Sunrise Explorers Day Nursery

In February 2024, comfort, conversation and sensory play shaped children's experience at Sunrise Explorers Day Nursery. This Sutton Coldfield setting has capacity for 62 children, with an accepted age range of 2 to 60 months. At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective.

That judgement comes with two useful cautions: activities needed better organisation, and older children needed more opportunity to work problems out themselves.

The early years foundation stage sets requirements for children's learning, development and care, bringing education and everyday care together.

In February 2024, babies explored water and sand using their hands, feet and tools, while familiar rhymes encouraged them to try sounds and actions. Older children invented stories through mark-making. These were different ways to explore materials, language and imagination, rather than one activity applied across the age range.

During that month, practitioners described younger children's play aloud and read stories expressively; children could also choose books themselves. Activity planning drew on what children could already do. The February 2024 curriculum was organised to build knowledge and abilities in stages, making children's starting points relevant to what staff planned next. For a baby, exploration involved physical contact with materials; for an older child, mark-making provided a way to express an invented story. Language also ran through these experiences: adults supplied descriptive vocabulary during younger children's play, alongside expressive reading and books children could select independently. This gave children opportunities both to hear language from adults and to make choices about stories. However, the arrangement of some activities and resources interrupted children's involvement, while adults sometimes supplied solutions before older children had time to think them through.

In February 2024, staff used their knowledge of individual children to comfort them when unsettled. Key-person work began with information from parents, followed by observations that shaped children's next steps. Exchanges with families covered the day's activities and ways to continue learning at home.

The special educational needs coordinator worked with families, practitioners and other professionals in February 2024, with additional funding directed towards individual needs. Staff responded to hunger and personal-care needs and sought children's permission before helping. That makes respectful care a concrete part of the inspection-era picture. In February 2024, the links between parental information, ongoing observation and planning gave key-person work a practical purpose: staff could identify gaps in development and decide what a child should work towards next. Communication extended that work beyond nursery by giving parents ideas for learning at home. The coordinator's contact with families and other professionals also connected support across the adults involved in a child's care, rather than leaving practitioners to plan in isolation.

Staff coaching also formed part of the February 2024 arrangements. Practitioners reflected on their work and identified training goals, although teaching needed further refinement, especially around letting older children tackle difficulties independently.

In February 2024, induction covered nursery policies and procedures, and staff assessed risks in the environment. Children also encountered safety through everyday conversation: adults talked about safe play, and older children could explain how to use the stairs safely. Gentle reminders about rules made expectations part of daily interaction. These observations describe how adults combined practical precautions with helping children understand their own actions.

The address is 87 Chester Road, Sutton Coldfield, B73 5BA. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, with bank-holiday closures.

In February 2024, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. This is an inspection-date account of participation.

• Independent thinking. Adults sometimes solved difficulties for older children in February 2024. On a visit, ask how practitioners now give children time to try their own solutions.
• Activity organisation. Some February 2024 activities did not sustain children's involvement. Ask to see how materials and spaces are arranged for uninterrupted exploration.
• Attendance and funding. The year-round opening window extends into the early evening. Ask which booking patterns and funded-hours arrangements would fit your child's proposed attendance.

Sunrise merits consideration for families seeking care across the year. For parents who value conversation, sensory exploration and close knowledge of their child, the February 2024 inspection picture provides reasons to consider it. That dated account combines attentive everyday care with clear teaching priorities: better-organised activities and more space for older children to think independently. The decision rests on both parts of that picture: personal attention mattered, but the organisation of learning and adults' readiness to let children attempt solutions also deserved scrutiny.