Northfield Quaker Pre-School

A mud kitchen, a bug hotel and shared outdoor play give Northfield Quaker Pre-School a practical, exploratory character. Based at the Quaker Meeting House in Birmingham’s Northfield area, it combines age-based indoor groups with outdoor time together. The garden offers more than space to run: digging, growing and investigating have places of their own.

At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good and found safeguarding effective. There were also two clear improvements to make: staff needed to use more consistently positive language and give children longer to pursue activities they had chosen. Those points matter alongside the positive judgement.

Children aged 2 to 5 can attend, with funded and privately paid places offered during term time. Spanish, Forest School, Music / Singing and Dance add different experiences across the week.

Rooms and Ages

The Quaker Meeting House provides a bright indoor setting, with children organised into Nursery, for ages 2 to 3, and Pre-School, for ages 3 to 4; each group has indoor play and stories suited to its age, while outdoor play brings them together. This gives younger and older children separate learning time as well as opportunities to mix.

The EYFS provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care: here, play and stories sit alongside opportunities to develop physical, social, emotional and thinking skills. The age-based organisation shapes indoor activities rather than keeping children apart throughout the day.

Learning and Activities

Spanish introduces another language, while Music / Singing and Dance give children opportunities to use their voices and move. These activities are distributed across the week so children can access them. They add variety to the ordinary play-based day rather than replacing it.

Forest School adds outdoor learning. In March 2024, children explored fire-making, considered what helps a fire burn and discussed how to extinguish it. They practised keeping clear of the fire pit and toasted marshmallows using long sticks. The activity combined practical experience with questions about safety and cause and effect.

Other March 2024 activities connected learning with everyday responsibility. Children examined plants, including roots and flowers, and used their senses to explore growing things. Tidying included allocated jobs such as sweeping. Visiting providers also introduced languages and songs from different parts of the world, bringing experiences beyond the setting into the nursery day.

Outdoor and Community Life

The shaded grass, planted tubs and flowerbeds make growing things part of the outdoor surroundings. A bug hotel and inspection area support close observation, while the mud kitchen and digging pit offer hands-on play. Chalk boards and a reading seating area provide different ways to spend time outside.

A patio can accommodate smaller outdoor groups. Secure fencing surrounds the premises, and gates are locked while children use the outdoor space. These are practical arrangements for using the garden, rather than a substitute for the safeguarding judgement.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2024, staff knew children’s interests and used familiar routines to support play together. Children practised sharing resources and taking turns, with adults helping them cooperate. Relationships were built through attention to what children were doing, alongside the structure of the day.

Communication with families covered children’s experiences and development in March 2024. Staff also offered ideas for learning at home and information about local services. When children moved to their next stage, relevant information was passed on to support the transition. This connected nursery experiences with both home life and the next setting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND were well supported through prompt responses to developmental gaps, targeted plans with professionals and a privately funded visiting speech and language therapist. That is a concrete account of support at the time, rather than a general promise about provision.

Current staffing includes an inclusion support worker working across both rooms, with SENCO and designated safeguarding lead roles represented in each. The setting also works with parents and local health professionals on additional needs. This gives families identifiable support roles within the room structure.

Staff hold NVQ Level 3 or higher qualifications in early years education and current paediatric first aid certificates. Families receive a policy handbook covering safeguarding, health and safety, equality and diversity, and SEN. The handbook provides a reference for the arrangements that accompany daily care.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. School holidays are closure periods. This calendar is a central practical consideration for families whose work continues across the holidays.

Getting There

The address is Quaker Meeting House, Meeting House Lane, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 2LD. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0121 476 0111 or by email at quakerpreschool@gmail.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both funded and privately paid childcare are offered for children aged 2 to 5, within the term-time offer. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Time to follow an interest. In March 2024, adults sometimes interrupted children’s chosen play too soon. On a visit, ask how staff now protect time for children to become absorbed in an activity.
• Language and self-esteem. The March 2024 improvement point concerned adults’ responses to children’s actions. Ask how the team maintains positive language when guiding behaviour.
• Term-time planning. The setting closes for school holidays and finishes at 3.30pm. Consider how that calendar and finishing time fit the care your family needs.
• Funded attendance and charges. Funded and paid places sit within the same term-time setting. Before joining, ask which entitlement and attendance pattern would apply, and how meals and non-food consumables are handled in the quotation.

Northfield Quaker Pre-School suits families seeking term-time care with age-based indoor learning, shared outdoor play and activities that include languages, movement and Forest School. The garden’s digging and investigation areas give that offer substance. Its March 2024 Good judgement sits alongside useful, specific improvement points about adult language and uninterrupted play. For parents, the strongest decision is whether this combination of activities, room organisation and school-holiday closures matches their child and family routine.