The Mulberry House School, in West Hampstead, opened originally for pupils aged two to five years and expanded in 1994 to take children up to the age of eight. The school occupies two buildings a short distance apart in the same road. It serves an area of wide ethnic and cultural diversity which is reflected in both the pupils and staff at the school. Of the 175 pupils, 75 attend part-time and 68 three and fouryear-olds receive nursery funding. The school operates from 8am to 6pm for 47 weeks a year. During the inspection, this extended provision was registered separately with Ofsted’s Early Years Division and will be inspected in due course. The school aims to ‘develop within each child a love of learning; to offer a challenging education that is designed to enhance their emotional, intellectual and physical development’ and ‘to work in partnership with parents to ensure that each child's first important experience of school will be a secure and happy one’.