Tiny Crickets Montessori Nursery

Montessori materials indoors and a secure garden outdoors give Tiny Crickets Montessori Nursery a recognisable character. This Walsall setting combines an emphasis on independence and hands-on exploration with a seasonal curriculum: children encounter ideas through play, objects and the changing natural world. Its secure garden extends that learning beyond the rooms.

At its 27 May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. That judgement comes with two practical improvement points: hygiene during babies’ food-based play, and allowing children longer to think before answering questions. Both matter to the everyday experience, rather than simply to the nursery’s overall grade.

There are 38 places in total. Tiny Crickets caters for babies and children up to five, with Baby Room and Toddler Room activities described separately. Funded attendance can follow term-time dates or a stretched arrangement, giving families different ways to organise care around the year.

Rooms and Ages

Bright play and learning spaces contain Montessori resources and furniture sized for children. The physical arrangement supports the nursery’s emphasis on purposeful activity and developing independence: children have materials to handle and explore, rather than learning only through adult explanations. A secure garden provides space for outdoor play and encounters with nature.

In January 2026, the Baby Room’s winter activities included constructing an igloo from blocks, bringing coordination and early problem-solving into a recognisable seasonal theme.

The Toddler Room’s January 2026 work explored clothing for cold weather, including gloves, hats and scarves, connecting imaginative play with familiar decisions about keeping warm.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS framework organises the curriculum around seven areas of learning; in everyday terms, children learn through play and practical experiences that develop their communication, physical skills and understanding. Montessori methods sit alongside that framework, adding an emphasis on purposeful exploration, independence and making things with the hands. The seasonal curriculum gives those experiences a changing subject.

The group-wide Under The Sea theme, used in June 2026, brought together water play, creative work and conversation. Children could pour and splash, explore a sensory area containing shells and toy fish, and experiment with watercolour painting. Summer stories introduced words associated with holidays and the seaside. One theme therefore supplied several different ways to participate, from feeling water to discussing a picture or trying a painting technique.

World Nursery Rhyme Week was part of the November 2025 programme, combining stories, singing, art and practical exploration in both rooms. Familiar rhymes provided material for rhythm, memory and early language.

In May 2025, learning about animals progressed from recognising creatures and their sounds to considering features such as neck length and markings. Activities drew on children’s interests, and staff used engaging introductions to hold their attention. The important curriculum detail is that the subject became more demanding as children’s understanding developed, rather than repeating an identical animal activity for everyone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Tiny Kitchen Garden connected the growing area with lunch in April 2025, when homegrown herbs were used in spinach and tomato orzo. That gives gardening a concrete purpose: something grown outside became part of a meal. In May 2025, children also followed food through growing, harvesting and preparation, linking the garden with an ordinary part of their day.

Families send sun cream and a hat for summer outdoor play.

Relationships and Communication

Keyworkers support their own groups, with activities adjusted to children’s developmental stages. Weekly Tiny News updates connect families with the subjects being explored and ways to continue learning at home. For parents, that makes the nursery day easier to discuss: an ocean or travel theme offers a concrete starting point for conversation and play.

In May 2025, staff helped new children settle through reassurance and comfort, while everyday routines encouraged growing independence. Adults also modelled considerate behaviour and helped children play together. These details matter because settling and learning to share attention are practical parts of nursery life, especially for children beginning group care.

In May 2025, communication included app updates and ideas for activities at home; leaders reviewed how staff training affected practice.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff used observations and assessments to identify developmental delays and worked with parents and other agencies to support children with SEND. The mechanism matters: noticing a difficulty was followed by discussion and work with people beyond the nursery. Families considering additional support have a specific process to explore, rather than relying on a broad promise of inclusion.

The May 2025 hygiene concern arose when babies tasted cereal used with toy animals and then continued handling the shared play materials, creating a risk of contamination and illness; mealtime hygiene was suitable. Adults also sometimes moved too quickly between questions, leaving insufficient thinking time. These were targeted areas for further work, and neither should disappear behind the Good judgement.

An in-house chef cooks fresh vegetarian meals on the premises, with a two-week menu rotation during holidays. The nursery’s kitchen policy excludes nuts and several animal ingredients, but it explicitly does not guarantee food free of allergens and identifies common allergens beneath dishes.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 1 Gorway Gardens, Walsall, WS1 3BJ. Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm. Full-day care is offered, and the funding arrangements use ten-hour days; the opening window and the funded allocation should be understood as separate parts of planning attendance.

For the 30-hour entitlement, term-time provision consists of three ten-hour days each week, following Walsall Council’s term dates. The stretched option allocates 2.2 ten-hour days, with additional hours purchased separately. These are different attendance patterns, not a promise that the same weekly funded hours apply throughout the year.

The 15-hour entitlement has its own arrangements: 1.5 ten-hour days weekly during term time, or a stretched allocation of 1.1 ten-hour days. Additional hours can be bought alongside either pattern. This distinction matters for families comparing a nursery timetable with working hours: the funded allocation and the total childcare booked are separate quantities.

Enquiries and visit bookings use the Contact Us / Book A Visit route.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children can use either 15 hours or 30 hours Free Early Education Funding. Funded education and care do not depend on purchasing extras, and the nursery separates funded attendance from privately paid hours. The funding and charges page explains those arrangements.

Meals are included when a family purchases a complete non-funded day. For funded hours, meals, snacks and additional activities such as parties are optional purchases charged separately. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

For non-food consumables, parents provide sun cream for summer outdoor play. A sun hat is also requested, so these items belong in the practical preparation for a child’s day.

• Food-based sensory play. The May 2025 improvement point concerned contamination risks when babies tasted and handled shared play materials. During a visit, ask how staff now organise these activities and keep tasting separate from shared resources.
• Time to answer. In May 2025, adults sometimes asked questions too rapidly. Ask how practitioners allow pauses and respond to children who need longer to communicate.
• Allergies and weaning. Food is prepared in a vegetarian kitchen under a nut-exclusion policy, but allergen-free food is not guaranteed. Allergy-affected families should confirm current preparation arrangements and discuss their child’s dietary needs before joining.
• The funded calendar. Term-time attendance follows Walsall Council’s dates. Stretched funding terms specify 52 weeks, while Tiny News describes 51-week provision. These calendars differ; ask for the precise attendance calendar and the split between funded hours, purchased hours and optional extras in writing.

Tiny Crickets suits families seeking Montessori-based exploration, seasonal learning and a garden with a practical link to food. It also serves two different attendance needs: term-time funded days and stretched provision across the year, with private hours alongside the entitlement where required.

The Good judgement from May 2025 supports consideration, but the specific hygiene and communication actions deserve attention. The strongest reasons to choose it are tangible: materials children can handle, different activities for babies and toddlers, and learning that connects indoor play with the garden. Those details make the offer more useful to assess than the Montessori name alone.