Olive Tree Day Nursery

Natural wooden resources, a sheltered garden and language activities spanning Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic and Mandarin give Olive Tree Day Nursery a recognisable character. This Handsworth Wood setting combines making, outdoor play and community experiences, with parents invited to take part rather than simply receive updates. Its building occupies two floors within a shopping parade on Coopers Road.

At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. That is a dated assessment, with two clear development points: closer monitoring of staff practice and broader experiences of diversity. Both matter alongside the positive picture of children's daily care.

The nursery accepts children from three months and has 54 places in total. Full-time and part-time attendance are offered across 50 weeks of the year, giving families different ways to use the setting.

Rooms and Ages

Tweenies covers ages 0 to 2, Toddlers ages 2 to 3, and Pre-school ages 3 to 5; the nursery's overall starting age is three months. These are room age bands, rather than statements about how many children attend together. The outdoor play space changes over time and accommodates different stages of development, so the environment is intended to move with children's interests and abilities.

Materials are a substantial part of the offer. Wood features in the furniture and toys, while natural resources are preferred where possible. Children can combine materials, try tools and work with scissors or sculpting implements under adult guidance. Staff extend play by introducing another resource or posing a question. For a parent weighing the day-to-day experience, this is a concrete emphasis on investigating and making things.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, its learning goals are supported through play, conversation, creative activities and physical experiences. It is the foundation of the nursery day, rather than an extra programme. The activity overview adds the practical detail, from construction and pretend play to painting, stories and singing.

Language activities include Mandarin, Arabic, Bengali, Hindi and Urdu. Football and athletics add physical activity, while Gardening Club provides a named gardening activity; these additions carry no extra charge. Their value is the breadth of things children can try alongside everyday play, rather than a separate timetable of formal lessons.

In April 2023, children practised conversation while making pizza, talking about vegetables they liked. Younger children explored flour, water and dough, with adults adding words to describe what they felt. Mixing and kneading also exercised their hands. These examples connect language and physical development to an activity children can understand, rather than treating learning as an abstract checklist.

Outdoor and Community Life

A covered part of the garden supports time outside, including snacks and tea. Outdoor space is used for learning as well as play, extending the day beyond the indoor rooms. In April 2023, children used climbing equipment suited to their ages and played with wheeled toys; those details describe the garden at that visit.

Community outings take place regularly, with examples including a fire-station visit with a practical demonstration and a garden-centre visit involving growing plants. Parents and carers can join activities. This brings adults' work and growing things into children's experience, while giving families opportunities to participate.

Celebrations include Eid, Ramadan, Diwali and Christmas, with related activities for children. At the end of each year, the preschool children perform a play for families. Children leaving also take part in a graduation ceremony with graduation dress. These are specific occasions for sharing nursery life with parents, rather than simply sending home a summary of it.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is assigned a key worker, giving the family an identified member of staff responsible for their care. Parents are invited to settling sessions with their child and Key Person, where information about life at home can shape the relationship. The practical purpose is continuity: someone gets to know the child before care becomes part of the family's routine.

In April 2023, introductory visits were short, allowing children and parents to become familiar with the setting. When children changed rooms, their key person accompanied them into the new space, introduced the adults there and passed on information about their learning needs. A room move therefore involved a handover between people who knew the child, rather than only a change of surroundings.

The online Learning Journal lets parents read and comment on observations of their child's learning. Communication also uses newsletters, email, telephone, text and conversations in person. Parent’s Evenings, Themed Workshops and Information Evenings create further opportunities to discuss nursery life. For families, the useful distinction is between receiving information and being able to contribute to it: the journal supports both.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked effectively with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), who made good progress from their individual starting points. This is an inspection-time judgement about the support in practice, not a promise about every future child's experience.

In April 2023, adults responded to babies' signs of hunger and tiredness, and babies rested comfortably. Older children practised managing their own toileting and washing their hands. These observations give a useful picture of care across different ages: responsive routines for babies and growing independence for older children.

Meals and snacks were prepared by an on-site cook in April 2023. Staff are expected to undertake continuing professional development, training and ongoing evaluation; that expectation sits alongside the dated improvement point about making monitoring more effective.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 59-61 Coopers Road, Birmingham, B20 2JU, in Handsworth Wood. Opening hours run from 7.30am until 6pm, Monday to Friday. Full-time and part-time places are offered over 50 weeks, with bank-holiday closures; the nursery also closes at Christmas.

Applications use a completed form sent to the nursery. The office arranges appointments to view the setting. This makes joining a process involving direct contact and paperwork, rather than simply submitting an online application.

Funding and Paid Extras

Private childcare and funded early education are both offered. The funded offer includes 15 hours of early learning each week for three- and four-year-olds and extended funded childcare of 30 hours for working families who meet the eligibility criteria. Funded provision for children between two and five is subject to eligibility and an induction interview.

Families can discuss using their funded entitlement across fewer days. That is useful for parents considering how childcare fits their week, but it should not be read as a guarantee of a particular arrangement. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The language, sport and gardening additions described above have no extra activity charge.

• Teaching development. In April 2023, monitoring did not fully identify where staff needed further support with their knowledge and practice. At a visit, ask how observation and feedback now shape staff development and children's daily learning.
• Breadth of cultural experience. The April 2023 development point called for more opportunities to understand diversity. Celebrations already form part of nursery life; ask how children encounter different families, backgrounds and ways of living beyond festival activities.
• Your attendance and funded costs. Full-time and part-time places are offered, and funded attendance can be discussed across fewer days. When considering a booking, ask which arrangement fits your intended days.

Olive Tree suits families looking for either full-time attendance or a part-time nursery pattern, with outdoor activity, practical materials and opportunities to join in. The sheltered garden, language activities and Learning Journal give that offer substance: children have several ways to explore, and parents have a way to respond to what they learn.

The April 2023 Good judgement provides a useful quality reference, while the development points keep the assessment balanced. This is a nursery to consider for its everyday mix of making, movement and family participation, with staff development and the breadth of children's cultural experience remaining important decision points.