Mulberry Bush Nursery and Pre School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children receive a warm welcome and settle quickly when they arrive. They are happy and have formed secure emotional attachments to their key person. The self-confidence of older children is developing strongly.

They are confident to approach and talk with unfamiliar visitors, engaging them in their imaginative play. Children show consistently good levels of excitement and engage enthusiastically in the activities that staff provide for them. Children are kind and courteous towards each other.

They share, take turns and use their manners. They tidy away enthusiastically and listen attentively to instructions. Staff hav...e high expectations for children's behaviour.

Consequently, children behave well.All children enjoy their growing independence. Babies learn to use spoons and feed themselves.

Toddlers are keen to pour their own drinks at lunchtime. Older children enjoy the responsibility of setting the table for lunchtime. Children of all ages engage in a range of sensory and messy-play experiences.

Toddlers use brushes and rollers to investigate and make patterns with paint. They explore the texture on their hands and run it through their fingers as they play. Older children manipulate and handle a variety of small objects, and have good control of tools, such as scissors and tweezers.

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

The leadership team and staff have made significant improvements since their last inspection and are committed to providing high-quality childcare. The manager has recently return from maternity leave and has given both staff and parents a sense of stability. The leadership team have provided substantial training opportunities for staff, to help to raise the quality of education and care.

Staff comment that the training has given them greater confidence in all aspects of their work, united them as a team and boosted their morale.Overall, leaders are clear about their ambitions for children's learning. They have created a curriculum which identifies clearly what they want children to know by the time they leave nursery.

However, on occasion, planned next steps for children's learning could be focused on more, to help children make even better progress.Children are always engaged in learning because staff are very accomplished at following the children's interests when planning activities. For example, when older children show interest in role play, staff offer various resources, such has hairbrushes, spectacles and dressing-up outfits.

This helps children to use their imagination and make sense of the world around them.Staff support children's communication and language development well. They model language well, describing and commentating on what children are doing.

Staff working with babies know that repetition and encouraging children to imitate sounds will help them to develop single words. They sing songs and read books to children. Staff join in children's play and spend time talking to them during activities and their daily routines.

They listen to children and give them the time they need to express their own thoughts.Staff skilfully weave mathematical language into play. Babies learn how to connect bricks to make a tower.

Staff use these opportunities to introduce simple concepts, such as big and small. Toddlers' room children count alongside staff. Older children confidently work out how many knives and forks they need to put out for their friends, and make sure that they have enough cups.

Staff promote children's health well. For example, they plan plenty of opportunities for children to be physically active. For example, babies have the space indoors to crawl, pull themselves up and practise walking.

All children have daily access to the outside environment. Older children have a wealth of outdoor learning opportunities. For examples, they use a range of mark-making tools, describe how much water they have in the buckets and practise their balance and coordination as they use scooters and bicycles outside.

This helps to enhance their physical development, health and well-being. However, younger children do not get the same high-quality outdoor learning opportunities.Parents who made their views known say how they recognise the significant changes and improvements in the setting since the return of the manager.

They especially appreciate how the leadership team are striving to improve communication with parents. For example, the use of newsletters and plans that are in place to create a parents' committee. Parents and carers comment that their children are happy, and feel they are safe and make good progress in their learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers' and staff's knowledge of safeguarding children is secure. They fully understand the signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm or abuse and the required action to take to keep children safe.

All staff understand the correct process to follow relating to allegations about a colleague. There are robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures in place to ensure all staff are suitable. Staff carry out risk assessments to help maintain a safe environment for children, both indoors and outdoors.

Staff understand the setting's accident recording and reporting procedures. This includes informing parents of any accidents that their child has incurred at the setting.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: refine the way that observations and assessments are used, so that planning for children's next steps is even more precise and helps all children make rapid progress from their starting points nenhance the outdoor learning opportunities for younger children.

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