Tower Hill Nursery

A children's kitchen, a language room and a garden for the youngest children give Tower Hill Nursery a character beyond its three main rooms. The former doctors' surgery in Great Barr has been adapted for nursery life, with spaces for cooking, quiet communication, sensory exploration and larger physical activities. Those separate spaces matter: the day can change pace as children's interests and needs change.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The practical strengths sit alongside two clear development points: making individual learning targets more precise and improving the planning and scheduling of outdoor learning. Families should weigh both.

Tower Hill has 87 places in total and accepts ages from 3 to 60 months. Its room structure takes children from babies through toddler groups to preschool, with the move into preschool taking place in September following a child's third birthday. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance are offered.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room combines everyday care with sensory discovery, emphasising communication, physical development and children's relationships and emotions through play and routines. Treasure baskets contain ordinary objects with different textures, including shells, brushes and silk scarves, giving babies choices about what to handle and investigate. Creative play also includes painting, dough, water and sand. Sleep has its own space: babies have an allocated cot in a separate sleeping room, so rest has a dedicated setting alongside the busier play areas.

Toddlers use a large, open-plan room with a section for messy and creative activities, divided into the Caterpillar group for two-year-olds and the Butterfly group for three-year-olds. Each group has a senior practitioner leading individual planning. The arrangement gives children an age-related group within a shared room, while the creative area makes spills and experimentation part of the activity rather than an interruption.

The Pre-School Room serves children aged three to five, with entry in September after their third birthday; learning centres on play, investigation and children's interests. Opportunities to experiment, create and talk give older children ways to develop their ideas. In June 2025, children explored capacity and cause and effect using funnels and jugs in sand, while others developed games and storylines together. These are useful examples of learning through materials and conversation.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the learning and development framework: children's play builds language, movement and relationships, alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding their surroundings. Tower Hill combines activities children can choose independently with adult-led experiences planned around their interests and development.

Extended Provision is the nursery's name for additional practitioner-planned activities and experiences, shaped for individual children or groups. It sits alongside the independently accessible activities, rather than replacing them.

The language room provides a quieter setting for listening and communication, using puppets, books, rhymes and music. Low units and washing facilities in the children's kitchen allow children to participate in preparing food and practise hygiene.

Outdoor and Community Life

Three gardens include a separate area for children under two. The wider outdoor provision includes a climbing wall, mud kitchen, herb garden and allotment patch, as well as a soft-surfaced area for wheeled toys. Children help tend the growing spaces, bringing plant care into their experience rather than leaving the garden purely decorative. A boot room stores waterproof clothing and wellingtons for outdoor play.

Outdoor access is offered daily and in different weather conditions. However, in June 2025, outdoor learning had less deliberate planning and scheduling than indoor provision, giving children fewer opportunities to extend their learning between the two environments. The distinction matters: the facilities provide possibilities, but purposeful use of them was an area requiring attention.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who learns their interests and needs and works with the family. Review meetings take place each term, allowing parents and practitioners to discuss development and agree what comes next at home and nursery. A Learning Journey brings together development from both settings and goes home with the family when the child leaves.

The Parent Partner Group involves families in changes to the nursery, supports fundraising and offers contact with other parents. Termly newsletters provide another route for updates about activities and changes. There is also a parent's room for settling periods, conversations and time with other families, plus a meeting room for discussions with practitioners or other professionals.

In June 2025, practitioners exchanged updates with families both in person and through an app, including information about medication, accidents, allergies and dietary needs. Familiar adults responded when babies became unsettled, and routines could be adjusted with sleep pods when younger children needed rest. These observations show how communication and individual care worked at that point.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received well-planned support through targeted plans developed with parents and outside professionals, visual aids, adapted routines and emotion coaching, and made good progress. Additional funding had supported resources and extra adult help at important points in the day. Bilingual practitioners also used children's home languages in June 2025 to support understanding and confidence.

A sensory room offers water, textiles, mirrors, lights and sounds, and can be used individually or by a small group. That provides another setting for sensory experiences beyond a child's main room. For babies, the nursery follows home eating and sleeping routines where possible and adapts food textures to their stage of weaning.

The resident nursery cook prepares meals, following a five-week menu developed with nutritionist support. Dietary requirements are catered for, including allergies and cultural needs; allergy-affected families should discuss current arrangements before attendance.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm, and full-day sessions from 8am to 6pm. A full week comprises five full days, and additional hours are also charged.

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the expression-of-interest form, which asks for the child's date of birth, preferred start date and childcare requirements.

Getting There

The address is Tower Hill, Great Barr, Birmingham, B42 1LG; the nursery's contact address includes number 25. The building stands in a quiet cul-de-sac, with access to the M5, M6 and Birmingham town centre.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered during term time: eligible two-year-olds can receive 15 hours a week from the term following their second birthday, while children aged three and over can access 15 hours from the term after their third birthday, with 30 hours extended provision for those meeting the criteria. Private sessions are offered alongside funded provision, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Meals and snacks are charged separately, covering breakfast, lunch and pudding, tea and pudding, and snacks; food charges can also apply to funded attendance. The fees and parent information set out the attendance patterns and charge categories, including additional hours and late collection.

• Individual learning targets. In June 2025, some next steps were too broad to guide precise teaching. During a visit, ask how a child's current target translates into a specific activity and how the key person reviews it.
• Outdoor learning. The gardens include growing areas and climbing, but planning and scheduling needed attention in June 2025. Ask how outdoor experiences now extend the learning taking place indoors.
• Moving into preschool. Children enter in September after their third birthday. Discuss how the toddler groups prepare a child for that move, especially if their birthday falls early in the year.
• Visits and the complete bill. Visits require no advance booking. Use the opportunity to discuss the chosen session pattern, separately charged meals and snacks, and the arrangements for non-food consumables.

Tower Hill suits families seeking morning, afternoon or full-day attendance, with separate spaces for sleep, sensory play, communication and cooking. Its key-person system and termly discussions give parent partnership a clear structure. The June 2025 Good judgement provides a positive overall assessment, but the two improvement priorities deserve attention: precise individual teaching and purposeful outdoor learning. The strongest fit is for parents who value practical, play-based experiences and want to be involved in their child's development.