Active Angels Day Nursery

Six acres of countryside give Active Angels Day Nursery a clear outdoor identity: babies have their own fenced play space, while older children share a playground with a mud kitchen, climbing apparatus and an indoor playhouse. The setting on Tanworth Lane in Shirley, Solihull, combines that space with separate rooms for babies, toddlers and preschool children. Outdoor play has room to grow here.

At its August 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding overall and across all assessed areas. The detail behind that judgement included language-rich play, activities shaped around children's interests and opportunities to practise physical skills. Those examples give parents more to work with than the grade alone.

Active Angels accepts children from one month to five years and has 69 places in total. Full-day, morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside term-time attendance, giving families several ways to organise care rather than a single attendance pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Angels has a main play space, a separate sleep room, a nappy-changing area and another space for messy activities and eating; its physical emphasis includes tummy time, crawling, cruising and exploring ramps. Separating these activities gives the youngest children different spaces for rest, movement and meals. The move towards Cherubs falls within the 16-to-20-month stage, rather than at a single fixed birthday.

Cherubs takes children from that transition stage to three years, with songs, stories and descriptive language woven into play, and large patio doors connecting the room directly to the outdoor area. Children can choose between indoor and outdoor activity. Book corners offer a quieter alternative, while conversations introduce vocabulary and early mathematical ideas through what children are doing.

Pre-School serves children aged three to five, combining adult-led experiences and purposeful play with daily opportunities for running, climbing and balancing in large outdoor spaces. Learning is organised around individual interests and next steps. School preparation therefore includes independence and tackling problems, alongside the confidence to participate in activities with others.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and physical activity all contribute to the nursery day. Active Angels adds Forest School experiences, using outdoor exploration to encourage investigation and problem-solving. Access to the surrounding land makes that approach a practical part of the offer, rather than simply a curriculum label.

In August 2024, staff selected books and songs to introduce new words, and children acted out a bear-hunt story outside using sensory trays. Describing textures connected language to something children could feel. Working out how to clean their feet afterwards added a small, practical problem to solve. Stories became activity, rather than remaining on the page.

Children's experiences at home also influenced planning in August 2024. After a baby's farm visit, staff brought together farm animals, straw, sand and mud, then used singing alongside the play. Babies later returned to the activity independently. The useful principle for families is the connection between home interests and nursery learning: something meaningful to a child can become the starting point for exploration.

Outdoor and Community Life

The fenced baby play area gives younger children an outdoor space suited to their stage, while the shared Cherubs and preschool playground provides more physical challenges. The mud kitchen and climbing apparatus offer different kinds of activity, from imaginative play to movement. Alongside these defined play areas, the six acres provide space for Forest School exploration.

Visits and workshops widen the subject matter. The Dentist, Animal Care Workshops, The Police and Road Safety Experts are among the outside contributions, bringing health, animals and everyday safety into nursery learning. These sit alongside offsite trips and parent workshops, connecting children's experiences with people and activities beyond their room.

Families contribute their knowledge of babies' interests and experiences at home to activity planning, giving parents a practical role in nursery learning.

At the August 2024 inspection, Ofsted found SEND support exceptionally effective, with assessments, specialist advice, support plans, timely referrals and additional resources, and judged safeguarding arrangements effective. The current support structure includes a SENCO, individual learning plans and collaboration with families and specialists. These are concrete mechanisms for organising help around a child's needs.

All staff have paediatric first-aid training. This is an arrangement families can weigh alongside the room layout and support structure, rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement.

Parent involvement extends beyond individual conversations. Cherubs workshops explore the term's topic and can include Forest School activities with children, while preschool families are invited to educational talks and workshops led by visiting specialists. These sessions give families practical ways to join in and support learning at home.

An onsite chef prepares meals fresh each day, with a three-week rotating dinner menu and work with the Early Years Nutrition Partnership. Special Dinners mark occasions including Diwali, Eid, Christmas and Bonfire Night, bringing celebrations into the food programme.

Moving towards school also has a visible milestone. The Graduation Ceremony celebrates preschool children's achievements at the end of their nursery experience. It sits alongside the room's everyday work on independence, confidence and individual next steps, giving families a shared occasion to recognise that transition.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. The Full Day follows that window; the Morning Session runs from 7.30am to 12.30pm, and the Afternoon Session from 12.30pm to 5.30pm. The distinction matters for families organising care around part-time work or other commitments: a morning or afternoon is a separate booking pattern, rather than simply an early departure from a full day.

Attendance can run across the year or be term-time only. Annual closures are bank holidays and one week at Christmas. Requests for different hours or session arrangements are considered, with the nursery aiming to accommodate them; that flexibility is a request-based arrangement rather than a guarantee of any particular timetable.

Enquiries can be made by email at info@active-angels.co.uk or by telephone on 0121 744 2993. The viewing form takes a child's date of birth or expected due date, preferred start date and requested days and sessions, allowing families to set out the attendance pattern they are considering.

Getting There

The address is Tanworth Lane, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 4BY. A large private car park is part of the premises, a useful practical feature for families travelling by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded 15 and 30 hour places are offered, with an additional service charge for funded attendance. Food and non-food consumables are charged separately for funded sessions, and extra hours or days beyond the funded allocation are paid childcare. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

A deposit applies, with an exemption when a child attends funded hours only. Childcare vouchers and schemes are accepted, and a sibling discount is offered. These payment arrangements are separate from the choice between full-day, morning, afternoon and term-time attendance.

• The baby-to-toddler move. The transition from Baby Angels to Cherubs falls within the 16-to-20-month stage. At a viewing, ask how readiness is assessed and how a child becomes familiar with the next room.
• The collection timetable. Full-day care ends at 5.30pm, while the morning session ends at 12.30pm. Match the relevant finish time to work and collection commitments before choosing a pattern.
• The funded attendance bill. Funded sessions carry separate food and non-food consumables charges, alongside a service charge. Request an itemised quotation for the days and sessions you intend to book.
• Outdoor access for your child's stage. Babies have a separate fenced play area; older children share the larger playground and have Forest School experiences. Ask how those spaces feature in the day for the room your child would join.

Active Angels suits families seeking full-day care, morning or afternoon sessions, or term-time attendance, with substantial outdoor space and a progression from Baby Angels through Cherubs to Pre-School. The strongest practical details are the separate baby sleep room, direct outdoor access from Cherubs and the combination of playground activity with Forest School exploration.

The August 2024 Outstanding judgement adds weight to that offer. For parents, the decision is about how the room, attendance pattern and charge structure fit their child and household: there is a clear outdoor emphasis, several booking options and concrete arrangements for involving families in learning.