Toddler Town Day Nursery

A garden where children planted fruit seeds, water play that rehearsed pouring drinks, and picture cards that helped explain the day: Toddler Town’s June 2022 account gives practical examples of early learning. This Small Heath nursery has capacity for 20 children, with a current age range of 24 to 60 months. Its scale is a useful starting point for families, though total capacity is different from the number attending together.

Ofsted rated Toddler Town Day Nursery Good at its 20 June 2022 inspection. The strongest examples concerned everyday independence, language and cooperation; the improvement priorities concerned extending children’s learning through staff interactions and involving every family more fully in learning at home.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions provide different attendance options, with shorter sessions also offered.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes the curriculum: children develop communication, physical skills and relationships alongside early literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding the world. These areas of learning are interconnected. A story can introduce vocabulary; dressing up can give children a reason to talk and invent.

Messy play, role-play, stories and singing form part of the nursery day. Dressing up and nursery rhymes add opportunities to practise language and explore ideas, while the daily offer also recognises that children sometimes need rest. This gives families a concrete picture of the activities rather than just a curriculum label.

In June 2022, children worked together on a train track, spent sustained time drawing and talked about their pictures with staff. Picture cards helped them anticipate routines and prepare for changes of activity. These examples connect creative play with communication, and shared construction with listening to others.

Language practice also came through learning about insects. In June 2022, staff demonstrated pronunciation as children named minibeasts and encouraged early speakers to repeat words. However, some exchanges stopped short of developing children’s ideas further. That distinction matters: providing an engaging activity and using conversation to deepen learning are separate parts of teaching.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supplied a practical link between food and growing in June 2022, when children planted seeds from fruit. Water trays offered another everyday connection: tipping and pouring helped children practise movements used when serving their own drinks. Both examples made learning tangible.

At that time, foods associated with different cultures and festivals introduced children to new experiences. Songs also helped children talk about feelings and explain why they felt happy. The emphasis was on experiences children could discuss and try themselves.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and positive support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language, including work with the local authority and information sharing with Reception teachers. These are dated findings, rather than assurances about present practice.

In June 2022, children settled with their key person, and staff used routine care to explain handwashing and discuss food. Familiar songs gave children a way to identify emotions. Together, those examples show how relationships and daily routines supported the nursery experience at that time.

Parent communication was also an improvement priority in June 2022. Families received information about learning, but support for continuing it at home did not yet reach every family fully. For parents, the useful distinction is between receiving an update and knowing how to build on an interest or new skill.

The nursery day allows for sleep or relaxation when children are tired. Food follows the attendance pattern: breakfast, milk and fruit are provided during mornings, and afternoon tea, milk and fruit during afternoons; children attending a full day bring a labelled, healthy packed lunch, with sweets and chocolate discouraged. Nappies, wipes, barrier cream and summer sun cream are supplied.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 320 Hob Moor Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, B10 9HJ. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm, and a full day from 8am to 6pm. Shorter morning or afternoon bookings are also offered, while additional hours carry an extra charge and depend on availability.

The current operating offer is 51 weeks of the year, with opening hours of 8am to 6pm. This makes the choice between a morning, an afternoon and a full day relevant to families arranging care around different working patterns. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0121 242 1000 or through the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered, with an entitlement described as up to 15 hours over 38 weeks, or spread across 50 weeks with fewer hours each week. Participation does not establish an individual child’s eligibility, so families should distinguish the funding arrangement from their own entitlement.

Private childcare and additional paid hours are also offered. Payments are taken in advance, with standing order or direct debit preferred. Full-day families provide lunch themselves; current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

• Conversation that develops learning. Extending children’s knowledge through staff interactions was a June 2022 improvement priority. During a visit, ask how practitioners now build on a child’s answer or chosen activity.
• Learning shared with home. The June 2022 findings called for fuller involvement of every family. Ask to see how an update becomes a practical suggestion for something to try at home.
• Full-day lunch arrangements. Children booked for the full day bring their own healthy, labelled lunch. Families need to plan for that alongside the breakfast and afternoon food provided.
• Shorter attendance. Shorter morning and afternoon sessions are offered alongside the standard patterns. Discuss the proposed booking and funded-hours arrangement together before agreeing a contract.

Toddler Town suits families considering morning or afternoon care as well as a full-day booking, with an operating offer extending across 51 weeks. Its June 2022 examples give substance to the emphasis on play: growing seeds, practising pouring and building together all connected learning with everyday tasks. The balance is clear. Families have useful attendance choices, while the two dated improvement priorities make staff conversation and communication with home sensible subjects for a visit.