Sadwica Day Nursery

Low-level furniture for babies, a toddler bathroom built for small hands, and regular outings beyond the nursery give Sadwica a practical, child-sized character. This charity-run nursery in West Bromwich combines play indoors and outside with freshly cooked food included in the cost of care. Its three named rooms distinguish babies, toddlers and older children, rather than treating the nursery day as one arrangement for everyone.

At its 19 August 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Sadwica Good and found that staff supported children's communication effectively through stories, conversation and new vocabulary. There were also two clear improvements to make: better guidance on behaviour at meals, and more room for children to solve problems and practise independently. Those points matter alongside the grade.

Sadwica cares for children from three months to five years and has 52 places in total. Full-time and part-time childcare sit alongside morning and afternoon sessions, giving families different ways to use the nursery.

Rooms and Ages

Tiny Stars takes children from three months to two years, with adaptable furniture at a low height, soft play toys, sensory and messy activities, and an emphasis on communication, movement and personal, social and emotional development. The adaptable arrangement accommodates both babies who are not yet walking and older one-year-olds. Home care routines continue here, making the baby's existing pattern part of nursery care rather than replacing it with one timetable.

Rising Stars is the toddler room, where resources within children's reach, indoor and outdoor activities, and low toilets and a sink support communication, physical development, social learning and growing independence. Planning follows children's interests. The bathroom gives self-care a concrete place in the day: staff help children wash their hands and work with parents on toilet training.

Shooting Stars serves three- to five-year-olds, combining learning through play with language, physical and social development, literacy, maths, creative expression and understanding the world. That broadens the older children's learning beyond the prime areas emphasised for babies and toddlers. The emphasis remains play, rather than a classroom timetable transplanted into nursery.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, children learn through play, with conversation, physical activity and relationships alongside early literacy, maths and creative work. It is the foundation of provision, rather than an extra programme. Sadwica's room arrangements put those areas into everyday use, from toddler self-care to preschool play and exploration.

In August 2025, children invented superhero games and washed toy cars in bubbly water. Older children drew story characters, practised using scissors around hand shapes and made animal masks. These were tangible opportunities to use imagination and small tools, with stories providing ideas for making and drawing.

The same visit highlighted a limit to adult involvement: sometimes staff directed activities too closely or did parts of tasks themselves. Children consequently had fewer opportunities to make decisions and work out techniques. For parents, the useful distinction is between an adult demonstrating a skill and taking over the task.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large, easily accessible garden adds outdoor space to the nursery's playrooms. Regular trips to parks, markets and the library also take children's experiences beyond the building. The proximity to the town centre is part of how the nursery uses its surroundings, rather than simply an address.

In August 2025, outdoor play took place daily, with annual zoo and seaside trips and regular visits to places of worship. Resources represented different cultures, while displays celebrated children's learning. This gave children opportunities to connect their own experiences with other people's lives, through objects, discussion and outings.

Relationships and Communication

For babies, continuity starts with following familiar care routines in Tiny Stars. Toddlers' toilet training is coordinated with parents in Rising Stars, so self-care is approached as a shared task. These are practical forms of partnership: the adults caring for a child at home and at nursery work on the same routines.

In August 2025, staff used families' home languages where appropriate and shared ideas for supporting learning at home. Conversations with parents therefore extended beyond the immediate nursery day. Staff also used discussions about feelings and face symbols to help children recognise emotions, while sharing and turn-taking featured in daily interactions.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support effective, with staff working with parents and other professionals to help children progress from their individual starting points. This is a dated judgement about practice, alongside the current support arrangements families can use.

A SEND coordinator works with speech and language services, physiotherapy and inclusion support; additional support funding may also be available where a child would benefit. Sadwica also signposts families to Early Help, family hubs and Citizens Advice Bureau. Those routes give parents identifiable services to discuss when a child's needs extend beyond everyday nursery care.

A nursery cook prepares food from fresh, taking children's dietary requirements into account. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are included without an additional charge, including for funded children.

Sessions and Attendance

Sadwica is at 69 Beeches Road, West Bromwich, B70 6HQ. Childcare can be full-time or part-time, and the sessional choices are mornings from 8am to 1pm and afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. Daily care and additional paid hours are also offered. These are different booking choices, rather than simply one opening window.

Business hours are 8am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday, with an earlier finish on Friday. The relationship between that Friday finish and the afternoon session is a practical point to settle before choosing a pattern. Care runs across the year, with closures for bank holidays and Christmas.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0121 525 5125, by email or through the contact form. The choice between a morning, an afternoon and daily attendance should be considered alongside the child's routines and the family's timetable.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education includes Early Learning for Two's, places for nine-month-old children of working parents, and NEF and NEF 30 provision. Stretched funded-hours arrangements are offered, and private additional hours can be purchased. Funded entitlement and extra paid attendance are separate parts of the booking.

Food is included: breakfast, lunch and snacks carry no additional charge, and the same position applies to funded children. Parents supply nappies and wipes. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are included in the fee; parents provide nappies and wipes.

Trips and outings are voluntary paid extras, with no trip charge for children receiving pupil premium; families can opt out and be offered an additional day. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The funding and charge information separates funded hours, paid attendance, food and parent-supplied items.

The Holiday and Food club (HAF) is separate provision for children aged four to seven, operating during the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays. Its age range extends beyond the day nursery's, which matters for families considering holiday care as well as nursery attendance.

• Friday attendance. The afternoon session runs to 6pm, while current Friday business hours finish earlier. How does a Friday afternoon booking work? Settle the finish time before building a working-day arrangement around it.
• Independence in activities. In August 2025, adults sometimes gave excessive direction or completed tasks for children. On a visit, ask how staff now demonstrate techniques while leaving children to attempt the work themselves.
• Mealtime habits. The August 2025 improvement point concerned eating behaviour, including overfilling mouths and talking while eating, which staff did not tackle effectively. Ask how mealtime expectations are now taught and reinforced.
• Messy play and outings. Tiny Stars includes sensory and messy activities, so clothes need to suit that kind of play. Trips may carry a voluntary charge, with the pupil-premium exemption and opt-out arrangement relevant to family budgets.

Sadwica suits families choosing between daily attendance and morning or afternoon care, especially those who value child-sized rooms, meals included in the cost and practical support for home routines. Tiny Stars and Rising Stars make care arrangements concrete, while Shooting Stars extends play into the broader preschool areas of learning.

The August 2025 Good judgement gives the review a positive inspection position, but it comes with useful questions about independence and meals. Those are specific matters to explore, rather than reasons to overlook the nursery's strengths. Friday timing also needs resolving against the chosen session. The strongest fit is a family whose attendance pattern and child's routines match these arrangements.