The Rowans Day Nursery

A baby bus for community outings, French through play and activity bags to borrow for home give The Rowans Day Nursery a character beyond its Kings Road address. This family-run Sutton Coldfield setting combines separate stages of care with practical links between nursery life and family life. Its grassed lawns and paved outdoor areas give children space for movement as well as quieter exploration.

At its 20 June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that staff worked with other professionals on plans and targets for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Those findings provide a positive foundation, although organisation and the pace of adult questioning needed attention.

The nursery has capacity for 120 children aged three months to five years. Full days and shorter morning or afternoon sessions serve different family routines, while funded childcare can be spread across the year.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Unit occupies the first floor, with separate spaces for feeding and changing, a fenced garden and a quiet sleep room; treasure baskets and sensory activities sit alongside support for early movement. That separation matters for babies whose feeding, rest and play needs do not follow the same timetable. Community outings use the baby bus, taking exploration beyond the nursery garden.

Triangles, Squares and Circles are the Nursery Unit's groups, where tabletop play, a piano, cardboard boxes and a cosy story area support developing language, imagination and independence. Natural materials feature in play, and children use both lawn and paving outdoors. The emphasis moves towards doing things with others: sharing resources, listening during group time and learning to take turns.

The Pre-school Unit has Red, Yellow, Blue and Green groups, with connected indoor and outdoor play, early phonics, counting and mark-making alongside children choosing their own activities. Personal trays and coat pegs give belongings a clear home. Children also serve themselves food and drinks, so preparation for school includes everyday practical responsibility as well as early literacy and mathematics.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning, development and care: children build communication, physical skills, relationships and early literacy and mathematics through play. At Rowans, planned topics bring together songs, stories, adult-led activities and children choosing what to do. The curriculum page explains this balance. Observation helps staff plan around individual interests rather than treating every child as ready for the same next step.

Creative Flair visits the nursery for smaller-group sessions using songs and nursery rhymes with ribbons, puppets and instruments. This adds a visiting creative activity with concrete resources children can handle and respond to. In the Pre-school Unit, Kidslingo adds French through games, singing, actions and imaginative storytelling. These are additions alongside the EYFS, giving children other ways to use language and join in with shared activities.

Home learning has a practical shape here. The sharing book scheme begins when children move into the older two-year-old room, pairing a book with related activities for families. A book exchange operates at the main entrance, while the toy library lends bags of activities for a few days at a time. Families can continue an interest at home with materials supplied by the nursery.

Take Home Bear works across the nursery's sections: a cuddly toy spends a weekend with a family, whose photographs and short account become material for group discussion afterwards. It gives children something personal to talk about. The activity links familiar home experiences with speaking and listening among friends, rather than making communication practice an abstract exercise.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor play uses large lawns and paved areas, with the Pre-school Unit bringing learning between indoors and the garden in different weather. For younger children, the fenced baby garden provides a separate outdoor space. These arrangements make outdoor activity part of the ordinary nursery day, rather than an occasional special event.

Annual World Book Day celebrations connect reading with dressing up; in March 2026, children and practitioners wore character costumes and talked about the books behind them. Reading corners and the Toy Library supported the celebration. The nursery also holds an annual Macmillan Coffee Morning in support of Macmillan Cancer Support, giving families a recurring community event alongside children's learning activities.

In June 2024, children listened to stories supported by puppets and used role play to explore community jobs, including police work. Adults also introduced descriptive vocabulary during sensory play. The examples show how familiar stories and hands-on experiences can carry language learning, but the pace of interaction matters as much as the resources.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is allocated when a child starts, with the possibility of changing that person during the first two weeks if a stronger relationship develops with another practitioner. This gives the child's response a part in shaping the relationship. Baby settling sessions follow the child's pace, and extra visits can be added for children needing more time. Sleep and feeding routines follow the individual baby, making information from home central to daily care.

An online Learning Journey brings together observations, photographs and examples of children's work. Parents' evenings provide time to discuss progress and next steps with the key person. The nursery assesses children at age two and when they leave for another setting or school, and shares information with outside agencies when compiling assessments. Families therefore have both an ongoing record and opportunities for a fuller conversation.

The staff team includes experienced, qualified practitioners, and relationships with families continue as children move between rooms. For parents, the useful detail is the combination of a named role responsible for their child and opportunities to discuss development, rather than a general promise of personalised attention.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

For children who prefer a slower introduction to group activities, the Nursery Unit provides quiet corners and time with their key person. Pre-school children can join small-group activities at their own pace. These are practical settling arrangements: a child can build familiarity before being expected to take part more fully.

Meals are cooked on site each day, and the nursery's allergy and dietary arrangements use individual care plans shared with the cook and wider team. Baby care also includes a quiet sleep room, allowing rest to have its own space within the day.

The June 2024 inspection identified two weaknesses: some meals and planned activities lost children's attention because preparation was uneven, and adults sometimes moved questions on too quickly instead of giving children time to think and answer. These are specific issues of daily practice. They matter both to a child waiting through a routine and to one who needs longer to form a response.

School preparation includes letters and sounds, toilet training and transition reports. Alongside these, older children practise selecting resources and looking after their own belongings. The emphasis is on practical readiness and information sharing as children move on.

Sessions and Attendance

Full Day care runs from 7.30am to 6pm. Morning and afternoon sessions each last five hours and are subject to availability; flexible hours are also offered. The full-time weekly pattern covers Monday to Friday. This gives families a choice between a complete nursery day, shorter sessions and an arrangement built around their hours of care.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, with year-round operation apart from bank holidays. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 0121 354 1752 or by email at info@rowans-nursery.com.

Getting There

The address is 74-76 Kings Road, Sutton Coldfield, B73 5AE. Nearby parking is on street, so the collection routine involves using the surrounding streets.

Funding and Paid Extras

Rowans accepts the universal 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, 15-hour support for eligible two-year-olds, and up to 30 funded hours for eligible working families with children from nine months. Families may use funding during term time or stretch it across the year, including school holidays; the stretched option covers 52 weeks. Eligibility remains dependent on the relevant entitlement and family circumstances.

Private hours beyond the funded allocation are paid separately. Snacks, drinks and activity resources are included in standard fees; lunch is an optional separate charge, with a healthy packed lunch accepted instead. For funded childcare, meals are charged separately from the funded hours. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees page sets out the charge structure.

Trips are occasional and optional. Music & Movement is included in the price for children attending on Mondays. There are no holding deposits or additional administration costs, keeping those categories separate from the cost of care and chosen extras.

• Routines and thinking time. June 2024 findings raised uneven preparation and adults moving conversations on too quickly. During a visit, ask how meals and group activities are organised now and how staff give children time to answer.
• The first-floor Baby Unit. Babies have separate feeding and changing spaces, their own garden access and a quiet sleep room. Use a personal tour to discuss movement between these spaces, your baby's sleep routine and the usual size of their group.
• Funding and lunch choices. Stretched funding, paid additional hours and an optional lunch charge create several parts to the bill. Request a written quotation for your attendance pattern, including what you would supply for non-food care items.
• Dietary care plans. Allergies and dietary needs are recorded for the cook and staff team. Allergy-affected families should confirm current preparation and serving practice when discussing their child's plan.

Rowans suits families seeking full-day care, five-hour morning or afternoon sessions, or flexible hours, with the option to spread eligible funding through the year. Its strongest practical attractions are the separate baby spaces, indoor and outdoor learning, and activities that connect nursery with home: borrowed books, activity bags and Take Home Bear all have a clear purpose.

The Good judgement from June 2024 sits alongside specific questions about organisation and the time adults allow children to respond. For families who value creative visitors, French through play and gradual settling arrangements, this is a nursery with plenty of concrete detail to weigh against their child's needs.