Chestnut Tree Nursery

Play dough, park walks and shopping for snack fruit gave Chestnut Tree Nursery's day a practical character in March 2022. Ordinary experiences became opportunities to count, make choices and explore the community. At its 25 March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good.

This Coleshill setting has capacity for 24 children, with an accepted age range of 24 to 59 months. Its appeal centres on the relationships and hands-on experiences captured in that dated account.

In March 2022, activities drew on children's interests and the next things they needed to learn. Older children counted and measured ingredients while making play dough, bringing mathematical thinking into something they could make themselves. Children also chose activities, giving them a part in shaping their day.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, the March 2022 examples show how play and everyday tasks brought those elements together: measuring ingredients, sharing stories and choosing resources.

Community experiences extended learning beyond indoor activities in March 2022. Children bought snack fruit at local shops and visited the library for stories; park walks and daily yoga added opportunities for movement. On a park outing, children stopped and waited when a dog approached, putting safety guidance into practice.

Friendships also shaped the March 2022 day. Children offered a hand to a friend before going outside, a small example of looking after one another. During construction play, they respected a child's wish to build independently and made separate structures instead. That matters for children who enjoy company but also want time to pursue their own ideas: playing together did not mean everyone had to join the same activity.

Boundaries were explained through everyday situations in March 2022. Staff used the nursery's golden rules and explored why running indoors could be unsafe, checking that children understood the reason. The emphasis was on understanding behaviour, rather than simply hearing an instruction. Alongside choosing activities and sharing their creations, these conversations gave children opportunities to express preferences, listen to someone else and think about the consequences of what they did.

In March 2022, children turned to their key person for comfort and were confident enough to show staff their creations, including children who usually spoke less. Staff listened to what children wanted to share. These exchanges gave quieter children space to contribute.

At the March 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received support that helped them progress, with parents, professionals and the local authority working together.

Home-learning packs and updates about development connected nursery and home in March 2022. Regular meetings with parents of children receiving additional support helped adults share information and maintain consistency.

The March 2022 account also showed children putting comforters aside as they settled into activities. A familiar adult remained someone they could turn to when they needed reassurance. For a parent weighing emotional readiness for nursery, those examples are more useful than a broad description of friendliness: they concern how children managed comfort, participation and sharing something they had made.

Support for practitioners included regular supervision with the manager in March 2022. Colleagues watched one another working and reflected on their teaching, while staff shared their strengths to help others develop. This gave the team ways to examine everyday interactions. The questioning concern matters in that context: reflection needs to reach the moments when a child is puzzled or an adult's attention shifts, so that the child's original thought gets followed through.

Chestnut Tree Nursery is on Park Road, Coleshill, Birmingham, B46 3LA. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, across the year, with closures for bank holidays and one week at Christmas. That calendar matters for families arranging care around work and holiday cover.

• Questions that extend thinking. In March 2022, staff sometimes asked questions children did not understand or left an exchange unfinished after a distraction. Ask how practitioners now adapt questions and return to interrupted conversations.
• The lunchtime changeover. In March 2022, preparation for lunch sometimes cut across children's enjoyment of a story. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how staff now protect concentration while moving towards mealtimes.

Chestnut Tree Nursery suits families with children aged 24 to 59 months who value practical play and community experiences. The March 2022 picture combines close key-person relationships with learning through real tasks. The balance rests on the detail: counting ingredients and choosing activities were strengths of daily life, while questioning and lunchtime transitions needed attention.