Tiny Toez, Westfield

A garden for each room, a baby space with low lighting and Big Toez Room with its light tables give Tiny Toez, Westfield a clear identity: children have room to explore, with quieter spaces alongside more active play. The nursery operates at Westfield Childrens Centre on Buccleuch Road in Stoke-on-Trent, also known as Normacot Family Hub. It caters for children from birth to five years.

Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding on 21 June 2023, praising its education and the support that helped children achieve across different starting points. That judgement is dated, but its detail is useful: language, books and sustained investigation were central to the children's experience. The current offer includes the Curiosity Approach, gardens connected to each childcare room and planning developed with parents.

Rooms and Ages

Baby Toez Room combines subdued lighting with resources that children can use in different ways and spaces for relaxing, giving the youngest children an alternative to constant activity. Little Toez Room emphasises making and exploring through construction, water and sand play. Big Toez Room extends investigation with light tables, a smart board and a reading area, giving children several ways to experiment and develop their ideas.

These are different environments rather than a single playroom replicated across ages. For families, the useful distinction is between the calmer baby space, the hands-on materials in Little Toez Room and the equipment for extended exploration in Big Toez Room. Each childcare room also has its own garden, so outdoor provision belongs to the room's everyday environment.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. In everyday terms, that means opportunities to communicate, play with others, move, investigate and develop early reading and number skills. It is the foundation for the nursery's curriculum.

Alongside it, the Curiosity Approach encourages exploration, imagination and creativity. Children choose activities, while staff and parents develop Possible Lines of Development (PLODs), plans that address gaps in learning and identify what a child could work on next. The practical value is the connection between a child's interests and their next steps: choosing what to do does not mean leaving development to chance.

In June 2023, children repeatedly encountered a weekly story, rhyme and key vocabulary. Pictures and symbols supported understanding, and adults introduced demanding words through play, including the name for a squirrel's nest. Repetition gave children opportunities to use words again in different situations, rather than encounter them only during a single activity.

Daily reading and a lending library also featured in June 2023, linking books shared at nursery with reading at home. Current mystery reader sessions involve parents, while Active Animals is a daily programme. These additions give families specific points of connection with the nursery day, alongside children's own choices of play.

Outdoor and Community Life

The gardens have substance. A mud kitchen, a water station and an area for growing sit alongside space for scooters, bikes and trikes. Children can choose between indoor and outdoor play through the nursery's Free Flow arrangement, making the garden part of their choices rather than simply a destination for a scheduled break.

Occasional outings take children to nearby parks, shops and the local library. Their frequency matters: these are occasional excursions, rather than a weekly trips programme. They extend experiences beyond the nursery's resources into familiar community places, while parent reading sessions bring family participation into the setting itself.

Relationships and Communication

Famly, the online parent portal, provides a route for keeping up with children's experiences. Planning offers a further connection: parents contribute to PLODs, bringing their knowledge of their child into decisions about learning. That gives communication a purpose beyond a general account of the day.

In June 2023, staff gathered information about children's interests and needs from families and kept parents informed about learning and next steps. Children also practised cooperating and showing consideration for one another within clear routines. These details help explain the nursery's emphasis on sharing, interaction and good manners today, while keeping the earlier observations in their proper period.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that work with families helped children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the support they needed, and judged safeguarding effective. This is useful inspection evidence about both inclusion and safety, rather than an assurance based on facilities alone.

Current access arrangements include secured doors, magnetic entry locks and controls for individual childcare rooms. Recruitment includes DBS checks, and a Health and Safety officer oversees regular risk assessments. These are concrete arrangements for managing access and risk.

An onsite cook prepares meals fresh, using seasonal menus and catering for dietary and cultural preferences. Drinks include water and milk, with fruit and vegetables among the food choices.

School preparation includes activities that develop independence and collaboration with local schools. These activities support independence ahead of the move to school.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks each year, closing for a week at Christmas as well as bank holidays. For working families, the Christmas closure is an important part of planning care across the year.

Getting There

The address is Westfield Childrens Centre, Buccleuch Road, Stoke-On-Trent, ST3 4RF; the site is also called Normacot Family Hub in Normacot, Longton. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01782 331 061 or by email to westfield@tinytoez.com.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded places are offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Private childcare is also offered, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families comparing attendance costs should consider the complete arrangement for their child, including how funded time fits their intended days.

• The youngest children. Baby Toez Room has low lighting and places to relax. During a tour, ask how settling, sleep and the starting age would work for your baby, and how many children share the room.
• Daily Active Animals. This programme runs daily alongside parent mystery reader sessions and occasional outings. Ask what Active Animals involves and how children of different ages take part.
• Funded attendance. Funding covers places for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Ask how the entitlement is scheduled across the year and what the written quotation includes for meals and consumables.
• Christmas care. The nursery closes for one week at Christmas and on bank holidays. Families needing care throughout the working year should build those closures into their plans.

Tiny Toez, Westfield suits families who value child-chosen play, substantial outdoor resources and involvement in planning their child's learning. The contrast between Baby Toez Room's quieter environment and Big Toez Room's light tables and reading space gives the offer useful shape across childhood stages.

Its June 2023 Outstanding judgement adds weight to the choice, especially through the detailed account of language work and family support. The practical fit rests on weekday opening hours, the Christmas closure and the funded or private attendance arrangement a family chooses. The gardens and parent contributions are the strongest reasons to put this nursery on a personal shortlist.