Caterpillars Childcare

A converted barn, woodland play and a covered castle sandpit give Caterpillars Childcare its countryside character. Set on the Apley Estate in Higford, this nursery combines a baby room with a classroom for children approaching two through to school age. The physical setting matters: children have opportunities to explore natural materials and outdoor spaces alongside their indoor learning.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Caterpillars Outstanding, finding exceptional progress and an ambitious curriculum that developed children's understanding through carefully connected experiences. That judgement belongs to the provision assessed then. The current baby-room offer adds an important practical dimension for families choosing care before their child's second birthday.

There are 35 places in total. Little Caterpillars serves the youngest children, while the Caterpillars classroom emphasises independence, cooperation and thinking through problems. Opening hours run from 8am to 5pm on Monday to Thursday and from 8am to 4pm on Friday. Those earlier finishes deserve attention alongside the rural setting and educational approach.

Rooms and Ages

Little Caterpillars, the under-two room, uses sensory experiences and natural materials, with sleeping spaces inside the room and an adjoining kitchen for preparing babies' food and milk.

For children approaching two through to school age, the Caterpillars classroom combines practical exploration with learning to cooperate, manage feelings and persist when something proves difficult. Taking turns and listening to others help children participate in group play.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and development, covering communication, movement, relationships, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. In parent terms, learning includes talking, making, moving and playing, rather than being confined to formal tasks. This is the shared early-years foundation; Caterpillars' own approach sits alongside it.

Reggio Emilia gives children some guided control over their learning: their questions and interests shape projects and the environment. Practitioners observe conversations and document development.

In The Moment Planning turns those observations into further exploration, so a child's curiosity influences what happens next. The curriculum page explains how this works alongside the learning framework.

In September 2023, children explored colour through painting after becoming interested in the night sky. Elsewhere, a story prompted children to build houses together and solve construction problems. These examples show the connection between an initial interest and a more demanding task: children had something to investigate, discuss and make, rather than just an instruction to follow.

Language ran through the day in September 2023. Songs accompanied activities, children learned rhymes and encountered words and phrases from other languages. Books also offered a quieter option, with children discussing pictures and retelling stories. The contrast matters for families: communication happened through conversation, music and shared reading, with different ways for children to join in.

Outdoor and Community Life

Woodland play brings seasonal textures, smells and sounds into children's learning, with opportunities to explore together and judge risk. The countryside becomes a resource for discovery.

The covered castle sandpit adds another physical resource for both Little Caterpillars and older children. It provides a defined space for sand play within the outdoor area. In September 2023, outdoor activity also included balancing and climbing over an obstacle course made from milk crates; yoga offered another way to practise movement. These are dated examples of how physical challenge was incorporated into play.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who builds relationships with both child and parents. Children also become familiar with the wider staff team, combining an individual point of contact with relationships across the nursery.

In September 2023, staff used children's interests and starting points when planning their experiences, and parents discussed learning needs during transitions within the nursery. Half-term stay-and-play sessions gave families time to look through development folders and talk about ongoing learning. This was a practical form of involvement: parents could connect the nursery's activities with their own knowledge of their child.

Everyday independence was also visible in September 2023. Children moved their own chairs, prepared fruit and served drinks, with adults helping younger children take part. Small jobs like these give children opportunities to practise useful skills during ordinary routines. They also make independence something children do, rather than just something adults encourage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A lead SEND coordinator and a SEND coordinator provide a defined route for discussing additional needs. With parental consent, they liaise with external professionals and arrange collaborative meetings or visits to plan further support. Health visitors, speech and language therapists and child physiotherapists are among the professionals involved in the nursery's support arrangements.

Two-year developmental checks are carried out with parents and the child's health visitor, followed by strategies and monitoring where concerns arise. That mechanism gives families a point at which to bring together observations from home and nursery. It also connects identifying a concern with deciding what to do next.

At the September 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the progress of children with special educational needs or disabilities, supported through individual planning and work with outside professionals. Current arrangements include a designated safeguarding officer role. The dated judgement and the present support mechanisms should be read together, with each serving a different purpose.

For babies and toddlers, staff work around individual needs and routines. In September 2023, children who needed sleep used a quiet area, with an adult remaining nearby to offer reassurance. The current Little Caterpillars room has its own in-room sleeping spaces, making sleep arrangements a useful part of a visit discussion for families with younger children.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Unit 2, Cotsbrook, Higford, Shifnal, TF11 9ES. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm from Monday to Thursday, shortening to 8am to 4pm on Friday. Caterpillars closes for five weeks each year as well as bank holidays, with some closure weeks already containing a bank holiday. Families planning work cover should allow for both the Friday finish and those scheduled closures.

Enquiries can be made through the nursery's contact route. The different room arrangements allow families to consider care from the baby stage through to school age within the same setting. Transition support includes work with local schools and other early-years settings, helping staff coordinate children's next steps.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible babies and children can receive up to 30 funded hours a week, from the term after reaching nine months until four years old. Funded provision is delivered in term time, and all operational hours can be used for funding. Private childcare also covers children outside the funded eligibility rules and attendance beyond the maximum funded weekly hours.

Funded hours carry a separate contribution covering food, non-food consumables and curriculum activities; options for voluntary contribution form part of the funding arrangements. Families should obtain a current written quotation that separates funded attendance, private hours and the associated contributions.

Getting There

A private access road leads to the nursery's large private car park. The converted barn has two floors, so the building layout is another practical consideration when discussing a younger child's day and movement between spaces.

• Friday finish and closures. Friday closes at 4pm, and the nursery has five closure weeks plus bank holidays. Compare these with your working hours and annual childcare cover.
• Baby-room routines. Little Caterpillars places sleeping areas inside the room and has an adjoining preparation kitchen. During a visit, discuss how your baby's sleep and feeding routines would fit this arrangement.
• Funded-hour contributions. Food, consumables and curriculum activities sit within a separate funded-hour contribution, with voluntary contribution options. Request an itemised written quotation for your intended attendance.

Caterpillars suits families drawn to countryside play and an approach that gives children's interests a practical role in planning. The woodland environment, covered sandpit and natural materials in Little Caterpillars give that choice substance. Its September 2023 Outstanding judgement is a strong dated assessment, while the current room arrangements extend the offer from babies through to school age.

The practical fit is equally clear: families need schedules compatible with a 5pm finish on most weekdays, an earlier Friday close and planned closure weeks. For those who can accommodate that timetable, the combination of individual routines, parent involvement and curiosity-led learning gives Caterpillars a recognisable character.