A CHILDREN’S daycare rated “outstanding” at its first Ofsted inspection said treating children as individuals was the key to its success.

An inspector for the education watchdog said children at Grandpont’s Mulberry Room were “exceptionally” independent and staff respected every child’s “uniqueness”.

The centre, which cares for 59 two- to eight-year-olds, had never been inspected before and staff said they were delighted with the confirmation of their methods.

Manager Lynne Nottage, a mum-of-two who lives in Abingdon Road, said: “We are so thrilled with our inspection.

“We work in partnership with parents to ensure children achieve the best outcomes and the report is a glowing reflection of everyone’s hard work and dedication.”

The one improvement the inspector suggested was: “strengthen measures to improve the listening environment for younger children”.

Assistant manager Sam Kirk said she believed that suggestion had come after a particularly “boisterous singsong” one morning which was not usually so loud.

Ms Kirk came to the Mulberry Room eight years ago when it opened in its present form and said she was immediately impressed by how staff treated children as individuals.

She said: “It was a real eye-opener: it encourages them to be independent and it’s a much better way of helping children develop.”

Mary Squires, from South Oxford, whose daughter Daisy is in the three- to five-year-old group, said the centre could not be praised highly enough.

She said: “The staff encourage children to flourish, be themselves and most of all staff care about their work and the children.”

The Mulberry Room operates in the same building as Grandpont Nursery School and Grandpont Children’s Centre. The children’s centre staff do outreach work and run drop-in information sessions and activities for families.

The nursery is a pre-school which runs from 9am to 3.30pm during term time, while the Mulberry Room offers childcare from 8am to 6pm throughout the year.

Ofsted’s Melissa Cox said staff have an “excellent knowledge of how children learn” and provide “a rich, varied and imaginative educational programme that excites and enthuses the children”.

Ms Cox visited the daycare, based in a room at Grandpont Nursery School, Whitehouse Road, on June 19 and published her report the following month.

She wrote: “Staff show high levels of skill, observing children’s play and judging just how and when to intervene to extend learning.

“Younger children freely design and build with crates, hunt for bugs or dig for buried treasure in the sand pit.

“The skilful organisation of the garden and the benefits of the forest school provision are highly successful in encouraging children to become active and independent learners and is a key feature of the setting.”

Staff are now preparing for a Soup and Sparklers evening on Bonfire Night.