The Toddler House

A two-storey cottage, a little wooden shop and a sensory room give The Toddler House a recognisable character: practical play sits alongside space for quieter exploration. This Wednesbury nursery has capacity for 32 children, with an accepted age range from two months to five years. Its strongest appeal is the variety of things children can handle, make, grow and investigate.

At its 3 June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. The judgement came with two clear improvement priorities: organising activities and routines to sustain children's interest, and adapting teaching to take their understanding further. Both matter when assessing how the attractive environment translates into learning.

Children can choose activities and play together in light, naturally styled surroundings. Outside, growing and imaginative play extend that approach. The emphasis is on participation: children have opportunities to use tools, work with materials and explore everyday tasks rather than simply watch adults demonstrate them.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum provides the framework for learning and care, with play helping children develop language, physical skills and relationships. Alongside it, the nursery draws on Reggio Emilia within a blend of approaches. Staff observe children's interests and use these to shape what comes next; the practical value is that an activity can begin with something a child already wants to explore.

Language and literacy have several named supports. The Welcomme language screening tool sits alongside Early Talk Boost, Write Dance and an extended learning group, all used to support early language and literacy. Adult-guided work is balanced with activities led by children. These programmes belong within the wider nursery day, rather than replacing opportunities to talk, listen and play.

In June 2025, babies explored sensory trays while adults named the objects they discovered. Older children took part in work on letters and sounds, and familiar stories encouraged them to join in with remembered passages. These examples connect early communication with both hands-on discovery and books. They also show why keeping an activity appropriate to a child's stage matters: some younger children lost interest during routine group activities.

Outdoor and Community Life

Mud kitchens, a two-storey cottage and a little wooden shop give outdoor play different directions. Children can grow flowers, vegetables and fruit, observe nature or use the shop for imaginary exchanges. Horticulture, woodwork and cooking also feature among the nursery's practical experiences, alongside art, musical instruments, dance and yoga. There is scope to make something, practise a movement or explore how a material behaves.

In June 2025, outdoor activity included bikes and a climbing frame, while music sessions involved movement, singing and copying actions. Children also helped look after a rabbit and African snails, including feeding the rabbit and adding moisture to the snails' enclosure. These were concrete opportunities to practise responsibility for living things. Cooking had a social purpose too: children measured and mixed cake ingredients for friends' birthdays.

Relationships and Communication

Each child's relationship with a key person is central to the care model. Familiar adult contact gives children someone to turn to while they become comfortable enough to explore and learn. Staff receive continuing development opportunities through training within the setting and elsewhere, supporting the play-based teaching approach.

In June 2025, staff spent time learning about children's individual needs from the beginning of their attendance, and parents received regular information about development. At the same inspection, Ofsted found that staff responded promptly to SEND concerns, planned individual support with parents and external agencies, and considered how additional funding could help children progress. For families needing extra support, the important detail is this coordinated planning around the individual child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Mindfulness here includes meditation, singing, children's yoga and talking about worries through a worry monster. Books about emotions and difficult experiences provide another way into those conversations. The sensory room offers exploration through touch, sound and sight, with a quieter setting intended to help children regulate their behaviour. Together, these give children more than one way to express feelings or take a calmer moment.

Meals are prepared in the nursery's own kitchen, and snacks are provided, with milk and water offered as drinks. Families may send a healthy packed lunch, provided it excludes crisps, sweets and chocolate.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 146 Crankhall Lane, Wednesbury, WS10 0ED. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with care across the year and closures for Christmas and bank holidays. That opening window is useful for planning work and family routines.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 0121 218 5232. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page provides the enquiry route. Keeping the quotation alongside the proposed attendance arrangement helps families judge the cost of the pattern they intend to use.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2025, the nursery offered government-funded childcare places and received specific funding for disadvantaged children. Childcare vouchers are accepted for two-, three- and four-year-olds, including tax-free childcare. Funding and payment arrangements deserve attention separately from the educational offer: a family needs an arrangement that works for its childcare needs as well as its budget.

• Engagement during group activities. In June 2025, some younger children lost interest during routine group times. On a visit, ask how activities are now organised for children at different stages and how staff respond when interest fades.
• Taking learning further. The June 2025 improvement priorities included adapting teaching to deepen children's understanding. Ask for an example of how staff extend an activity after a child has mastered its initial task.
• The attendance quotation. Opening hours span the working day, and packed lunches are permitted within the nursery's food rules. Ask for one written outline covering your proposed sessions, funded entitlement and delivery pattern, meal and consumable charges, and any additional private hours.

The Toddler House suits families who value practical exploration, imaginative outdoor play and ways for children to talk about feelings. Its cottage, wooden shop and sensory room give those priorities a physical form, while language programmes add another strand to the day. The June 2025 judgement provides a positive inspection position, balanced by specific work needed on engagement and extending learning. Families should weigh that balance alongside an attendance arrangement that fits their routines.