Little Scallywags Day Nursery Mile Oak

Three playrooms and a garden give Little Scallywags Day Nursery Mile Oak a compact, domestic character. This is one of the smaller Little Scallywags settings, with a Baby room where younger children can explore close to familiar staff. For parents who prefer a smaller physical setting, that layout is a useful starting point, though it should not be confused with a promise about group sizes.

At its November 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good. Its current age range runs from birth to five years, and its address is 453 Watling Street, Mile Oak, Tamworth B78 3ND. Half-day and full-day bookings sit alongside specific funded attendance patterns, giving families several ways to organise care.

The strongest character comes from practical play: garden exploration, stories brought to life and opportunities to learn through making things. The dated inspection account adds useful detail, but its observations describe November 2021 rather than today's nursery day.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby room provides space for younger children to explore with familiar adults nearby. That combination matters for children still gaining confidence away from home: exploration and adult reassurance belong together. Across the setting, the three playrooms and garden are organised around children's interests and learning.

The physical scale is part of Mile Oak's appeal. It offers a smaller setting within the group, while retaining separate play spaces and an outdoor area. Parents choosing for a baby can therefore weigh the homely character alongside how their child's own room operates.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. In parent terms, play is also learning: talking, moving, making and exploring help children develop skills rather than simply fill the day.

In November 2021, activities followed children's interests. Singing with instruments, using props alongside stories and cutting paper for collages gave children different ways to participate. These examples connect language, imagination and practical hand skills. They also make the educational offer easier to picture than a list of curriculum labels.

A weekly cookery club formed part of the November 2021 routine, with the nursery cook helping children make biscuits and cakes. Cooking gave children a practical activity with a tangible result. Earlier, in July 2020, Mile Oak used The Little Lost Unicorn for an imaginative story activity, turning a book into shared play rather than treating reading as a separate exercise.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden provides another setting for learning. In November 2021, children dug and filled containers in a large sand pit, climbed soft play equipment and experimented with pouring water through drainpipes. Building play added another use for the outdoor space. These were opportunities to move, handle materials and explore what happens when children try something themselves.

In September 2023, Wednesday Welly Walks took children into the local community on regular outings. The activity combined exploration with fresh air and movement beyond the nursery garden. Its name should not be read as a guarantee of a weekly outing: the stated frequency was regular.

Relationships and Communication

In November 2021, key people knew children's individual care needs and interests, and parents contributed information that helped shape activities. Communication included spoken daily updates and an online app, with opportunities to discuss matters such as toilet training with a child's key person. For families, the value was a connection between what happened at home and what staff planned at nursery.

Those relationships also supported imaginative play. During November 2021, staff responded to a child's interest in a hunting story by helping children act it out and repeat expressive words. Knowing the child influenced the activity, rather than the activity being detached from the child's interests.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2021 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities making good progress, with targeted plans and advice from outside professionals supporting children who needed extra help. This is a dated judgement, not a substitute for understanding a child's current support arrangements.

In November 2021, picture cards helped children learning English understand daily routines. Staff also received safeguarding training, while recruitment checks, induction and risk assessments formed part of the arrangements. These are concrete mechanisms, rather than a general promise of reassurance.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates across the year and closes on bank holidays. The opening window and the booked day are different: a full day includes up to nine hours of childcare, with additional time charged separately. Half-day bookings run from 8am to 1pm.

Funded attendance has its own patterns. The 15-hour Think 2 entitlement and 15-hour three-year-old universal funding are each taken over two days, from 8am to 3.30pm. The 30-hour extended entitlements for children from nine months, two-year-olds and three-year-olds are each taken over three days, from 8am to 5.30pm. These arrangements deserve attention when matching childcare to working hours; additional days and time beyond the relevant funded coverage are charged separately.

Funding and Paid Extras

Mile Oak offers both funded childcare and privately paid care. Its funding and fees information separates the daily rate from attendance using funded hours only. Dinners and snacks are included in the private daily rate; children attending for funded hours only are charged separately for them.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The important distinction for budgeting is between the funded attendance pattern, additional private care and food charges, rather than assuming funding covers every part of the bill.

The nursery can be contacted by telephone on 01827 280696 or by email at mileoak@littlescallywagsdaynursery.co.uk. Its Watling Street address places the setting in Mile Oak, Tamworth.

• Funded hours and your working day. The 15-hour pattern ends at 3.30pm, while the 30-hour pattern ends at 5.30pm. Compare the relevant pattern with your care needs and the separate charges for extra time and meals.
• Learning priorities. In November 2021, improvement priorities included broadening children's understanding of cultures and communities and making activity learning intentions clearer to staff. During a visit, ask how these now shape everyday activities.
• Baby care and supplies. The Baby room emphasises exploration close to familiar staff. During a visit, ask how settling and sleep are organised for your child.

Mile Oak suits families drawn to a smaller setting with separate playrooms, garden learning and a homely character. Its attendance options serve both half-day bookings and full-day bookings, alongside prescribed funded patterns. That gives the practical offer more breadth than the opening hours alone reveal.

The Good judgement from November 2021 provides a dated quality reference, supported by examples of cooking, imaginative stories and individual support. The decision rests on bringing those strengths together with the child's room experience and the attendance pattern that works for the family.