Acorn Day Nursery (Mulberry Bear)

My daughter attends this nursery. My son also attended for 4 years. I have found this nursery to be everything that I would hope for in a preschool. The staff are kind, compassionate and caring and genuinely care for the children under their care. My son has special educational needs and I will be always thankful to them for alerting us to these. They adapted their practices for my son and were very knowledgeable in this area. I would totally recommend this nursery.

They bake cakes, make bread, have Halloween parties, draw, read books, learn to count etc. every day is just vibrant. I highly recommend this place. Thank you ever so much.

We recently moved our daughter to Mulberry Bear from another nursery after the recommendation from the Acorn Nursery at Kents Hill. The numerous settle sessions that were offered were amazing and really helped my daughter (and myself!) with the transition from our original nursery. The outside space is really my favourite area of the nursery. The children are encouraged to spend as much time outside as possible and the permanent slide is a winner with my daughter! The inside space is split into ages but the free flow play between areas is great. The reading/music room in Squirrels room is a great space - it's currently themed as The Gruffalo and the theme gets changed with different books. We have only been a part of the nursery for a short while - but I'm looking forward to seeing how my daughter flourishes.

I've been a parent at Mulberry Bear for a long time, my daughter, now 7 was a happy pre-schooler there, and now my son who's 3 years old goes there. The staff is like family, the feeling I get is that they really care about the children. They have a big outdoor space which is used throughout the year. I have experience from a child with typical needs to a child with special needs, my son, who has Autistic traits, is currently being supported there. We recently changed from another seemingly 'prestigious' nursery locally where my son was so unhappy, and the staff was admittedly not skilled for SEND. In contrast, when changing to Acorn Mulberry Bear, we noticed a massive change in my son's behaviour, he's now a happy child who feels appreciated and cared for and his learning needs are being addressed in a way that is suited to his special needs.

We had moved our daughter from another nursery and she has just joined last week. They had made her very welcome. The nursery has a very large outdoor area and the children seem to be encouraged (by both planned and spontaneous activities) to spend a lot of time outdoors. Yesterday when I went to pick up my daughter she was playing in the garden and when she saw me instead of walking straight into my arms she had walked away to continue playing which was very positive feedback on how well she had settled in. The indoor areas have lots of large windows letting in natural light which gives the place a very welcoming appearance. The app (which is used to provide updates on the daily activities) is updated very regularly (almost instantly) so we know exactly how and what she is doing. Acorn nurseries had been recommended to us by several friends and we were excited to hear about the new Acorn nursery. So far, a very good experience and it has definitely met our expectations.