The Mulberry Bush Bitterne Park

A child-operated water pump, a wooden bridge and sensory rooms for each age group give The Mulberry Bush Bitterne Park a clear character: this is a nursery with substantial space for physical exploration and quieter play. Its purpose-built premises occupy two floors on Witts Hill in Southampton. The garden is a major part of the offer, rather than an occasional change of scene.

Children can attend from 3 months to 5 years, with 100 places in total. At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received good support. Those judgements belong to that visit; the practical appeal today lies in the age-group spaces, garden equipment and planned approach to settling.

Morning, afternoon and all-day sessions give families different ways to organise attendance across the year. For parents weighing this nursery, the strongest combination is physical variety and individual care arrangements: children have spaces to move, investigate and pause, while a key person provides a regular link with home.

Rooms and Ages

The age groups are Blueberries for 3 to 18 months, Cranberries from 18 months to 2 years, Raspberries for 2 to 3 years and Elderberries for 3 to 5 years. This separates the youngest babies from older toddlers and gives preschool children their own stage before school.

Blueberries has a black-and-white play area and Toddle Boxes with changing surfaces and heights for early movement, alongside access to a sensory room and a baby garden. Raspberries combines construction, pretend play, early mathematics and mark making with an upstairs quieter space, its own sensory room and direct access to the main garden. These are practical differences: a child can pursue energetic play, concentrate on something in a smaller space or explore materials through touch and movement.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning, development and care, with children learning through play and adults adapting experiences to their interests and stage. Here, observation helps staff choose resources and extend what a child is already exploring. The framework is the foundation; the room arrangements and materials give it a concrete daily shape.

In Raspberries, children can move between building materials, miniature-world play and the home corner as their interests change. Paint, playdough and water add opportunities to experiment with textures and make marks. The home corner and construction area can support different kinds of conversation, while accessible resources let children make choices about what to do next.

In January 2023, language development featured in stories and songs with babies, while older children drew designs and discussed how to construct a tower. Staff responded to children's ideas and repeated unfamiliar vocabulary. The examples show learning woven into an activity, rather than separated from it into a formal lesson.

Curiosity also had something tangible to work on in January 2023: children handled stick insects carefully, counted their legs and talked about a giant snail and cockroaches. Staff-led yoga gave children another way to practise movement. These are dated examples of the nursery day, useful for understanding the approach beneath the overall judgement.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden brings different physical challenges together. Children can move sand and water using the pump, test their balance on cobbles and the wooden bridge, then tackle the climbing slope and slide. The equipment invites both independent investigation and cooperation, such as working together to operate the pump.

Sensory Rooms contain bubble lamps, mirrors, light boards and fabrics, allowing the sensory experience to change with children's needs. Sound, lighting and texture can be adjusted for exploratory play or a quieter period. The value is the ability to change pace within the nursery day.

The Growing Area connects outdoor activity with food. Children help sow seeds, move seedlings, water plants and gather crops; produce can then go to the kitchen or be tasted directly. That gives a clear sequence from caring for a plant to discovering what it produces. It also makes the garden somewhere to revisit as things change, rather than simply somewhere to run.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who coordinates individual care and shares the day's experiences with parents. This role includes learning about life outside nursery, so routines and interests from home can influence activities and care. For families, it provides a clear person with whom to discuss a child's changing needs.

Settling starts with a meeting involving parents, the child and the key person, using an All About Me form to capture preferences and routines. The nursery normally makes contact approximately 2 months before the start date and recommends an initial 30-minute session followed by an hour-long session, both without charge. Further half-day settling sessions can be arranged and are charged separately; in some circumstances, anxious children can receive a home visit.

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted identified two improvements: parents needed more precise information about daily experiences, especially food, and younger children needed shorter waits between routine activities. Both matter in ordinary family life. A parent needs to know what a child has eaten, while unnecessary waiting can interrupt otherwise purposeful play.

Internal room moves involve a meeting with the next key person, an updated All About Me document and a handover between practitioners. Visits to the next room are adjusted to the child: a familiar adult can accompany an anxious child, and visits can begin briefly before becoming longer. The process gives a room change its own preparation, rather than treating it as a simple move of belongings.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The Bitterne Park deputy manager has training in childcare and SEND. In January 2023, the nursery's special educational needs coordinator and manager worked with outside professionals to support individual children. That describes a practical route for coordinating help, rather than relying solely on support within the room.

Blueberries has access to a sleep room with air conditioning and a glazed door panel, and fresh bedding is supplied daily. In Raspberries, children who need a nap rest on mats with blankets and familiar comforters; low sinks and child-sized toilets support toilet learning alongside parents. These arrangements address rest and growing independence within the nursery day.

Chefs prepare meals and baby weaning food in the nursery's kitchens, and the dietary policy provides for adapting menus to children's special requirements. School preparation includes inviting Reception teachers to visit, using school photographs or booklets, and bringing uniform and book bags into pretend play, helping children explore an unfamiliar next step.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Witts Hill, Southampton, SO18 4QG. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks, with closure on bank holidays and for a week at Christmas. Sessions during nursery closures are not charged.

AM sessions run from 7.30am to 1pm, PM sessions from 1pm to 6pm, and All Day attendance from 7.30am to 6pm. A full-week pattern is also offered. Morning and afternoon bookings therefore provide genuinely different attendance options alongside whole-day care.

Additional paid hours must combine into one of the nursery's session patterns. They are not sold as casual creche attendance. This matters when comparing a funded entitlement with the hours a family actually needs: an allocation of funded hours and a booked session are separate parts of the arrangement.

Enquiries can be made through the Bitterne Park contact form, by email to managementbp@themulberrybush.co.uk or by telephone on 02382 351 888. A non-refundable registration charge covers administration. Once the form and payment are received and attendance dates are agreed, confirmation follows by letter or email; later requests to change the start date or attendance days can be declined.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible two-year-olds can use funded early education. For preschool children, the funded offer describes up to 30 hours over 38 weeks, stretched across 51 weeks to provide up to 22 hours each week. Eligibility and the child's funded arrangement determine what applies; additional hours are charged separately.

There are basic funded and guaranteed session funded contracts. Food is included in the private session fee, while funded attendance attracts a separate food charge and, where applicable, a guarantee charge. The fees and hours page explains the contract structure; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Daily handovers. January 2023 highlighted gaps in information about children's experiences and meals. During a visit, ask how the key person now communicates food intake and the details of the day.
• Routine changes for younger children. Waiting between activities was another January 2023 concern. Ask to discuss how the baby and toddler routines organise mealtimes and moves between activities.
• Funded contracts and supplies. Basic funded and guaranteed session funded arrangements have different charge structures. Request a written breakdown for the intended sessions, including food and any guarantee charge.
• Agreeing attendance. Registration carries a non-refundable administration charge, and changes to agreed start dates or days can be declined. Use the enquiry and visit process before completing registration, especially if working arrangements may change.

The Mulberry Bush Bitterne Park suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as all-day attendance, with outdoor exploration and sensory spaces prominent in their choice. The water pump, climbing slope and Growing Area give children concrete ways to investigate and move; key-person meetings and planned room transitions provide a corresponding structure for care.

The January 2023 Good judgement supports a positive assessment of that inspection-era provision, with communication and waiting times the two practical cautions to carry into a visit. The strongest decision rests on whether these spaces, attendance patterns and care routines fit the individual child and the family's week.