Mila Moos Nursery

Child-led play and hands-on movement give Mila Moos Nursery its character: choosing activities, riding scooters and working with play dough featured in its May 2024 provision. This Harborne setting has capacity for 30 children, with a current age range of 24 to 60 months.

At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted graded the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children made good progress, with effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Those are dated judgements, rather than a description of every aspect of today's care.

The May 2024 account also described children who were keen to attend and had close relationships with staff. That relational side matters alongside the activities: children felt secure enough to explore and choose their play. For families considering this age range, the useful combination is personal connection with adults and opportunities for children to exercise independence, rather than an activity timetable alone.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, the May 2024 examples included language through songs and conversation, physical activity and learning to make choices during play. Children selected their own resources and sustained their interest in activities, giving them an active part in shaping their day.

In May 2024, low-level climbing equipment, indoor dancing and bicycles and scooters in the garden supported movement. Scooping rice gave younger children practice in coordination; rolling and cutting play dough exercised older children's hands. These were practical experiences with different kinds of physical challenge.

Language work that month included rhymes, questions during play, and stories and familiar words in children's home languages. Choosing songs through a vote also gave children a concrete introduction to making a shared decision.

Planning in May 2024 drew on children's interests and the skills they were ready to develop next. Staff tracked progress and used it to shape subsequent activities, so play had a learning purpose as well as giving children choices. The important qualification concerned older children: some experiences needed to take their thinking further. For this age group, engagement alone was not the whole test. The next step was to make an absorbing activity sufficiently demanding to extend learning, while retaining the interest that drew the child into it.

In May 2024, staff helped children name feelings and talk about them; older children made worry monsters from craft materials as part of this work. Sharing resources and practising boundaries sat alongside these conversations, connecting emotional understanding with everyday relationships.

That month, the special educational needs coordinator worked with families and other professionals, while additional funding paid for specific resources. Staff also maintained an open-door approach to parental feedback. These arrangements gave families ways to contribute to their children's care and learning.

The May 2024 emotional work connected discussion with making: worry monsters gave older children a craft activity alongside conversations about feelings. Song voting offered a different kind of participation, helping children understand what happens when a group chooses together. These examples placed expressing feelings and listening to others within everyday play.

Staff development also formed part of the May 2024 picture. Meetings and training supported practitioners' knowledge, and the manager observed their work. The improvement point was about making feedback more specific, so practitioners could understand precisely how to develop their teaching further.

The address is 13 Hampton Court Road, Harborne, Birmingham B17 9AE. Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time; the nursery closes for school holidays. This calendar matters for families needing care throughout the year.

In May 2024, the nursery provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

• Challenge for older children. At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted called for activities that stretched older children's thinking further and more precise feedback to practitioners about their teaching. Both points matter when assessing the preschool experience.
• Term-time calendar. School-holiday closures make the annual pattern a significant part of the decision for working families.
• A visit with a purpose. How do current activities stretch older children, and how are families involved in planning their next learning steps?

Mila Moos Nursery suits families seeking term-time care for children aged 24 to 60 months. Its May 2024 examples give a clear picture of active play, language practice and emotional learning. The balance for families is between that practical, child-led experience, the holiday calendar and the need for sufficient challenge as children get older.