Our Kids Nursery

Colour-changing light panels, planting in the garden and outings to Balsall Heath Farm give Our Kids Nursery a character beyond its everyday play activities. At 17-21 Ombersley Road in Birmingham, B12 8UR, it has capacity for 52 children, with a current age range of 18 to 60 months. Its strongest practical distinction is the combination of rooms for different stages with a shared sensory space.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) received good support through collaboration with families and professionals and effective use of additional funding. That gives parents a dated assessment of care and education, rather than simply a description of facilities.

Attendance can be booked as a morning, afternoon or full-day session. The nursery operates during term time, so its calendar matters as much as its daily hours.

Rooms and Ages

The Blue Room takes children at approximately 18 months and combines a more structured day with a quiet place for rest, books and soft music. That balance matters for toddlers whose need for activity and sleep can change across the day.

At approximately three years, children move into the Green Room, where learning covers language, literacy, mathematics, physical development, relationships, expressive activities and understanding their surroundings. The change is about the emphasis of the day as well as the room itself.

The sensory room adds a different kind of space: illuminated panels change colour, while liquid-motion effects introduce changing colours. Children can explore these resources through seeing, listening and experimenting. It offers another way to engage with materials alongside the busier play experiences elsewhere.

Learning and Activities

EYFS shapes the nursery's learning and care: children develop skills through play, conversation, exploration and activities shaped around their interests. It is the shared early-years framework, rather than an extra programme unique to this nursery. Here, the practical examples include cooking, construction toys, painting, dough and water play.

In September 2024, younger children explored crayons and a water tray, while older children prepared fruit and salad themselves. These examples connect learning with useful actions: making marks, handling materials and taking part in food preparation. Independence had a practical place in the day.

Language also ran through ordinary activities in September 2024. Stories and familiar songs accompanied younger children's play; adults introduced vocabulary during toddlers' activities and sustained conversations with preschool children. For parents, the useful detail is that communication was woven into play, rather than confined to a separate lesson.

Outdoor and Community Life

A mud kitchen, planting and digging give children opportunities to handle materials and investigate the natural world. Tending plants introduces changes in weather, wildlife and growth through something children can help care for. The garden also has apparatus intended for different age groups, making outdoor activity part of the nursery's physical offer.

Balsall Heath Farm is a named outing destination, alongside cinema and bowling trips and visits to a local park. These extend experiences beyond the rooms, giving families a concrete sense of the places used for activities. They should be read as outing examples, rather than a fixed weekly timetable.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2024, the key-person arrangement connected knowledge of each family with children's interests and experiences at nursery. Staff offered reassurance when younger children became unsettled. This is useful care detail: familiarity with a child informed both comfort and the activities offered to them.

Daily routines helped children understand what happened next in September 2024. Toddlers responded to a bell signalling tidying before outdoor play, and children served themselves food with adult encouragement. Small, repeated responsibilities gave them opportunities to practise doing things for themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Rest and personal care have a place in the Blue Room's arrangements. A quiet sleep area accommodates children who need a daytime pause, and staff support potty training when families feel their child is ready. Parents provide spare clothing for accidents, linking nursery care with preparations at home.

Fresh food is cooked on the premises each day, with a four-week menu rotation. Fruit is offered at snack time, and children can choose milk or water, making food choices part of the daily routine.

CCTV and a door-buzzer locking system are physical security arrangements. Their presence is separate from the dated safeguarding judgement above: the useful practical point is how access to the building is controlled.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 7.30am to noon, afternoons from 1pm to 6.30pm, and full-day sessions from 7.30am to 6.30pm. The distinction matters: an afternoon booking begins after the morning session has finished, while a full day spans the whole period.

The term-time calendar closes the nursery during school holidays. Families planning regular attendance therefore need to match both the session pattern and the holiday calendar to their own arrangements. The contact route is by telephone on 0121 440 3306 or email at info@ourkidsnursery.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers 30 hour free childcare for families who qualify and supply their eligibility code. Qualification remains a condition of the offer; it should not be read as an entitlement for every family or as a promise of a particular attendance pattern.

Getting There

The address is 17-21 Ombersley Road, Birmingham, B12 8UR. Use that address when planning the journey and assessing whether the morning, afternoon or full-day timetable fits your household.

• Teaching for younger children. In September 2024, Ofsted identified gaps in some staff's understanding of learning, especially for babies and toddlers. As a result, some children occasionally lacked achievable next steps to support their progress. Management evaluation also needed greater rigour so emerging weaknesses were tackled sooner. At a visit, ask how staff now select achievable next steps for children entering the Blue Room.
• Term-time attendance. The nursery closes during school holidays, despite selling sessions that extend into the evening. This suits a term-time routine, but families needing care throughout the year must account for the holiday breaks.
• Funding and food arrangements. The 30-hour offer requires qualification and an eligibility code, while meals are prepared on site. What would the written quotation include for your chosen sessions, funded hours, food and non-food consumables?

Our Kids Nursery suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as a full-day option within a term-time calendar. The Blue Room's rest arrangements, the sensory room and Balsall Heath Farm outings give parents concrete features to weigh against their child's needs and interests.

The September 2024 Good judgement is balanced by specific teaching and management improvement points. For a family choosing toddler care, the most useful next step is understanding how those younger children's learning is now planned and reviewed.