Highfield Day Nursery, Birmingham

Vegetables grown by the children, weekly music lessons and daily outdoor play give Highfield Day Nursery, Birmingham a recognisable character. The garden connects play with growing and tasting food, while music reaches every age group. Preschool children also have Yoga classes. These are concrete reasons to consider this Edgbaston nursery, especially for families who value outdoor experiences alongside indoor learning.

Ofsted rated Highfield Outstanding at its 4 August 2022 inspection. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of today's practice. Highfield has 94 places in total across the whole nursery and accepts children aged 2 to 60 months, spanning babies through to children preparing for school.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, education and care belong together, with opportunities to practise language, movement and independence. Highfield's weekly music lessons add a regular activity for all children; Yoga classes are for preschool children.

In August 2022, books supported learning across the ages. Babies explored textured pages and named animals, while older children used stories to talk about emotions. Conversation also grew from pretend play, including a tea party where children discussed making flavoured tea. Language had a practical purpose: explaining an idea, recognising a feeling or making a choice.

Recipes and construction offered different routes into learning that month. Children worked through instructions to make play dough and used tools to build a pretend library from foam bricks. Mathematical ideas appeared in play too, with measuring tapes used to explore size and length. These examples show how ordinary materials could give children something substantial to investigate.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily garden access applies to every age group. Children grow vegetables and taste their harvest in food served by the nursery chef, linking an outdoor activity with something familiar at mealtimes. Growing is part of the nursery day, rather than simply a display to look at.

In August 2022, physical play included climbing slides and balancing on toadstools in the garden. Outdoor blackboard painting brought shapes and patterns into the same space. Older children also travelled by bus and coach to a sea life centre, a nature reserve and a safari park. Those were experiences recorded at that time, rather than a current trip timetable.

Relationships and Communication

In August 2022, key persons helped children become comfortable enough to explore independently. Staff knew individual children well, and families took part through digital applications, stay-and-play opportunities and celebration days. Communication extended beyond updates: parents received training and information about their children's development.

Regular parent training, including First Aid, remains part of Highfield's offer. For parents, that creates a practical connection between nursery and home, with opportunities to learn skills as well as hear about their child's day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its August 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and rapid communication progress for children learning English as an additional language. These findings belong to that inspection date.

During August 2022, recordings of children's home languages and signing helped make communication accessible. Babies had opportunities to strengthen the movements needed for crawling, standing and walking, while musical instruments encouraged exploration through sound and action. These are useful examples of the different ways children participated.

Mealtimes also involved doing things for themselves in August 2022: children served drinks and hot food, and older children cleared their plates and cutlery. Growing herbs and vegetables connected food choices with practical experience. Independence was exercised through small daily tasks.

Sessions and Attendance

Highfield opens from 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. It operates across 52 weeks of the year, with closures for public holidays and inset days. The opening window gives families a clear boundary for planning work and collection; the closure pattern also matters when arranging cover.

The address is 3/4 Highfield Rd, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3ED. Parents can contact the nursery by telephone on 0121 454 1170 or email highfield.nursery@childbase.com, and an enquiry form supports requests for a callback.

Funding and Paid Extras

In August 2022, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. Families should use a current written quotation from the nursery when comparing the cost of their intended attendance pattern.

• Care for the youngest children. Highfield accepts children from 2 months. On a visit, discuss how a key person would accommodate your baby's feeding, sleep and settling routines.
• Outdoor participation. Every age group has daily garden access, and growing vegetables is part of the offer. Explore how garden activities are adapted for your child's stage of development.
• Attendance and total cost. The nursery opens across the year but closes for public holidays and inset days. What booking pattern would suit your family, and how would meals, non-food consumables and funded hours be treated in your written quotation?

Highfield suits families looking for care across the year who value daily outdoor play, growing food and regular music activities. Its August 2022 assessment provides a strong historical quality judgement; the concrete current attractions are the garden, weekly music lessons and preschool Yoga. Parents of very young babies should give the individual care conversation as much weight as the activity offer.