Footsteps Nursery Hawthorn
Good★ 3.5 on GoogleBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in Lichfield for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 to 18:30, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in June 2024. Open since 2012, with 91 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Staffordshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Staffordshire 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
WS13 8JLWhat 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.
Ofsted inspector, 4 June 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Staff greet children and their parents warmly. They are kind and caring and listen intently to what children have to tell them. Staff build incredibly strong, trusting relationships with children. This helps children to feel safe, and as a result, they flourish in nursery. Staff plan an ambitious curriculum for all children. They take account of children's interests and their planned next steps, which means that learning opportunities are sharply focused and challenging. As a result, children make good progress.
Children quickly become involved in activities, and the nursery is a hive of activity, both inside and outdoors. Very young children explore mixing paints in plain yoghurt. They use various brushes, such as shaving brushes and household paintbrushes, to make marks on paper. Children enjoy pretending to be doctors and nurses. They carefully bandage the staff's arms, pretend to administer injections and give medicine to make them feel better. Pre-school children show great enjoyment when planting seeds as they learn about the life cycle of plants. They carefully place seeds in pots of soil and, using rulers, they make sure the seeds are two centimetres apart to allow plenty of growing space. They talk about the nutrients that the seeds need to help them grow.
Staff are positive role models and show children the importance of being kind and courteous to each other. Children learn to share and take turns as they play, and little disagreements are over swiftly. Staff praise children's efforts and achievements, which builds children's self-esteem and confidence.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- ensure that books that are freely available to children are well maintained so that they can gain the most from them n consider ways of building children's awareness of families that are different from their own.
- 4 June 2024Good
- 6 October 2022Good
- 19 December 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Footsteps Nursery Hawthorn
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- 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
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? 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.