individual support. Partnership with other professionals supported children with additional needs in November 2022. Discuss how that working relationship would apply to your child.
• Your attendance and costs. With a 7am to 6pm opening window, which booking pattern would fit your family, and how would funded hours, meals and consumables appear in a written quotation?

Bright Eyes suits families seeking weekday childcare in Kingstanding with an early start and an evening finish. Its November 2022 strengths included practical independence, active play and parent partnership; the balance is the need for clearer learning intentions and smoother changes between activities identified at that time.