The Mulberry Bush Montessori Nursery Ltd
Ofsted report card Feb 2026Takes funded hoursBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Colchester for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 09:00 to 15:30, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Inspected under Ofsted's new report card in February 2026. Open since 2014, with 30 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Funded places for eligible children aged 9 months+, 2 years, and 3 & 4 years old (subject to government eligibility criteria and rollout dates).
Worth knowing. Funding (15 or 30 hours/week based on eligibility) is provided for 38 weeks per year; we stretch this funding over the 50 weeks we are open for consistent attendance (e.g., 30 hours stretched = 22.8 funded hours/week). Important: We require a minimum booking of two sessions per week for funded places. You must apply for eligibility codes via the government's Childcare Choices website and reconfirm every 3 months.
What childcare usually costs in Essex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Essex from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
CO5 8JBWhat Ofsted found, area by area
Since November 2025 Ofsted gives a standard in each of seven areas rather than one overall grade. Expected standard means it is doing what it should.
What the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
- 4 February 2026Report card seven areas graded separately Safeguarding: Met
- 3 March 2020Outstanding
- 12 July 2016Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Mulberry Bush Montessori Nursery Ltd
- What it costs
- Meals
- Nappies
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.