Just for Starters Day Nursery

An open-plan nursery with a garden for year-round play and access to school sports fields gives Just for Starters Day Nursery a character of its own. Based within the Four Oaks Primary School complex in Sutton Coldfield, it combines shared indoor spaces with opportunities to become familiar with school life. Children can move between activities rather than spend the whole day in an age-assigned room.

The nursery accepts children aged 2 to 5 and has capacity for 49 children in total. At its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall and found safeguarding effective, with children settling comfortably and making good progress from their individual starting points. That is a dated assessment of care and learning, rather than a guarantee about any individual child's experience.

Full-time attendance, combinations of full and half days, and morning or afternoon sessions give families several ways to organise care. The strongest practical attractions are the flexible attendance choices, the outdoor provision and the everyday connection with Four Oaks Primary School.

Rooms and Ages

Shared spaces shape the nursery day. The open-plan building has three indoor areas, and children use them during free-flow play; age-specific group activities provide a different rhythm alongside opportunities to choose independently. Book corners offer quieter places for stories. For a child who enjoys moving between construction, pretend play and practical activities, that arrangement gives several ways into the day.

The Playroom combines a carpeted space with permanent soft play, with activities including building, stories, table-top play and movement. The Quiet Area looks towards the school grounds and supports pretend play, music and preschool activities, with a curtain allowing it to become a place for rest. The Creative Room faces the garden and accommodates painting, dough, water and sand activities before becoming the lunch space.

These are spaces with different uses, rather than separate baby, toddler and preschool rooms. A toilet and washing area also gives children opportunities to practise personal hygiene as part of becoming more independent. The environment therefore supports both shared play and everyday self-care.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides children's learning and care through play, relationships and experiences that develop communication, physical skills and social confidence. Just for Starters combines activities led by adults with in-the-moment planning: practitioners respond to a child's interest during play and extend it with another challenge or next step. The approach sits alongside the EYFS, rather than replacing it.

Short group gatherings bring children together for conversation, rhymes and stories. Children can choose songs and vote for a book, while accessible resources allow them to select activities themselves. Regular cooking opportunities, music and yoga add practical and physical experiences. Daily Wake Up, Shake Up sessions are movement activities in the Playroom, giving energetic play a place indoors as well as outside.

In March 2023, children connected discoveries outdoors with creative work, using books to help them make butterfly pictures. Staff also returned to important vocabulary and introduced mathematical words in conversation. Those examples show how a single interest could connect nature, language and art, rather than leave learning divided into unrelated activities.

The same March 2023 assessment identified a limit: adults sometimes did straightforward tasks for children instead of leaving room for them to try an idea or act independently. Improvement work also needed to become more firmly established, including closer monitoring of assessments and progress checks. Those points matter alongside the positive examples of engaging play.

Outdoor and Community Life

A fenced garden extends the play space beyond the building. Artificial grass and a sheltered area with rubber surfacing support outdoor use across the seasons, while a trim trail, wheeled toys and a wooden train provide different kinds of movement and imaginative play. Daily sand and water activities add another practical choice.

Growing projects include sunflowers, a wildflower area intended to attract insects, herbs and vegetables. A nursery rhyme garden gives familiar songs another setting, while a den and playhouse support children's own stories. These are concrete opportunities to connect play with plants, living things and changing outdoor conditions.

Sports day and the Easter Bonnet Parade are among the celebrations shared with families. Within the school complex, children also have access to sports fields and a hall for performances. The connection adds spaces and experiences beyond the nursery's own indoor areas and garden.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is part of the daily care arrangement, with management also involved in contact with families. The Famly app brings together photographs, activity updates and messages, and lets parents report sickness or holidays and receive invoice reminders. It gives families a practical way to keep track of nursery life and exchange information between conversations.

An open-door policy allows parents to visit or check on their child during the day. Newsletters share forthcoming events and parents' evenings, offering another route into the nursery's activities. Together, the face-to-face and digital arrangements give parents more than a single channel for staying involved.

In March 2023, staff used visual timing and signs to help children understand routines and turn-taking. Children began in smaller groups before joining the wider play environment. These dated examples are useful for families considering how a child might respond to transitions, shared resources and a busy open-plan day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that staff planned learning for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language, and worked with parents to support children's progress. Current team roles include safeguarding leads and a wellbeing coordinator.

The Quiet Area can be adapted for naps using a large curtain.

Hot food comes from Four Oaks School Kitchens, with special dietary requirements catered for. A drinking station remains accessible during the day, and children eat in the Creative Room when it becomes the dining space.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Russell Bank Road, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, B74 4RG. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year, with closures on bank holidays and during Christmas week. That calendar suits families needing care beyond school terms as well as those using a different funded attendance arrangement.

Attendance choices include full-time care, a mixture of full and half days, and morning and afternoon sessions. Term-time grant-only contracts are also offered. These are different booking patterns within the opening window, so a family's choice can reflect whether it needs whole days, shorter sessions or attendance organised around school terms.

Getting There

Butlers Lane is the nearest train station and is within walking distance. Bus routes No. 6 on Walsall Road and No. 902 on Clarence Road are also within walking distance, giving families alternatives to travelling by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children aged 2, 3 and 4 can use 15 hours funded childcare or 30 hours funded childcare. Funded hours can be stretched across the year, while term-time grant-only contracts provide another arrangement; eligibility and the nursery's participation should not be read as a promise of a place.

HMRC tax-free childcare payments are accepted, as are payments from most childcare voucher companies. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation. The attendance pattern and funded-hours arrangement are separate choices, so the quotation should relate to the pattern a family intends to book.

Moving on to School

The nursery describes a close relationship with Four Oaks Primary School, including use of its grounds and opportunities to experience school routines. In March 2023, older children visited the school, joined assemblies and heard stories from their future teachers. These activities support familiarity with the next stage of education. Attending the nursery does not guarantee a Reception place; families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Shared spaces and rest. Children use an open-plan environment, and the Quiet Area also accommodates naps. During a show round, explore how quieter play and rest are organised alongside active groups.
• Independence and assessment. In March 2023, improvement priorities included giving children more chances to try tasks themselves and embedding assessment improvements. Discuss how those priorities now shape everyday practice.
• Your attendance quotation. Full and half days, shorter sessions and term-time grant-only contracts create different choices. Ask for one written breakdown covering your intended hours, food and non-food consumables, including the treatment of funded hours.
• School familiarity and admissions. Four Oaks Primary School provides useful experiences beyond the nursery rooms. Keep the Reception application separate from the decision to attend nursery.

Just for Starters suits families choosing either full-time attendance or a combination of full and half days, as well as those considering morning or afternoon sessions. Its appeal lies in the shared play spaces, substantial outdoor provision and contact with school life, supported by a Good judgement from March 2023.

The balance is important. There is plenty for children to choose and explore, but the dated improvement priorities put adult support for independence and assessment practice under scrutiny. For families comfortable with an open-plan day, the garden, practical activities and school connection make a coherent offer.