In the Woods Nursery

Two large playrooms, a quiet space and soft play give In the Woods Nursery an open-plan character. Children are not divided into fixed rooms by age: younger children learn alongside their peers, while preschool children take on helping roles around babies. That makes the organisation of shared space a central consideration for families, rather than a conventional progression from baby room to toddler room.

At its February 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged welfare and wellbeing and inclusion to be at a strong standard, the other four areas at the expected standard, and safeguarding standards met, while identifying inconsistent teaching and insufficiently precise support for staff as the main improvement priorities. The balance matters. Care and inclusion received the stronger judgements, but teaching still needed greater consistency.

At Surestart, 2 Chelmsley Circle, Birmingham, B37 5UH, the nursery has capacity for 80 children aged six months to five years. Full-day and sessional care are offered.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play, conversation and routines contribute to learning alongside planned activities. The open-plan arrangement allows children to make choices across shared spaces. Older children have opportunities to help younger ones, rather than spending the whole day within a separate age group.

A quiet room provides space for individual work or activities with a small group. This is a useful counterpart to the two larger playrooms: the building supports both shared play and a more contained setting for an activity. Soft play adds a physical dimension to the indoor environment.

In February 2026, cooking club involved making biscuits and measuring ingredients. It linked following instructions with measuring ingredients, giving mathematical ideas a tangible purpose. Story activities included adults introducing vocabulary and children joining in with familiar phrases; counting songs and measuring jumps brought language, movement and number into the same day.

The teaching concern was specific. In February 2026, some practitioners did not build sufficiently on children's interest during group activities or recognise opportunities to take their thinking further. Leaders also sometimes missed where practitioners needed extra help to improve their teaching. The issue was how adults extended an activity, rather than whether activities took place. For parents, the useful distinction is between a busy programme and interactions that move learning forward.

Outdoor and Community Life

In February 2026, children used soft steps to practise balancing and climbing, while garden play included moving like sea creatures and searching for hidden objects. These examples show different opportunities for movement: indoor equipment for coordination, and imaginative outdoor play that required children to control their bodies in shared space.

Collaborative play also featured that month. Children built towers together, discussed their ideas and tried again when a structure became unstable. Story-making with props required them to agree roles and listen to one another. Such activities gave cooperation a practical task, rather than leaving it as an abstract expectation.

Relationships carry substantial weight here. At the February 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that staff built secure relationships with their key children, adjusted support to individual needs and worked with parents and external professionals on plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who made steady progress from their starting points. For families needing additional support, the important mechanisms were early identification, agreed interventions and regular review of how those interventions were working.

In February 2026, practitioners prioritised helping children feel settled before extending their learning. Children sought comfort from their key person when they needed it. Consistent routines supported everyday independence, while adults adapted their guidance to children's stages of development.

Health messages were part of ordinary activity that month, including discussion of oral health and food choices. Staff also shared ideas with parents for learning at home, connecting nursery experiences with family life. Preparation for the next stage included confidence in group activities and practical habits such as sitting at a table and using cutlery.

Meals and snacks are provided, and children use an independent snack bar and practise doing more for themselves at lunchtime. The emphasis is on everyday participation: choosing, eating and managing familiar tasks are part of the nursery day.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. The nursery offers both full-day care and sessional attendance, so families can consider different patterns rather than treating the opening window as a single compulsory booking.

The address is Surestart, 2 Chelmsley Circle, Birmingham, B37 5UH. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0121 717 7132 or by email at inthewoodsnursery@gmail.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Private childcare and funded places for two-, three- and four-year-olds are offered. Funded participation and private attendance are separate parts of the offer; families considering a combination need an arrangement that fits the sessions they intend to use. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Shared ages and spaces. Children use an open-plan setting rather than fixed rooms organised by age. On a visit, ask how babies' quieter routines and older children's active play are accommodated alongside one another.
• Teaching consistency. The February 2026 improvement priority was more precisely targeted staff support, so that teaching reached a consistently high level. Ask how practitioners now extend children's ideas during group activities.
• Funding and attendance. Both sessional and full-day care sit alongside funded places for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Ask for a written breakdown of the proposed attendance pattern, including the treatment of meals and consumables during funded and private hours.

In the Woods Nursery suits families interested in shared-age play, with either sessional attendance or full-day care. Its open-plan rooms, quiet activity space and opportunities for older children to help younger ones give it a recognisable organisation. The February 2026 findings put relationships and inclusion ahead of teaching consistency. That is a useful basis for a decision: weigh the shared-space approach and support mechanisms alongside the improvement priority, rather than treating the activity programme alone as the measure of learning.