Mulberry Roots Nursery

Weekly Little Kickers coaching, TalkFirst communication sessions and a baby garden give Mulberry Roots Nursery a recognisable character. This purpose-built Haslingden setting combines visiting specialists with separate spaces for different stages of childhood. The practical attractions are clear, but the August 2025 judgement needs equal weight.

At its August 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Requires improvement, with effective safeguarding, identifying weaknesses in staff supervision, teaching interactions, consistent SEND strategies, key-person arrangements and behaviour support. These concerns reach into children's everyday experience, rather than being administrative details alone. In August 2025, the provider had also failed to report company director changes to the regulator, a statutory requirement; the impact on children was minimal, and action had been taken to correct the failure. A revised curriculum had begun, but its implementation was still developing.

Mulberry Roots accepts children from 3 months to 5 years and has capacity for 70 children overall. Its Baby Room has a maximum of 12, a useful distinction for parents weighing the youngest children's setting against the size of the nursery as a whole. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance patterns give families different booking options.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room serves children aged 3 to 24 months, with a maximum of 12 and soft spaces, sensory activities and routines shaped around home life. For children aged 2 to 3 years, the Toddler Room has a maximum of 25 and emphasises communication, exploration and social confidence. The Preschool Room serves ages 3 to 5, with a maximum of 36, bringing early maths, literacy and imaginative projects into preparation for school.

These are room maximums, not a statement of how many children attend together on any particular day. The baby cap deserves attention because the whole nursery's capacity tells a parent little about the scale of their baby's immediate surroundings. Older children's provision places more emphasis on practising independence and learning alongside others.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the statutory basis for children's learning and care: here, the day includes developing language, movement and relationships through play, with literacy, maths and understanding the world introduced more directly as children grow. Those foundations are requirements across early years settings. The additions are the nursery's curriculum choices and visiting sessions.

Te Whāriki informs an approach centred on belonging, identity and relationships, including responding to children's interests and recognising family backgrounds. The nursery also draws on Froebel for play and natural exploration, Reggio Emilia for creative expression, and Vygotsky for extending thinking together. These influences complement the EYFS, the statutory framework against which Ofsted assesses the nursery; their inclusion alone does not establish consistently effective teaching. The curriculum overview explains how the different influences fit together.

Little Kickers brings a sports coach every week for football activities developing balance and early teamwork. TalkFirst adds weekly sessions led by professionals, concentrating on speech, taking turns and social interaction. Both are included in the fee arrangements. Their value for parents is concrete: recurring specialist input sits alongside everyday play, rather than an unnamed promise of enrichment.

In August 2025, babies explored musical instruments, while older children used small tools to practise hand control. Stories and conversations also featured in the day. However, during some free play, adults' conversations with children were too limited to take their learning further, and planned teaching did not consistently respond to individual next steps. Enjoyable activities and effective teaching are separate considerations here.

Outdoor and Community Life

Babies have a dedicated outdoor space with soft ground surfaces, equipment at a low height and sensory resources. Older children share a larger area containing climbing equipment, imaginative play spaces and natural materials. Gardening and group games feature in outdoor planning, giving children opportunities to move, investigate and play together beyond their rooms.

Local walks and outings extend that experience into the surrounding area. Inside, Community Playthings supplies the nursery's solid wood furniture. These details give the physical setting substance: babies have an outdoor arrangement adapted to their stage, while older children have space and equipment for more active play.

Relationships and Communication

Three free settling sessions are arranged, typically lasting 1 hour, 1.5 hours and 2 hours; extra sessions can be added when needed. That gradual introduction gives children repeated opportunities to become familiar with the setting before their regular attendance begins. Families also receive a welcome pack covering policies and daily routines.

Each child is assigned a key person, with responsibility for understanding their interests and recording development in a Learning Journal. This is a paper record using Birth to 5 Matters, guidance used to organise developmental milestones and plan next steps. Famly, the communication app, provides parents with day-to-day logs, photographs, observations and messages, including information about eating, sleeping and toileting.

Typically, at least three detailed observations are shared each week. Termly development reports and parents' evenings add opportunities for a fuller discussion, while the two-year progress check can be shared with a health visitor with parental permission. The combination gives families several ways to follow development, although an app and a reporting schedule need an effective relationship behind them.

In the months before August 2025, numerous staff and leadership changes had contributed to uneven practitioner support, weaker relationships with families and inconsistent education quality. Changes to the key-person system had also left some practitioners still learning about their assigned children. Some parents did not know who their child's key person was or receive sufficient information about development. Staff supervision also needed stronger implementation, so weaknesses in practice could be identified and addressed consistently.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SEND structure includes two practitioners with Level 3 SENDCo qualifications, with SEND training for the team each term. WellComm is used to identify communication needs and select targeted listening and language activities. Makaton signs and symbols support everyday communication; visual schedules, sensory baskets, quiet spaces and individual regulation plans provide further practical tools.

At the August 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that additional funding supported children's needs, but relevant SEND information did not consistently reach every practitioner, limiting reliable use of agreed strategies; familiar adults nevertheless formed trusting relationships, and monitored sleep followed safer sleep guidance. The distinction matters for families needing additional support: specialist roles and resources are useful, but agreed approaches must also reach the staff caring for the child throughout the day.

In August 2025, lengthy waits during moves to the garden sometimes left children unsettled and disrupted behaviour. Improving these transitions was part of the work needed on consistent behaviour support. Ordinary routines matter as much as planned activities when assessing how smoothly the nursery day works.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Offecon House, Bury Road, Haslingden, BB4 5PE; the nursery's contact address also uses 122 Bury Rd. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm. It operates across the year, closing on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas.

The attendance options are Morning Session, Afternoon Session and Full Day. The Morning Session is listed as 7.30am to 6pm, the Afternoon Session as 1pm to 6pm, and the Full Day as 7am to 6pm. The morning and full-day timings require clarification before families build work arrangements around them.

Enquiries can be made through the online form, by calling 01706 393433 or by emailing info@mulberryroots.co.uk. Online registration is followed by contact from the team to agree the attendance pattern, monthly charges and funding paperwork. The parental agreement used for funding is issued by Lancashire County Council.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are offered. Funded hours themselves are free, while Enriched Provision is a separate daily charge covering food, consumables and time outside the funded allocation. It is itemised on invoices, and the Fees and Funding policy explains the opt-out arrangements. Families should distinguish the funded learning hours from the other elements of their childcare bill.

For privately paid attendance, breakfasts, lunches and teas are included, and sun cream is included among the fee benefits; for funded hours, meals, snacks and consumables fall within the separate Enriched Provision charge. Food is freshly prepared on site each day by the nursery's cook.

A registration charge is payable when the place is confirmed, and a holding deposit is credited fully against the first invoice. NHS and sibling discounts apply to privately paid sessions. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the fees calculator providing an estimate rather than a quotation.

• Teaching and daily consistency. The August 2025 judgement included limited learning conversations, incomplete staff supervision and unsettled garden transitions. On a visit, discuss how these points have been addressed and how practitioners extend children's play throughout the day.
• SEND and the key person. In August 2025, agreed support strategies and information about key persons did not consistently reach everyone who needed them. Families should discuss how the child's plan reaches each practitioner and how they will communicate with their key person.
• Session timings. The Morning Session runs to 6pm in the fee table, while Full Day starts at 7am despite opening hours beginning at 7.30am. These timings conflict with the labels or opening window, so obtain the intended session hours in writing before agreeing attendance.
• Funded attendance costs. Enriched Provision combines food, consumables and time outside funded hours. Request an itemised quotation and the opt-out terms so the funded allocation and additional charges are clear before enrolment.

Mulberry Roots suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with weekly football and communication specialists, staged settling and a separate outdoor space for babies. Its room structure and reporting arrangements give parents practical detail to weigh.

The Requires improvement judgement from August 2025 is a substantial qualification. Teaching consistency, staff supervision, key-person communication and the implementation of SEND strategies all needed attention. For families considering this nursery, the deciding issue is how those everyday practices now work, alongside clarification of the session timings and funded attendance charges.