Rhymes Nursery

Rhymes Nursery
Unique reference number (URN): EY451952
Address: 835 Hagley Road West, Quinton, BIRMINGHAM, B32 1AD
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 17/09/2012
Registers: EYR, CCR
Registered person: Rhymes Nursery Limited
Inspection report: 10 April 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Safeguarding standards met
The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for
governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open
culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively
identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all
legal requirements are met.

Strong standard
Expected standard
Inclusion Strong standard
Leaders have established a highly inclusive culture in which children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified early and their needs are
precisely understood. There is a meticulous and bespoke approach to planning for these
children, particularly when they first join the setting. Leaders work closely with families and a
wide range of professionals across different services and local authorities to ensure that
every aspect of children's needs is fully understood and planned for in advance. This
supports children to access all aspects of the curriculum from the outset.
Leaders and staff maintain a highly focused and responsive approach to reviewing support
for children with SEND. Staff demonstrate a secure, consistent understanding of how to
implement tailored strategies, ensuring support is embedded throughout the day. Leaders
retain detailed oversight, using this to ensure provision remains sharply focused on meeting
children's needs.
Leaders use funding strategically to support children with SEND and provide carefully
considered experiences that reflect their individual needs. They consider the needs of
disadvantaged children and those who may face barriers to learning or wellbeing, including
those known to children's social care. They work with families and external professionals to
ensure support is coordinated and responsive, helping children feel included and benefit
fully from what is on offer.
Achievement Expected standard
Children typically make age-appropriate progress from their starting points, with children
with special educational needs and or disabilities making accelerated progress. Overall,
children develop their communication and language through daily interactions and show
increasing confidence. Toddlers make links to familiar characters in their play, using
language to share their ideas and retell aspects of stories, supporting their understanding
and development of early communication skills. Older children demonstrate secure social
skills as they play cooperatively with their peers, take turns, and negotiate roles during play.
They are eager to take part in activities and show curiosity and interest in their learning,
including during group times and imaginative play.
However, for some children, progress is less consistently supported across the curriculum,
and opportunities to deepen knowledge and extend learning are not always fully maximised.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders generally establish a positive environment where expectations for behaviour are
clear and understood. Staff build warm, respectful relationships with children and model
kindness and care in their interactions. This supports children to feel secure and confident.
Children typically learn to play alongside each other, take turns and begin to manage their
own behaviour. Older children generally cooperate in games and negotiate roles during play,
demonstrating developing social skills.
Staff support children's behaviour through routines and interactions that reflect their age and
stage of development. They guide children through daily routines and reinforce
expectations. Mealtimes are social occasions where children sit together, develop their
independence, learn manners and understand expectations. Staff establish familiar routines,
including sleep times and nappy changing, which help children to feel secure and
understand what will happen next. In the main, staff adjust routines to meet children's
individual needs.
Leaders promote attendance and punctuality. They work with families to support children in
attending regularly. They identify children who need additional support and put strategies in
place, such as working with families to establish morning routines, so children can access
the full learning offer.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Leaders generally ensure that care practices meet children's individual needs. Staff know
children well and build secure relationships through an effective key-person system, which
supports children to feel safe and emotionally secure. Bespoke transition arrangements help
children settle confidently into the setting. Leaders ensure any care plans are detailed and
clearly understood by staff, who receive specific training to manage children's medical
needs. This ensures that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive
highly responsive care that reflects their individual routines and needs.
Staff support children's emotional development through familiar approaches that help them
to recognise and express their feelings. For example, staff use children's favourite
characters and stories to help them understand emotions and communicate how they feel.
Staff support children to develop their independence through daily routines, including
feeding and self-care.
Leaders promote children's health effectively. Meals are nutritionally balanced, and children
are encouraged to make healthy choices, including through the introduction of healthier
dessert options such as stewed fruit. Staff follow clear hygiene procedures and support
children to understand routines that keep them safe and well. Children typically develop a
secure sense of well-being and are supported to thrive.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders generally have an accurate understanding of the quality of teaching and have taken
appropriate action to strengthen staff knowledge, particularly in communication and

language. Staff typically support children's language development purposefully through
interactions, routines and planned experiences. For children with special educational needs
and/or disabilities (SEND), communication strategies are highly personalised, including the
use of visuals, objects of reference and tailored approaches to interaction.
In the baby rooms, staff demonstrate a secure understanding of children's starting points
and use this effectively to support their development. For example, they recognise children's
stages of physical development and plan opportunities to support early walking and
movement. However, staff do not consistently use children's starting points to inform
planning, and learning experiences are not always sharply focused on what children need to
learn next.
The outdoor learning environment generally reflects a broad range of learning opportunities
across the areas of learning, enabling children to explore, be active, and make links to their
own experiences. However, this level of precision is not consistently evident across all
indoor learning environments. Resources are often based on what is available rather than
being intentionally planned to maximise learning. This reduces opportunities to extend
learning consistently across the day.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders demonstrate a clear understanding of the setting's strengths and areas for
development and have identified the need to strengthen staff knowledge, particularly around
child development and planning. They have begun to address this through training and
mentoring. They now need to ensure that the actions they take to address identified areas
for development lead to timely and measurable improvements in the quality of teaching and
learning.
Leaders show a notable commitment to inclusion and take decisions that prioritise the needs
of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders use their reflections
and understanding of families' needs in the local community to take proactive steps to
increase access to early education, ensuring that children receive their entitlement. They
have also recently introduced specific language interventions for all children.
Leaders support staff wellbeing and workload through regular supervision, mentoring, and
access to additional support, including counselling services. Staff feel supported and value
the opportunities to develop their practice. Professional development is relevant and
includes both core training and more specific training linked to children's individual needs,
enabling staff to meet children's care needs effectively.
Leaders work successfully in partnership with families and other professionals. They have
taken steps to strengthen communication with parents, including responding to feedback
and reviewing their approaches.

Compulsory Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children arrive happily and confidently, seeking comfort from familiar staff and quickly
engaging in their play. They feel safe and form secure relationships, including those who are
new to the setting and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
Children with complex needs receive highly attentive and personalised care. Their routines,
communication methods, and medical needs are well understood, helping to ensure their
safety and enabling them to settle quickly.
Children enjoy their learning and are keen to take part in activities. They join in group times
with enthusiasm, such as singing songs using actions and signs, and confidently share their
ideas. Children develop positive social skills as they play alongside their friends, negotiate
roles in imaginative play, and take turns in games. For example, pre-school children create
their own group games outdoors, such as pretending the ground is lava, working together to
decide how to use climbing equipment safely. Indoors, children engage in role play,
exploring familiar experiences, such as acting out the roles of police officers.
Children benefit from a broad range of experiences within and beyond the setting. They
explore their local community, including visits to local restaurants, bus rides, and trips to
local attractions, helping them make sense of the world around them. Children are
supported to attend regularly, and those who need it receive help to overcome barriers to
punctuality so they can take part fully in what is on offer. Overall, children feel safe, included
and valued. They build strong relationships, develop confidence and enjoy learning.

Inspector:
Anne Dyoss
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY451952
Address:
835 Hagley Road West
Quinton
BIRMINGHAM
B32 1AD
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 17/09/2012
Children, including those with SEND, are supported to take part in everyday experiences
and make progress from their starting points.
Next steps
Leaders should refine planning systems so that children's individual starting points clearly
inform what they need to learn next, ensuring teaching is consistently purposeful and
builds on prior knowledge.
Leaders should strengthen the design of indoor learning environments, so they
consistently reflect the areas of learning and support progression, enabling staff to
maximise opportunities for teaching and learning throughout the day.
Leaders should strengthen the actions taken following monitoring and evaluation so that
they lead to timely, measurable improvements in the quality of teaching and learning.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners and the special educational needs
coordinator during the inspection.
We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the
quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The
registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for
children's learning, development and care, known as the early years' foundation stage.

Registered person: Rhymes Nursery Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 06:00
Local authority: Birmingham
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 10 April 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 5
Total number of places
55
Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
Expected standard
The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are
following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional
standards expected of them.
Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement
The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects
and regulates services that care for children and young people.
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