Edgbaston Day Nursery

Stories, songs and conversation give Edgbaston Day Nursery its clearest educational thread. The preschool programme brings together preparation for reading, practical investigation and learning to work with other children. This is a nursery whose educational emphasis is easier to understand through those everyday activities than through a branded approach.

At the inspection spanning November 2024 and January 2025, Ofsted judged the nursery Good overall, with effective safeguarding arrangements. That positive assessment comes with a specific development point: staff training needed to respond more closely to gaps in practitioners’ knowledge.

The nursery is at 346 Portland Road, Birmingham, B17 8LT, and accepts children aged 6 to 60 months. It currently operates during term time, with opening hours of 09:00 to 16:00. That calendar is a substantial part of the decision for working families.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children’s learning, development and care. Here, the curriculum translates that into exploration, conversation and increasingly purposeful play, with children making choices alongside activities organised by adults.

For babies and toddlers, books and songs accompany sensory exploration, while adults listen and respond to emerging sounds and words. The toddler curriculum emphasises manageable challenges and growing independence. For preschool children, the emphasis moves towards understanding stories, investigating how things work and developing the patience and cooperation needed for the next stage of education. The curriculum connects these experiences with readiness for reading, maths and science.

During November 2024 and January 2025, practitioners expanded children’s vocabulary through shared play and discussion of natural objects. Pauses in familiar songs and stories gave toddlers a chance to supply words themselves. These are concrete ways of making children participants in conversation rather than simply listeners.

Early maths also took practical forms during that inspection period. Garden games introduced counting; building towers prompted comparisons of height; sand play created opportunities to explore how much containers could hold. These activities connected mathematical language with things children could handle and change.

Outdoor and Community Life

A garden and climbing apparatus supported physical play in November 2024 and January 2025. Children spent time outside daily, with planned exercise, football and opportunities to climb and slide. Indoor dancing added practice in hopping and skipping, so movement extended beyond outdoor play.

Chinese New Year provided another learning context during the same period. Children shaped pretend snakes from dough and moved noodles using tweezers. The celebration combined learning about another culture with hand movements relevant to later pencil use. It is a useful example of how a topic can connect social understanding and physical development.

Relationships and Communication

During November 2024 and January 2025, families exchanged information with staff at the start of attendance and through daily conversations. Digital updates, parents’ evenings and written progress summaries provided additional ways to follow children’s learning. The combination gave parents both immediate information and a longer view of development.

Support for families using English as an additional language included pictures to aid children’s understanding and translators to help parents participate. That addresses two different communication needs: helping a child follow an activity and helping a parent discuss their learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2024 to January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received support through assessments after settling, collaboration with families and other agencies, and regularly reviewed targets for their next educational steps. The useful detail is the sequence: establish a starting point, agree support and revisit it as the child develops.

Health education during that period included hygiene around outdoor play and eating, alongside advice to parents about lunch portions and dental health. Care therefore included practical habits children could practise themselves.

There were also management weaknesses. In November 2024 and January 2025, changes to operating hours and telephone details had not been notified promptly, although relevant information affecting children was shared with parents. Teaching observations and supervision meetings were taking place, but leaders needed to identify staff learning needs more precisely and provide further professional development.

Sessions and Attendance

Term-time attendance is the current operating model. Opening hours are 09:00 to 16:00, making the nursery a practical option for families whose care needs fit that part of the day and the term calendar.

Getting There

The address is 346 Portland Road, Birmingham, B17 8LT. Enquiries can be made by email at info@edgbastondaynursery.co.uk or by telephone on 0121 429 1332; a contact form and WhatsApp route are also offered.

• Term-time calendar. The nursery currently operates during term time, from 09:00 to 16:00. Families needing holiday care or a longer working-day window should weigh that fit carefully.
• Staff development. The November 2024 to January 2025 inspection called for further professional development. On a visit, ask how practitioners’ learning needs are identified and addressed now.
• Your child’s daily group. The curriculum describes different developmental stages, with increasing independence and more structured learning for preschool children. Ask which group your child would join and how settling would be organised.

Edgbaston Day Nursery suits families seeking term-time childcare within a 09:00 to 16:00 opening window, with an educational emphasis on language, investigation and preparation for learning with others. Its curriculum gives a clear account of how activities develop as children grow.

The Good judgement is supported by concrete examples of conversation, practical maths and physical play during the inspection period. The balancing consideration is equally specific: staff development needed sharper planning, and management notifications needed greater timeliness. Those are useful subjects for a visit, alongside the fit between your child’s needs and the nursery’s term-time day.