Head Start Day Nursery

An allotment in the nursery garden, cooking activities and stories acted out through movement give Head Start Day Nursery a recognisable character. Children can plant and tend crops in The Explore and Grow Zone, then encounter measurement and new vocabulary through preparing food. These are concrete ways of connecting play with the world around them.

Head Start takes children aged 18 to 48 months in Stechford, Birmingham. Ofsted rated it Good on 24 September 2021 and found safeguarding effective at that time. That dated judgement provides a useful starting point, while the current learning offer includes garden activities, interactive touchscreens and an online journal linking nursery and home.

Attendance is term-time, with AM, PM, all-day and Late patterns. The choice matters for families fitting nursery around different working hours or other commitments.

Rooms and Ages

The Preschool Room has a Maths Investigation Area for exploring quantities, measurement, number and shape; the Middles room has key-person support, with practitioners also working across both rooms. The room names describe the organisation of the setting, while the play spaces give children practical things to investigate rather than relying entirely on adult-led instruction.

Role-play areas support imaginative play, and children can make marks, create characters and develop their own stories. Interactive touchscreens are also used for singing and movement. Technology sits alongside physical materials and activity, rather than accounting for the whole learning offer.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the areas of learning through which children develop communication, physical skills and other foundations for later learning. Here, play, conversation and observation connect those areas with children's interests. Younger children's learning places greater emphasis on the prime areas, with the breadth increasing as children move towards preschool.

The group-wide In the moment approach means practitioners respond to an interest as it develops and extend it in small steps. Its Plan, Do, Review cycle uses observations to identify learning and the next opportunity to develop it. For parents, the useful distinction is that an activity can grow out of what a child is doing, rather than every experience following a fixed sequence chosen in advance.

The Learnosaurs are used alongside observations of how children learn, encouraging them to take ownership of their learning. More tangible examples include loose materials for investigation and the preschool maths space. The nursery aims to undertake cooking with every age group each week, bringing together handling tools, weighing ingredients and discussing what happens as food changes.

In September 2021, younger children flattened dough with rolling pins and experimented with cutters, while older children practised football with a visiting coach each week. There were also two clear teaching improvements to address: younger children needed longer to formulate answers and participate in songs, and adults needed to develop children's interest in the feel of materials more fully. These points matter because joining in and exploring textures are learning opportunities in their own right.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Explore and Grow Zone is an allotment area within the nursery garden where children can sow seeds, water plants and care for fruit, vegetables and flowers. Watching plants change over time makes life cycles and responsibility tangible. It also gives outdoor learning a continuing thread beyond a single activity.

In September 2021, autumn learning included visits to the allotment, discussion of changing leaves and making hedgehogs from dough and collected sticks. The current curriculum also connects the allotment and outings with awareness of living things. The frequency of those outings should not be confused with the weekly cooking aim.

Relationships and Communication

Key persons work in both the Middles room and Preschool Room, and consultations with management or a child's key person can be arranged through the nursery office. That gives families an identified relationship for discussing their child, alongside a route for longer conversations.

Parents can follow their child's progress through an online learning journal. Families can view observations, comment on activities and contribute photographs or videos from home. This makes communication two-way: something a child does away from nursery can become part of the conversation about their learning.

The Learning Library provides home activities such as Making Biscuits! and Painting Pebbles, connecting nursery ideas with things families can try together. Yoga Letters! links a child's initial with a movement pose and is also used during circle time with the large touchscreen. These are specific resources, rather than a general instruction to support learning at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The deputy manager holds the SENDCo role and coordinates education and care for children with additional needs; the manager is the designated safeguarding lead and health and safety officer. A preschool practitioner has completed the Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner Qualification. These describe roles and training, rather than guaranteeing an outcome for any individual child.

At its September 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked effectively with parents to obtain additional support, used a gradual introduction to nursery and helped children make good progress. In September 2021, sign language and objects supported communication, and multilingual staff could speak with some families in their home languages. Older children also practised managing strong feelings through breathing and counting, while younger children explored expressions using a mirror.

Meals are cooked in the nursery's own kitchen. Cooking is also a learning activity, so preparing food and eating it have separate roles in the day.

School preparation includes transition plans and invitations for receiving teachers to visit during the term before children leave. The value is continuity: a new teacher can meet a child in a familiar setting, and staff can share information to support the change.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery's address is 75 Albert Road, Stechford, Birmingham B33 8AG; its premises are also identified as 75-77 Albert Road. It operates during term time and closes for school holidays, making the holiday pattern a central part of the family decision.

AM runs from 9am to noon, PM from 12.45pm to 3.45pm, and All day from 9am to 3pm. Late runs from 3pm to 3.45pm. The different finishing times matter: the All day pattern and the PM pattern do not end together.

An online contact form provides the enquiry route. It accepts a message as well as contact details, allowing families to explain the attendance pattern they are considering.

Funding and Paid Extras

In September 2021, funded early education covered children aged two, three and four. All curriculum activities are free of charge, including the practical experiences described above. This separates the activity offer from the wider cost of attendance.

The curriculum page explains the learning approach and activities in more detail.

• Term-time attendance. Head Start closes for school holidays. Families needing care through those breaks should weigh that calendar alongside the AM, PM and All day options.
• Different finishing times. All day ends at 3pm, while PM and Late finish at 3.45pm. At a visit, clarify how the Late pattern combines with the attendance you want.
• Time to respond and explore. The September 2021 improvement points concerned younger children's participation in conversation and songs, and adults extending sensory exploration. Ask to see how those opportunities work in the Middles room today.
• The whole attendance cost. Curriculum activities carry no charge. Request a current written quotation for the attendance pattern you want.

Head Start suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon attendance, as well as those choosing its all-day pattern. The garden allotment, cooking aim and home-learning resources give parents concrete reasons to consider it, while the online journal lets families contribute photographs and videos from home.

The Good judgement dates to September 2021. The most useful decision now is how the nursery's current day matches your child's interests and communication needs, alongside a calendar and finishing time that work for your family.