Mad Hatters Day Nursery

Growing food, cooking with it and returning to familiar stories give Mad Hatters Day Nursery a recognisable character. Its garden has planting and digging areas alongside a large sand pit, while weekly cooking gives children a practical part in preparing food. Books receive similarly sustained attention through Our Core Books, a collection revisited across the year so children can join in, remember and retell.

At its 9 May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall. Mad Hatters cares for children from three months to five years and has 40 places in total, at its Shirley address on Tanworth Lane. Those places describe the whole nursery, rather than the size of an individual group.

The practical offer extends across 51 weeks, with weekday opening hours from 7am to 6pm. Flexible settling sessions and a key person for each child give families a defined starting point for building a relationship with staff.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, including communication, physical development and relationships. Here, key persons follow children's interests and introduce learning opportunities within their play. The emphasis on readiness for school is confidence, independence and an appetite for learning, rather than simply rehearsing classroom tasks.

Our Core Books adds a concrete thread to that approach. Ten stories return throughout the year, giving children time to recognise repeated language, answer questions and bring characters into their own play. The Gingerbread Man comes with suggested activities involving baking, bridge building and testing rafts; Ruby's Sword connects imaginative storytelling with sticks, dens and mark making. These are activity suggestions, rather than a timetable of promised sessions.

In May 2024, babies investigated garden herbs and flowers frozen into ice, while older children constructed toy-car ramps using guttering. Stories and rhymes also featured in the baby room. These examples connect language, sensory exploration and practical problem solving, with different materials suited to different stages of development.

Outdoor and Community Life

Our Little Gardners gives children opportunities to grow fruit and vegetables and follow what happens between sowing and harvesting. Peas, strawberries, mint and sage are among the garden's crops. Weekly cooking then connects growing with preparing snacks and tea, making food something children can investigate and help create.

A large garden supports planting, digging, exploration and quieter play, with access organised to connect indoor and outdoor learning. Younger children have outdoor access too, including cosy nests. The nursery has six base care rooms, with equipment selected for children's learning and play; the garden provides outdoor space for those experiences.

Outdoor clothing matters here. The kit list includes waterproof layers, sturdy footwear and spare clothes, with a hat and sun cream among the summer suggestions. Supplying suitable clothing helps children take part when the weather changes or play becomes wet and messy.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is built around the child rather than a fixed deadline. Before starting, parents are invited to attend settling sessions with their child, sharing play and talking with staff. The settling period remains flexible until the child feels comfortable. That gives parents a role in the transition, rather than treating it as a single handover.

Each child has a key person who works with parents to maintain continuity between home and nursery. Learning journals are accessible to families, and parents' evenings take place twice a year. An assessment shortly after a child's second birthday identifies strengths and areas needing support, with next steps agreed together.

Behaviour Strategies provides practical guidance for families on subjects including sharing, sleep, separation and potty training. The value is continuity: parents can discuss an everyday difficulty with staff and use the nursery's guidance at home, alongside conversations about their own child's needs.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support successful, with advice from other professionals incorporated into children's learning plans. Current support arrangements include a SENCO who keeps individual records and works with the key person, parents and relevant professionals on an Individual Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan where needed.

Home languages are supported through words and numbers displayed in rooms and through key phrases supplied by parents. This gives staff a practical way to connect familiar language at home with communication in nursery, rather than expecting a child to leave that part of their experience behind.

Meals are vegetarian and homemade, using fresh produce that is bought or grown, with a nursery chef preparing food. The daily food offer comprises three main meals plus morning and afternoon snacks, while seasonal menus give families a structure for understanding what children eat.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 2 Tanworth Lane, Shirley, Solihull, B90 4DR. Opening hours are 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year, with closure on public holidays and for a week at Christmas.

Families can contact the nursery by telephone on 0121 745 8608 or by email at info@madhattersdaynursery.co.uk. These provide direct routes for discussing a child's start and maintaining contact with the setting.

Funding and Paid Extras

In May 2024, the nursery provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. For families budgeting for childcare, the useful next step is a written quotation covering their intended attendance and the items supplied alongside it.

The outdoor kit list asks families to provide suitable clothing and includes sun cream among its summer suggestions. This is a practical contribution from home to support the outdoor day.

• Older children's routines. In May 2024, changes between activities sometimes interrupted engagement, and crowded mealtime arrangements reduced opportunities for conversation. On a visit, ask how activity changes and seating are organised now.
• Funding and the working day. The 7am to 6pm opening window may fit a working day, but the attendance agreement determines what a family buys. Ask for one written quotation setting out the booking pattern, current funded entitlement arrangements, meal charges and consumables.
• Outdoor preparation. Gardening, digging and wet-weather play make the kit list consequential. Plan for spare clothes, suitable footwear and seasonal layers so clothing does not prevent participation.
• Dietary needs. The food offer is vegetarian, and families are directed to staff for dish-specific allergy advice. If a child has an allergy, confirm the current preparation and serving arrangements before starting.

Mad Hatters suits families who value repeated storytelling, growing food and hands-on cooking, with a key person relationship and flexible settling alongside them. Its weekday opening window and operation across most of the year will also matter to parents organising work around childcare.

The strongest reasons to consider it are concrete: familiar books used beyond story time, a garden children can cultivate, and parent communication through journals and regular meetings. Older children's transitions and mealtime seating deserve attention when choosing. They are specific questions to set beside the nursery's Good judgement, rather than reasons to overlook the learning and care described here.