Springfield Park Road Nursery

Home languages, family involvement and learning through books give Springfield Park Road Nursery its character. At this Sparkhill setting, parents contribute to their child's starting assessment, stories shape activities, and communication continues through Tapestry, used for communication with families. These are practical connections between home and nursery, rather than occasional invitations to participate.

At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that specialist advice was translated into individual support for children with SEND. That is a dated assessment of quality. The current offer includes support plans, accessible outdoor play and regular opportunities for parents to discuss development.

The nursery has 100 places in total and accepts children aged 24 to 60 months. It opens during term time, Monday to Friday, from 8.45am to 3.45pm.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and everyday routines contribute to their education. Park Road builds its planning around 18 core books each year, connecting activities with children's development and events. Stories therefore supply a shared starting point for learning, with new vocabulary introduced through the activities that follow.

Daily stories and nursery rhymes sit alongside individual reading time each week. Children have opportunities to explore media and develop conversation skills, while number work includes shapes, rhymes and the purpose of counting. This gives families a clearer picture of early learning than a promise of school preparation alone: conversation, reading and mathematical ideas are connected to things children can do.

Home languages have a place in this approach. Children are encouraged to express themselves in English and their family's language, with practical experiences used to develop vocabulary. For a child learning English, familiar words remain part of communication rather than being set aside.

Black History Month and Eid are included in longer-term planning, with staff drawing on their own cultural backgrounds. These celebrations connect learning with the people and experiences children know. Adults also encourage children to attempt solutions and contribute ideas, offering help with tasks they cannot yet manage independently.

In September 2022, children used dough, shells and stones to represent feelings, while water play introduced ideas about quantity and counting. Those examples show how a practical activity could serve several purposes: hand control, conversation and early mathematics. They describe that period's nursery life.

Outdoor and Community Life

Gardening, walks and exploring wildlife form part of outdoor learning, with families encouraged to participate. The emphasis connects children's surroundings with things they can investigate, rather than treating outdoor time solely as a break from learning indoors.

An accessible outdoor play area is available at Park Road. Inside, the environment can be adapted to create room around tables and access to floor activities. Those physical arrangements matter for children whose participation depends on how an activity is laid out, as well as on the activity itself.

Relationships and Communication

Parents share information about their child during induction and contribute to Wellcomm, which is used in the starting assessment and subsequent monitoring. That makes family knowledge part of planning from the beginning. Tapestry provides another route for communication, while meetings each term give parents and staff time to discuss development together.

Half-termly events involve families in cultural celebrations or respond to children's needs. The SEND policy also provides for termly consultations through Stay and Plays, with written reports issued in July. Parents can discuss development with their child's Key Worker at other times, so a concern need not wait until a scheduled meeting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO and a room-based SENCO provide routes for discussing additional needs. Where extra support is needed, plans are developed with parents; staff use them in children's activities and seek outside advice with parental permission. Support can include referrals for speech and language therapy and advice from the Early Years Inclusion Support Team.

Children with learning difficulties have SEN plans reviewed each term, with staff working on their targets daily. An Inclusion Worker assists with interventions and supports staff. These are specific mechanisms for organising help, rather than a general promise that every need will be met in the same way.

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted asked for further development of staff's communication strategies and clearer teaching about healthy eating. Some less experienced staff asked questions too quickly for children to formulate an answer, and opportunities to explain healthy choices and exercise were missed. These are useful areas to explore alongside the nursery's current language and wellbeing work.

Transition support includes sharing relevant SEND information with a child's next setting and inviting that setting to meet children or join support meetings. In September 2022, information was also shared with parents and Reception teachers to help children move on. The practical value is continuity of support.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 57 Park Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham, B11 4HB. Opening hours are 8.45am to 3.45pm on weekdays during term time, making the calendar an important consideration for families arranging care around work.

For funded attendance, parents must report absences and explain the reason. At least four weeks' notice is required to change sessions, reduce funded hours or leave the nursery; changes normally take effect at the start of a funding period unless another arrangement is agreed. Families expecting their working pattern to change should factor that notice into their plans.

Funding and Paid Extras

Park Road offers Universal Entitlement (3 & 4 Year Old Funding), Working Parent Entitlement (Up to 30 Hours Funding), and Funded Places for Eligible 2 Year Olds. The universal entitlement provides 15 hours a week over up to 38 term-time weeks, beginning in the term after a child turns three; working-parent funding of up to 30 hours depends on eligibility and a valid code supplied before the funding period starts.

Eligible two-year-olds can receive 15 funded hours from the term after their second birthday. Parents complete a declaration each term, provide proof of age and supply an eligibility code where required. They must also tell the nursery if another provider shares their funded hours.

Funded education and care carry no charge for the entitlement itself, while snacks are charged separately as an optional extra. Trips, special events and enrichment activities may also attract optional charges, with parents informed beforehand; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Term-time calendar. Opening hours run from 8.45am to 3.45pm on weekdays during term time. Consider how that window fits work and the care needed during holidays.
• Conversation and healthy choices. The September 2022 improvement points concerned giving children time to answer and explaining healthy eating. During a visit, ask how staff now put those aims into everyday activities.
• Support that follows the child. SEN plans are reviewed each term and relevant information passes to the next setting. Discuss how your child's priorities would become daily targets and how progress would be shared with you.
• The complete care arrangement. Snacks are an optional separate charge within funded attendance. Ask how meals and non-food items would be arranged for your child's attendance pattern.

Springfield Park Road Nursery suits families seeking term-time early education with sustained involvement in their child's learning, including families who value home-language support and a defined process for additional needs. Book-led activities, individual reading and parent discussions give the offer substance.

Its daytime opening window and funded-attendance notice terms deserve equal weight in the decision. The strongest fit is a family whose calendar works with term-time care and who wants to participate in planning and reviewing their child's development.