Unicorn Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Tipton for babies from a few weeks old up to school age, open 08:00 to 17:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in October 2023. Open since 2012, with 60 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
We accept Funded places for two, three and four-year olds.
What childcare usually costs in Sandwell
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Sandwell 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
DY4 9JEWhat 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, 24 October 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy and settled. They enjoy attending this welcoming, inclusive, and friendly nursery. When children arrive at the start of the session they happily separate from their parents and carers, and quickly settle to their chosen play. Staff are kind and caring. This helps children to form a strong sense of belonging and develop close relationships with staff and their peers. Staff offer children frequent praise and encouragement. This helps children to behave well. They learn to share and take turns with toys and resources.
Staff encourage children to be independent. Babies are encouraged to learn to feed themselves at snack and mealtimes. Older children happily enjoy taking on responsibilities, such as setting the table for lunchtime. Children of all ages make independent choices about where and what they would like to play with. Babies enjoy practising their physical skills as they climb up and down the indoor climbing frame. Older children learn to negotiate space outdoors as they ride on wheeled toys. All children, including those who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning. They are developing the skills that they need to prepare them for their eventual move to school.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance the planning of some activities to more frequently focus on children's identified next steps for learning n seek more-detailed information from parents when children first start at the nursery about what children already know and can do, to plan more precisely for children's learning from the very beginning.
- 24 October 2023Good
- 13 February 2020Good
- 5 January 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Unicorn Day Nursery
- What it costs
- 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.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.