Arbury Day Nursery - Tommies Childcare

About this day nursery

Arbury Day Nursery - Tommies Childcare in Nuneaton is a full day care setting for children aged 0 to 4 years, operating Monday to Friday from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm all year round. The nursery currently has 48 children on roll and employs eight members of childcare staff.

Since its last inspection, leaders at Arbury Day Nursery have focused on enhancing staff understanding of the curriculum. While staff now have a good grasp of learning objectives, the implementation of the curriculum is inconsistent, leading to varied progress among children.

The nursery adopts a child-centred approach to planning, tailoring activities to individual interests and needs, such as science experiments for a child who loves the subject. Children generally appear happy, confident, and enjoy exploring their environment, which points to a secure and caring atmosphere fostered by kind and nurturing staff.

The setting has recently undergone staffing changes, with new leaders, managers, and staff working to address previous weaknesses and implement improvement action plans. The nursery encourages children's independence, teaching babies to self-feed, toddlers to dress, and pre-schoolers to pour their own water.

The environment is clean and well-organised, offering children access to quality resources and engaging activities across the seven areas of learning. The nursery provides strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those learning English as an additional language, collaborating effectively with parents and external agencies for timely support.

Parents generally speak highly of the nursery, noting their children's enjoyment and progress, and many commend the staff for their relationship-building. At its most recent inspection on 10 September 2025, Arbury Day Nursery - Tommies Childcare was rated as 'Requires Improvement' for overall effectiveness, the quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management.

Our ethos

Arbury Day Nursery adopts a child-centred approach to planning, tailoring activities to individual interests and needs. They encourage children's independence by teaching them self-feeding, dressing, and pouring their own water.

What it's like

Since the last inspection, leaders have worked to improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the curriculum, and staff now have a good understanding of what they want children to know and do. However, inconsistencies in teaching mean that not all children make as much progress as they could. Children are generally happy, feel safe and secure at the nursery, and confidently explore their environment.