St. Martin's Nursery School Pre-Prep and Wrap Around Care

Magnetic models, garden climbing and pretend medical examinations give this Walsall nursery a practical, playful character. In November 2025, children explored ideas through construction, movement and imaginative play, with conversation woven into their activities.

At its November 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged all six evaluated areas to meet the Expected standard and safeguarding standards to be met. There was no overall grade. The nursery has capacity for 35 children; those attending in November 2025 ranged from 0 to 6 years old.

In November 2025, the early years foundation stage provided the required framework for learning and care: children developed language, physical skills and early mathematical understanding through play and everyday routines. Conversation was a central emphasis, from discussing magnetic constructions to naming vegetables in pretend play.

Babies explored sensory materials and heard adults describe their play. Toddlers chose books and experimented with paint, while preschool children used stethoscopes with dolls and made bicarbonate-of-soda volcanoes. These examples show how activities differed across stages, rather than one shared task for everyone.

The large garden gave children space to climb and run. Collecting differently sized leaves brought mathematical language into outdoor exploration. Diwali colour activities and learning about Eid introduced cultural celebrations; encounters with baby rabbits and caring for chicks added experiences with living things.

In November 2025, children turned to their key persons for comfort, and staff helped them handle disagreements calmly. Parents received information about their children's experiences and development. Older children served food and cleared plates, while low-level sinks helped children manage handwashing.

An external caterer supplied food, with dietary needs and allergies considered, and fruit featured at snack time. Staff followed procedures for medicines and safe sleep.

At the November 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made appropriate progress through work with families and external professionals, but targeted support was inconsistent, some children received less effective teaching interaction, and evaluation of additional support was still developing. Recognising a need was therefore stronger than consistently carrying the response through.

The address is 35 Birmingham Road, Walsall, WS1 2NF. In November 2025, opening hours were 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday. That was the operating window at the time, rather than a statement of bookable sessions.

• Consistency of teaching. In November 2025, staff did not all understand the learning purpose of activities equally well. Discuss how practitioners now extend children's ideas and how training addresses individual staff needs.
• Support carried through. In November 2025, targeted strategies were applied unevenly and their impact was not yet evaluated consistently. Families needing additional support should discuss how an agreed approach reaches everyone caring for their child.
• Early independence. Younger children were not encouraged consistently to join simple routines in November 2025. This matters alongside the stronger examples of older children managing tasks themselves.
• Attendance planning. The November 2025 opening window extended from early morning into the evening. At a visit, which booking pattern would fit your child's age and your working week?

St. Martin's suits families who value practical play, outdoor movement and everyday opportunities to build independence. The November 2025 picture contains useful strengths, especially its varied play experiences and relationships with key persons. Consistency is the deciding consideration: teaching, individual support and younger children's routines all needed more reliable follow-through.