Manna House Day Nursery

A Baby Room capped at nine, a mud kitchen outside and a Christian calendar give Manna House Day Nursery a clear identity. Community connections are part of that identity too: partnerships with The Manna House Charity and Tamworth Elim Church extend its work beyond childcare, while church facilities are used regularly through the year. For parents, the choice involves both the practical offer and the values shaping nursery life.

On Bamford Street in Glascote, Tamworth, the nursery has capacity for 64 children aged three months to five years. Its purpose-built premises contain age-specific rooms, with changing or toilet facilities, wet-play space and dining arrangements in each area. Children can play, eat and manage everyday care within their own part of the building.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good on 7 August 2024, with improvements required in the sequencing of learning and the planning of learning environments. Those points matter alongside the room arrangements and parent communication, rather than disappearing behind the overall grade.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room accommodates up to nine babies, combining imaginative and messy activities with individual routines and a supervised quiet space for naps. That room-level maximum is useful for parents weighing the scale of baby care; it is separate from the nursery's total capacity.

Downstairs, the Two Year Old Room accommodates up to eight children who have recently turned two, providing an intermediate stage before the next room and a quiet place for supervised sleep. The Two-Three Room has capacity for 22 children, with cooking, music and sand or water activities alongside another quiet nap area. Pre-School accommodates up to 24 children and moves towards a more organised day, mixing adult-led stories and music with cooking, outdoor activities and freely chosen play.

These are room capacities, rather than a promise about how many children attend together on a particular day. The progression gives parents concrete stages to discuss, especially when a child is approaching a move between rooms. Rest remains part of the offer for younger children, rather than requiring them to follow the preschool rhythm.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the common framework for learning, development and care: children's days bring together communication, physical activity, social development, early literacy and mathematical thinking through play and planned experiences. It is the foundation of the nursery's work, rather than a special programme unique to Manna House.

Letters and Sounds adds a specific method in Pre-School: songs introduce letter sounds, shapes and formation. Themes such as transport, healthy living and people who help us connect activities with children's surroundings, while educational software gives them opportunities to practise computer skills. The practical value lies in the combination of early language work and experiences children can recognise beyond the nursery.

A typical day includes phonics songs, sensory and craft activities, followed by Music and Movement, a song-and-dance session supporting larger movements. Outside play and afternoon activities sit alongside opportunities for younger children to sleep or continue playing. The timetable varies with children's ages, so it is a guide to the day's ingredients rather than a fixed schedule for every room.

In August 2024, learning aims were identified for the different rooms, but the steps between them needed greater precision. Learning spaces also needed more deliberate planning to extend children's knowledge across the areas of learning. The distinction is useful: having activities on offer and organising them into a clear progression are separate questions.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor area includes shade, a specially designed play surface, equipment and a mud kitchen, and is accessible to children across the nursery. It doubles as a place for learning outdoors. Regular walks to local parks, with parental consent, take exploration beyond the nursery's own space.

Christian traditions are visible in the annual programme. Nativity takes place each December, with relatives invited, while the Easter Service combines a bonnet parade with songs and a play. An annual Graduation Ceremony marks the departure of children starting school. These events give families occasions to participate and make the nursery's ethos tangible.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person, giving parents a regular contact for care and daily communication. Families can receive a diary covering activities, eating and sleep, and contribute information about their child's starting points and learning at home. For a baby maintaining individual routines, that exchange has immediate practical value: home habits can become part of the care conversation.

Parenta is the nursery's administration and communication system, holding family, attendance and fee information and carrying regular photographs from key workers. Staff use tablets to record activities and achievements, while emails flag forthcoming events. Parents' Evenings take place a couple of times a year, creating a separate opportunity to discuss development in more depth than a daily update allows.

The SEND policy provides an individual settling-in period according to each child's needs. It also sets out continuing contact with parents, rather than treating settling as a single milestone completed at the start. For families whose child needs additional support, the important mechanism is an ongoing exchange about what is working and what needs adjusting.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the August 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified SEND provision as a strength, including access to outside professionals and one-to-one help while funding was being arranged. That is a dated assessment of practice, with a concrete example of support reaching children before the funding process was complete.

Current SEND arrangements place the SENCO role with the manager or appointed deputy. Support follows an assess, plan, do and review process, with individual educational plans discussed and reviewed with parents. The policy also provides for meetings with a child's next school or care setting to exchange information about their needs. This concerns continuity of support, rather than an admissions advantage.

The behaviour policy recognises children's emotions and makes a distinction between an unacceptable action and the child themselves. Where observations and discussions reveal continuing concerns, an individual behaviour support plan can be introduced. Parents are involved, giving home and nursery a shared basis for responding rather than relying only on an incident-by-incident approach.

Access is controlled through a remotely operated door with a camera, and visitors sign in and out. The first-aid policy provides for paediatric first-aid training across the staff team and for parents to see and sign accident information. These are specific arrangements; the dated inspection judgement supplies the assessment of safeguarding effectiveness.

Food is prepared by a chef in the nursery kitchen, with adaptations for weaning babies and special dietary needs accommodated when notified beforehand. That makes dietary information an important part of the initial care discussion.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. The nursery closes on statutory bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year, with no charge for those closure days.

The main booking is School Day, from 8.30am to 4pm. Early Bird Club is an optional earlier-care session from 7.30am to 8.30am, while After Nursery Club provides optional later care from 4pm to 5pm. These additions let families distinguish the main day from the extra time they need around it, rather than treating the full opening window as one compulsory booking.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01827 302435. The address is Bamford Street, Glascote, Tamworth, B77 2AT.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including 30 hours for eligible working families over 38 weeks a year, starting in the term after a child turns nine months and continuing until school age. The nursery also offers 15 hours NEF funding for three- and four-year-olds from the term after their third birthday, and funded provision for eligible two-year-olds. The funding year is distinct from the nursery's 51-week opening year.

Private fees include meals, lessons, trips and visits; for funded hours, the nursery meal service is charged separately, with families able to opt into breakfast, lunch and tea or supply their child's meals. Parents supply non-food consumables, including nappies, wipes, cream and summer sun cream, as well as bottles and formula for under-twos where needed.

Invoices are issued termly and payment is requested in advance. Tax Free child care is accepted alongside the other payment methods. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page explains the session and meal structure.

Illness can affect both attendance and the family budget. The sickness policy requires children with sickness and diarrhoea to be clear for at least 48 hours before returning, and fees remain payable during sickness absence. Families therefore need an alternative care plan as well as their usual nursery arrangements.

• Learning progression. In August 2024, curriculum sequencing and the breadth of learning environments needed improvement. During a visit, ask how activities now build from one room's learning to the next, and how that progression is shared with parents.
• Christian nursery life. The church partnership, December Nativity and Easter Service give the ethos a practical expression. Consider how those traditions fit your family's preferences and expectations for participation.
• Baby care and settling. The Baby Room has a maximum of nine and retains individual routines. Ask how your child's sleep and feeding pattern would be handled during settling and how a move into the downstairs Two Year Old Room is planned.
• Attendance costs and interruptions. The funded meal service is charged separately. Parents bring nappies, wipes, cream and summer sun cream; fees remain payable during sickness absence. A written quotation should distinguish the main day, optional clubs and meal choice so the whole arrangement fits your budget.

Manna House suits families who value a Christian nursery with community connections, a small published baby-room cap and several ways to keep in touch with their child's day. Its attendance offer serves both the 8.30am-to-4pm School Day and families adding earlier or later care through the optional clubs.

The outdoor mud kitchen, Letters and Sounds work and individual care routines give that offer substance. The balance is the August 2024 call for sharper learning progression and better-planned environments. For parents, the strongest decision comes from weighing those educational questions alongside the room structure, ethos and practical costs.