Opening hours
7:30 - 18:00 (potentially 19:00 with pre-booked late collection)
Mama Bear's Day Nursery in Bristol (BS4)
Ofsted: Expected standard·
4.4(7 parent reviews)
·The Bush, Wells Road, Bristol, BS4 2BA · Bristol
Number of places
79 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Feb 2026
Local authority
Bristol
About this day nursery
Mama Bear's Day Nursery, operating since 2013 in Bristol, BS4 2BA, offers a friendly and welcoming environment for children aged 0–4 years. The nursery operates year-round, Monday to Friday, from 07:30 to 18:00, providing consistent care.
Staff are particularly adept at supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), working closely with parents and external professionals to implement targeted support and close learning gaps. They effectively use hand signs and visual aids to enhance communication skills among children with SEND.
Outdoor learning is a key feature, with children enjoying a variety of physical activities like climbing, balancing, and using tricycles. The curriculum follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) approach, fostering children's development in all areas.
The nursery prioritises settling-in for babies with flexible sessions, helping them form secure attachments. Older children develop strong relationships with staff and peers, engaging in cooperative play.
Parents consistently express satisfaction with the nursery, praising their children's enjoyment and significant progress, especially in language development.
What it's like
Children enter this friendly and welcoming nursery and separate from their parents and carers with ease. Staff place an emphasis on helping new babies to settle, offering flexible settling-in sessions, helping them to form secure attachments with adults and feel safe. Older children form positive relationships with staff and friendships with other children, engaging in cooperative play.
Strong SEND supportEffective language developmentPositive parent feedbackOutdoor physical playSecure attachments
Pricing & funding
The nursery offers funded sessions with free meals and snacks for afternoon bookings. Non-funded sessions can be purchased separately, with options to add hourly flexibility to funded places. Fees are billed monthly in advance, with additional charges for paper invoices or alternative payment methods.
Funding accepted
15 hours — working parents (9 months–2 yrs)15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare
Good to know
- Fees are due in advance on the first day of each calendar month.
- Payment must be made by Direct Debit or Tax-Free Childcare transfer to avoid a processing fee.
- A non-refundable registration fee applies to non-EYE-only places.
- Funding includes all meals, snacks, and drinks during afternoon sessions.
- Late collection charges apply if children are collected more than 15 minutes late.
Key facts
Age range
3 months to 5 years
Term time / All Year
All_year
Established
2013
Ofsted Inspection — new report card
Expected standard
Last inspected Feb 2026
Grade summary
Exceptional
—
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
—
Urgent improvement
—
Each dot represents one of the six inspection categories. Headline is the average of the six grades, rounded up.
Category grades
AchievementExpected standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesExpected standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected standard
Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
InclusionStrong standard
Leadership and governanceExpected standard
Age range
0 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating for Mama Bear's Day Nursery
Last inspected 20 February 2026 · Charlotte Jenkin
What it's like to attend
Children enter this friendly and welcoming nursery and separate from their parents and carers with ease. Staff place an emphasis on helping new babies to settle, offering flexible settling-in sessions, helping them to form secure attachments with adults and feel safe. Older children form positive relationships with staff and friendships with other children, engaging in cooperative play.
Inspector highlights
- Staff monitor children's progress very carefully and put in place swift support to help close any gaps in learning.
- Parents are included in the decisions made about their children and appreciate the guidance they receive.
- Staff make adaptations so that all children are included in the nursery, using additional funding effectively.
- Children are developing some of the key skills they will need for starting school, showing engagement in activities.
- Staff promote children's language development effectively, using simple language and introducing new words.
Areas to develop
- 1Leaders should ensure staff provide more structured opportunities for physical play indoors so that the younger children can practise their climbing, balancing and coordination skills more regularly.
- 2Leaders should ensure staff are confident to talk to children about making healthy food choices, including how different food groups affect their growth and development.
- 3Leaders should help staff to work more closely with parents and carers to ensure children develop the key self-care skills needed for school, including toilet training, at the earliest opportunity.
Inspection #10216428 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
Staff monitor children's progress very carefully and put in place swift support to help close any gaps in learning. They liaise with parents and carers and external professionals to seek advice and to implement targeted support, helping children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and families needing additional support. Staff use a range of hand signs and visual aids to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to develop their communication skills, with children responding well and using them to communicate their wants and needs.
Outdoor space
Staff offer children plenty of opportunities to develop their physical skills outside. Children climb and balance, use tricycles and negotiate space well. Staff encourage children to recall their learning outside, such as when they count and recognise numbers when playing hopscotch.
Parent Reviews of Mama Bear's Day Nursery
4.4
(7)
Megan King
4 months ago
My daughter has settled wonderfully and is clearly very well loved and cared for in the baby room. We went for mama bears over some other nurseries due to its convenient location but haven’t regretted it for a second. She eats well, is always happy at drop off and well connected with her key worker and other staff. Management changed last year and it’s clearly made a huge difference.
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Lucie G
6 months ago
Our daughter has wonderful care from the mama bears staff and enjoys the wide range of activities which she takes part in there. The recent garden renovations are particularly lovely, and she enjoys the soft play room too.
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Josie Skilbeck
7 years ago
Thank you for your care and support over the years. This group of "Mama Bear's" day nurseries has a fantastic set of staff whom are friendly and very professional. The grounds and properties are always clean and pleasant.
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Carlene Gittens
9 years ago
Only been a few days but wow! Amazing team, little one has loved every day! All sessions well planned out. Food options are great for all kids. Consistent feedback on each session... cannot recommend highly enough!
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sam hanley
8 months ago
My daughter had been there for 2 days staff didn’t care to notice my daughter had broke her leg in the garden she was sat on a chair no staff next to her with a broken leg no ambulance called
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for Mama Bear's Day Nursery. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Improved from Inadequate → Good in 2022
Date: June 2014
The most recent inspection point has been hidden because the parsed entry didn't match the headline Ofsted rating (Good). We're re-checking it against the original report.
- June 2022Good
- December 2021Inadequate
- June 2017Good
- February 2017Inadequate
- June 2014Good
Frequently asked about Mama Bear's Day Nursery
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