Nursery Advice
Claim Your Nursery

Stepping Stones Pre-School in Smethwick

Ofsted: Good
(Aug 2022)
·West Smethwick Methodist Church, St Pauls Road, Smethwick, B66 1EX · Sandwell
Number of places
30 places
Age range
2–5 yrs
Last inspected
Aug 2022
Local authority
Sandwell

About this day nursery

Stepping Stones Pre-School, established in 2020, welcomed its first inspection on 5th August 2022, achieving an overall rating of "Good". Operating all-year-round from 8:45 am to 3:00 pm, the nursery provides childcare for children aged 2 to 5 years.

This Smethwick setting offers a warm, organised, and safe environment where children are eager to learn and engage with staff and activities. The curriculum is enriched by strong leadership and management, ensuring a diverse range of experiences that cater to individual needs.

The staff focuses on supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), with bilingual staff communicating in children's home languages to help close learning gaps swiftly. This approach also greatly benefits children who speak English as an additional language.

Outdoor learning is a key feature, inspiring children to explore nature by looking for insects, while also enjoying mark-making activities. The strong relationships built with parents, right from the start, are a significant factor in the nursery's success, with home-learning packs and advice on parenting issues being highly valued.

The nursery also places a strong emphasis on promoting children's health through workshops for parents and engaging activities for children on oral hygiene and healthy eating. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with thorough child protection procedures and staff training in place.

What it's like

Children are warmly welcomed into a well organised and safe space, and they respond extremely well to staff and clearly enjoy learning. They are eager to share how they are feeling, show high levels of engagement during activities, and delight in making their own play dough. Children behave well, enjoy the routine, and are happy and confident in this nurturing environment, often enthused by what is on offer.

Strong leadershipDedicated SEND supportBilingual staffOutdoor explorationStrong parent partnershipsHealth promotion

Pricing & funding

Funding accepted

15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds

Key facts

Term time / All Year

All Year

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Stepping Stones Pre-School

Last inspected 5 August 2022

Safeguarding effective
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good

What it's like to attend

Children are warmly welcomed into a well organised and safe space, and they respond extremely well to staff and clearly enjoy learning. They are eager to share how they are feeling, show high levels of engagement during activities, and delight in making their own play dough. Children behave well, enjoy the routine, and are happy and confident in this nurturing environment, often enthused by what is on offer.

Inspector highlights

  • The senior leadership team and manager work extremely well together to ensure the educational programme provides a rich range of experiences to help meet children's individual needs.
  • The manager provides effective staff supervision, coaching and training to help develop and extend their teaching skills to ensure teaching is consistently good.
  • The success of the nursery is clearly attributed to the strong relationships built with parents from the very start.
  • Staff place a strong focus on supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.
  • Staff incorporate books and singing successfully into the routine to help ignite children's imagination and develop their language development.

Areas to develop

  • 1place a better focus on meeting the needs of the youngest children during activities and whole-group sessions to help fully engage their interests
  • 2support staff to gain a deeper understanding of how to enhance the educational programme for mathematics, in particular, to raise the attainment of boys'.
Inspection #10239173 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

What parents say

Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection

parents report that they value the advice and support they receive about any parenting issues they experience

parents report the home-learning packs are very useful in helping them continue their children's learning at home

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Staff place a strong focus on supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, these children are fully included and make good progress from their starting points. They benefit from staff who are bilingual and communicate in their home languages, which helps to close gaps in children's learning swiftly.

Outdoor space

Children are inspired as they look for insects and talk about the cobwebs and spiders they find outdoors. They also enjoy making marks in a variety of ways during outdoor activities.

EAL / language support

Many of the children benefit from staff who are bilingual and communicate in their home languages. This helps to close gaps in children's learning swiftly.

Inspection history

Date: August 2022

  • September 2022Good
  • August 2022Good

Frequently asked about Stepping Stones Pre-School

Nearby day nurseries in Smethwick

Other Ofsted-registered day nurseries close to Stepping Stones Pre-School.

Are you the owner of this nursery? Claim this listing to manage photos, hours and contact details.

Claim listing

Share this nursery

Send to a partner, friend or family member.

This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more