Mulberry Bush Nursery Dumers Lane

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are thriving. They are provided with exceptional high levels of support to help them to build strong foundations for future learning. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Children are highly motivated, confident and self-assured. They are eager to participate in superb experiences, including those that they may not otherwise have access to at home. For example, children delight in taking part in yoga sessions and then share with parents the moves they have learned.

Children demonstrate exemplary behaviour and social skills. They delight in receiving praise fo...r their contributions. Children celebrate their achievements together and are extremely thoughtful, kind and caring.

Younger children gently stroke a doll's face and wash and dress it, before taking it on an imaginary shopping trip. Older children vote to decide on which animal they can pretend to be next, helping them to learn about fairness. The management and staff team have highly ambitious expectations of themselves and what children can achieve.

They are very passionate about providing all children with the best possible care and education within a highly inclusive environment. Children challenge themselves and become confident in their own abilities, supported by the highly skilled staff. They climb and jump on the soft play equipment, assured in the knowledge that a member of staff is nearby.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The management team provides staff with highly focused support and training to help them to develop their practice to an exceptional level. The more qualified staff share their expertise with less-qualified staff. For example, staff inspire children's natural curiosity by providing an excellent range of sensory play items to explore.

Babies are fascinated to explore different objects with their hands and mouths. Older children become deeply absorbed as staff encourage them to discover the ice melting to expose hidden objects.Staff are excellent in helping children to become critical thinkers and solve problems.

They use highly effective questioning and give children plenty of time to think and respond. Children discover that, as their bucket is empty, they could place it in the rain to capture water. Young children work out complex jigsaw pieces and recognise the colours belonging to the familiar characters.

Staff say that they feel extremely well supported by the managers. They benefit from well-being, mindfulness and relaxation sessions, which help to build their self-esteem and teamwork. Children benefit from a unique mindfulness programme to help them to feel calm and focus their minds, ready for learning.

The management team does its utmost to help children to make the best possible progress. Managers visit local schools and have found that children from their nursery are excelling in reading and writing. Staff design the curriculum to include what children will be learning at local schools.

For example, they help children to be confident in speaking and counting in French. This helps children to develop early key skills for them to continue at school.Staff use their new knowledge from attending training to provide superb experiences for children.

They are highly skilled in building on what children know and can do. Babies are supported, using a range of methods, to help them to develop the muscles in their legs, ready for walking. They are delighted to play games of peek-a-boo as staff use a 'serve and return' technique.

Older children learn new words, wait their turn to talk and become extremely confident communicators.Children are captivated by staff's highly vibrant, engaging and animated storytelling. They become immersed and eagerly wait with anticipation to find out what is happening in the story.

Children place imaginary items into a bag to take on their adventure into space. They laugh together as one decides to put their giggles into the bag. Children thoroughly enjoy their time at nursery and are truly inspired to learn.

Staff establish excellent partnership working with parents and share ideas to help to promote what each individual child needs to learn next. Parents say that the extremely knowledgeable staff are very accommodating and foster an inclusive environment. They say that staff go out of their way to provide tailored parenting courses, including outstanding support to promote children's emotional well-being.

This has a significant impact on supporting their child's behaviour and helps them to feel safe, confident and joyful.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The management and staff team strive to ensure that children's safety is their utmost priority.

Staff have an outstanding understanding of how to promptly deal with any concern about a child and wider safeguarding issues. They provide information for parents about how to keep their children safe online. Staff take excellent care of children with allergies and work exceptionally well with parents to manage children's special dietary requirements.

Children are supported extremely well to help them to learn how to keep themselves safe. This includes, for example, those with SEND, who may not have an awareness of danger. Children are very careful during physical exercise sessions and leave plenty of space to keep each other safe.