Hollyfield Pre-School Nursery

Creative Flair brings visiting practitioners into Hollyfield Pre-School Nursery for storytelling, imaginative play, music and movement. Outdoor learning has an equally clear place in the day, with children able to move between indoor activities and outdoor exploration. These are useful starting points for families seeking a preschool experience built around doing, talking and investigating.

On Hollyfield Road in Sutton Coldfield, B75 7SG, the nursery has capacity for 50 children aged two to five. Ofsted graded it Good on 19 June 2025 and found safeguarding effective. The main improvement concerned changes between activities: some children needed more time to finish what they were doing before moving on.

Two rooms provide different stages of nursery life, while full-time and part-time attendance sit alongside wraparound care. The shared site with Hollyfield Primary School also gives school preparation a concrete shape, although nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place.

Rooms and Ages

The Explorers Room serves children aged two to three, combining key-person support for nappies and toilet training with rest arrangements tailored to the child and opportunities to use the outdoor space. That continuity matters at an age when personal care and learning are closely connected.

The Discoverers takes children from around three to five, emphasising independence through mixed-age play and a choice of indoor and outdoor activities. Younger children can learn alongside older ones, while those approaching school practise helping others and managing more for themselves.

Movement between the rooms begins during the summer term. Children spend time with the practitioners who will work with them after the move, making the next room familiar before September. This is preparation over time rather than a single change of classroom.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the learning and development requirements: here, children practise language, physical skills, relationships, early reading and mathematics through play and adult-led activities. Birth to Five Matters supports planning within that framework. Practitioners use it to support the balance of play and adult-led learning.

Daily stories and phonics sit alongside mathematics and personal, social and emotional learning. Children also have time to pursue their interests, while practitioners use observations to decide what to introduce next. The balance gives children both opportunities to choose and purposeful teaching that builds on what they can already do.

Creative Flair adds an outside agency's work on communication and creative expression through invented stories, role play, singing and dance. Forest school sessions give children opportunities to investigate nature. The additions have recognisable content, rather than simply a programme name attached to ordinary play.

In June 2025, practical learning included moving water through guttering and testing different tools, with children exchanging ideas about how to make it work. Sand and water play introduced mathematical language; play dough offered opportunities to share tools and make patterns. These examples show how conversation, cooperation and early scientific thinking can develop within the same activity.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor provision is used across the year and in most weather conditions. In June 2025, children turned climbing apparatus into imaginary pirate ships and used ropes during shared play; younger children practised balancing with adult support. Physical activity and imaginative play were closely connected.

Visits can include Ash End Farm, local libraries and a Chinese supermarket when they can be accommodated. These experiences extend learning beyond nursery resources, giving children real places and encounters to connect with their conversations and play.

World Book Day, World Science week and Bee Awareness Week sit within the calendar of themed learning. Celebrations also encompass religious festivals and cultural identities. For families, the practical value is exposure to books, investigation and different ways of living within the same curriculum.

Relationships and Communication

Settling starts with shorter stays and builds towards a full day at the child's pace. A key person takes responsibility for following learning and development, with opportunities for informal conversations each day. Families therefore have an established contact for both everyday information and discussion about their child's learning.

Formal parent consultations take place in the first and second terms. Staff can also explain written information verbally and help families complete forms. That makes communication more accessible for parents who find written English difficult or need support with paperwork.

Personal care stays with familiar adults in the younger room. Rest can be adapted to individual needs, and children have their own bedding. These arrangements give families concrete points to discuss when considering how their child's home routines will fit nursery life.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children made good progress and that staff worked with families and other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The current support mechanisms include a SENCO role, visual prompts, picture timetables, language preparation before activities and individual work where possible.

Targeted language groups and a wellbeing group provide additional support, while a phonics extension group gives further challenge to children ready for it. Support is therefore organised around particular needs, rather than relying solely on everyone taking part in the same activity.

The purpose-built accommodation is on one level and includes accessible toilets for adults and children. Safeguarding arrangements include a designated lead role, deputy leads, enhanced criminal-record checks and a secure system for logging concerns. Early Help provides a route to involve other agencies when a family needs support.

Startwell promotes healthy habits through characters and lifestyle messages, alongside guidance for parents preparing lunchboxes. In June 2025, children also explored tooth cleaning and made savoury cheese bites during cookery. Health learning was practical and connected to familiar daily routines.

Sessions and Attendance

Hollyfield offers full-time and part-time nursery places during term time. Morning attendance runs from 9am to noon, with afternoon attendance from 12.45pm to 3.15pm; nursery hours extend from 7.30am to 6pm. These shorter sessions provide a different attendance pattern from spending the whole day at nursery.

Kids Around the Clock Club provides wraparound care from 7.30am to 6pm for nursery children and children up to eleven. Before-school bookings can start at 7.30am or 8am, and after-school bookings offer a choice of collection times up to 6pm. Holiday club provision operates during five holiday weeks each year.

An application form is used to join the waiting list. Telephone enquiries go to 0121 311 2920, and show rounds can be booked by telephone. Booked attendance must be covered by funding or private payment, and late collection attracts a charge.

Funding and Paid Extras

Two-year-old funding is offered, alongside 15 hours of nursery provision and 30 free hours for children meeting the criteria. Additional attendance can be purchased privately. Families should obtain a current written quotation covering their chosen sessions and any extras.

Parents provide a healthy packed lunch, or can purchase a hot meal prepared by the shared school's kitchen staff; eligible children can receive a free school meal. An administration contribution is requested on joining and annually towards items including fruit and cookery ingredients, while breakfast and after-school snacks carry separate charges.

Moving on to School

Hollyfield Primary School shares the site. For children moving there, practitioners arrange time in assemblies and future classrooms; key persons also meet school teachers to hand over developmental information. Parents organise familiarisation sessions for children moving to other schools.

Attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place. The practical transition support should be considered separately from the school-place decision.

• Time to finish play. In June 2025, changes between routines sometimes unsettled children and interrupted their involvement. During a show round, ask how staff now help children finish an activity before moving on.
• Toilet training before the older room. The Discoverers expects children to be toilet trained, except where medical needs apply, because it lacks specialist changing space. Discuss this expectation before planning a move into that room.
• Term-time care and additional costs. Nursery attendance follows term time, with holiday club care covering five holiday weeks. Consider how that calendar fits your working arrangements and include meals, club food and the administration contribution when comparing quotations.

Hollyfield suits families seeking either shorter morning or afternoon sessions or full-time nursery attendance with wraparound care. Creative Flair, outdoor exploration and practical support for moving on to school give the offer substance. The Good judgement provides a clear inspection position, while the concern about hurried activity changes deserves attention. For younger children, gradual settling and familiar personal care are useful strengths; for older children, the independence expected in The Discoverers is an important part of the fit.