Village Bears Day Nursery

Five babies is the maximum in Baby Bears Room, a useful starting point for parents comparing care for their youngest child. Village Bears Day Nursery occupies a former infant school in Wallheath, with three rooms separating babies from children approaching their third birthday. The building dates to 1906. Its identity is rooted in care for small children, rather than a preschool offer stretched downwards to include babies.

Across the whole nursery, there are 28 places for children aged two months to three years. At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, rather than a claim about today's practice.

Room arrangements and practical terms give families useful choices: there are separate morning and afternoon sessions alongside full-day care, and funding can be used in different ways. The important distinctions are room size, the learning planned for each stage and what the chosen payment arrangement includes.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Bears Room takes up to five babies aged 12 weeks to 12 months, with accessible toys and games supporting coordination and physical development in a softly furnished setting. The cap describes the baby's immediate room, rather than the whole nursery.

Bouncy Bears Room accommodates up to 12 children aged 12 to 24 months, combining resources children can choose themselves with books and picture exploration to encourage independence and language. Children have an active role in choosing what to investigate.

Busy Bears Room serves children aged two to three years, with a maximum of 14, and brings together early science, colours and numbers, deeper story listening, circle time, cookery, music and movement in defined learning areas. The progression is concrete: children's growing interest in the world around them becomes material for conversation, early maths and shared activity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, including children's physical skills, communication and growing independence. It is the common early-years foundation, while the room arrangements explain how the day is shaped for different ages here. Accessible resources let children start their own play, and the older room adds experiences such as cooking and circle time as their interests and abilities develop.

In April 2023, babies shared books, drew attention to pictures and practised words, while toddlers shaped play dough and explained their creations to staff. These examples connect language with something the child is actually doing. They also show why accessible materials matter: a book or piece of dough can prompt both an independent action and a conversation.

There was a qualification to that picture. In April 2023, staff planned around children's interests, but did not consistently extend learning when opportunities arose unexpectedly during play. The distinction matters for families: providing an appealing activity and helping a child take their thinking further are separate parts of the practitioner's job.

Outdoor and Community Life

In April 2023, children played outside daily, with babies using a slide and toddlers moving around on bicycles and cars. Outdoor activity gave children opportunities to practise balance, movement and persistence alongside their indoor play. This is an inspection-era account of the nursery day, so the useful visit discussion is how outdoor play now works for each room.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2023, children had familiar key people who understood their care routines, including the comfort a baby needed when settling to sleep. Some babies were soothed with a comforter or a gentle touch. For parents, the value is specific knowledge of the individual child: sleep support depended on what helped that baby feel settled.

In April 2023, parents received digital updates, spoke with staff at collection and attended meetings about development and next learning steps. Daily updates and fuller development discussions served different purposes. Parents knew their child's key person and could raise concerns with them.

Everyday independence was visible in April 2023 through babies feeding themselves with spoons and toddlers practising handwashing with adult help. Staff also helped children manage feelings and learn shared routines. These are small, practical steps, but they make care and learning overlap: lunch, washing and tidying become opportunities to participate rather than tasks adults simply complete for children.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children with delayed speech received targeted help, and that staff checked allergies and medical needs with parents and sought professional advice when necessary. These are specific support mechanisms, rather than a general promise that every need can be met. For a family with a known communication or health concern, the relevant discussion is how that individual support would be organised.

The shared three-week menu includes vegetarian alternatives and baby-specific dishes. In April 2023, families could choose a packed lunch or food cooked on site, but children needed more encouragement to choose healthy drinks at snack time.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at Dudley Road, Wallheath, DY6 9AQ. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and it operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas. This gives families an opening window, while the individual sessions determine the booking they make.

Morning sessions run from 7am to 1pm; afternoon sessions run from 1pm to 6pm. Full-day and full-time bookings are also offered, giving families choices around work and time at home.

Enquiries can be made by phone on 01384 279156, by email at info@villagebearsnursery.co.uk or through the contact form. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. A family comparing arrangements needs the quotation for its own combination of attendance and funding, because the treatment of included items changes with the payment model.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Working Families Funding for children from nine months and Time for Twos for eligible two-year-olds. The latter is a funded early-learning scheme subject to eligibility. Funding terms also cover the three- and four-year-old entitlements across the nursery and kindergarten; those older age bands do not extend this nursery's own age range.

The funding arrangements offer 15 hours across 38 weeks or a stretched pattern of 12 hours across 47 weeks. Weeks outside the funded allocation are charged at the full rate. That distinction affects the year's total bill even where a child's usual attendance remains the same.

When funding is deducted from the daily rate, meals and consumables are included; with funded-hours-only attendance, meals and consumables are charged separately. The fees and funding terms explain the two arrangements, so the choice affects both attendance and the items covered by the bill.

Funded hours are agreed at the start of the term, depend on availability at that point and stay fixed for that term. That fixed pattern matters for families whose working hours change.

• Your baby's starting point. Baby Bears Room begins at 12 weeks and has a cap of five babies. At a visit, discuss how settling and sleep would be handled for your child's existing routines.
• Learning during play. In April 2023, staff needed to make better use of spontaneous opportunities to extend learning. Ask how practitioners now develop a child's idea as play unfolds, and how outdoor activity fits each room's day.
• Food and individual needs. The April 2023 improvement points included healthier choices at snack time. Families managing allergies should discuss current food practice and the arrangements for their child's needs.
• Funding and fixed hours. Funded-hours-only attendance carries separate meal and consumable charges, and the agreed hours stay fixed through the term. Compare this with funding deducted from the daily rate when choosing a booking.

Village Bears suits families seeking a defined progression from a small baby room into rooms for increasingly independent toddlers. The five-baby cap, accessible resources and older children's cookery and circle time give that progression practical substance. It also suits different attendance needs, with morning, afternoon and full-day bookings rather than one attendance pattern.

The April 2023 judgement provides a positive inspection baseline, with important qualifications about healthy choices and extending learning during play. For parents, the strongest decision points are the room their child would join and the funding arrangement they would use. Both affect the everyday experience more directly than the nursery's overall capacity alone.