Charlie Caterpillars Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.4 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Walsall for children from birth to 8+, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in November 2023. Open since 2017, with 57 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
15 hours funding for 2 year olds, 15 hours universal funding for 3&4 year olds and 30 hours extended entitlement for 3&4 year olds.
Worth knowing. We offer funded places 38 weeks per year – term time only. We can offer a stretched funding option – enquiries welcome.
What childcare usually costs in Walsall
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Walsall from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
WS2 7NQWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
- 6 January 2026 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 9 November 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children excitedly enter the nursery and quickly settle into the familiar routines of the day. Staff are warm and welcoming and greet children with a big smile. Staff gather valuable information about children, such as their likes and interests, before they start. This helps them to know the children well and supports the development of the close bonds they share.
Staff plan interesting activities that focus on the individual needs of the children and their next steps. Children thoroughly enjoy daily outdoor play, where there are exciting opportunities to practise their physical skills and mark making. For example, they explore paint with their hands at an outdoor table and use tools to draw in the sand. As a result, children are building the muscles needed to support their early writing skills. Staff support children with their independence and gently encourage them to keep trying at tricky tasks. For example, staff demonstrate different techniques to help children put on their all-weather suits and zip them up.
Children delight in the sense of achievement when they are successful. Staff praise hard work and celebrate accomplishments by immediately displaying the children's work around the nursery. Consequently, children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning and are building their self-esteem. This helps all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make good progress in their learning from their various starting points.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to consistently implement effective behaviour strategies, so that children gain a secure understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe n enhance interactions between staff and children, so that all staff support children's early communication skills.
- 9 November 2023Good
- 7 October 2019Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Charlie Caterpillars Day Nursery
- What it costs
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.