Dolphins Pre School

A south-facing garden, music sessions and a pre-school day built around growing independence give Dolphins Pre School its character. Based at The Pavilion in Hove’s Nevill Playing Fields, it takes children aged two to five and has 30 places in total. Indoor and outdoor play connect through a free-flow arrangement, giving children scope to follow their interests across both spaces.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Dolphins Outstanding overall and found that teaching enabled rapid progress across children’s learning. The detail behind that judgement is memorable: children helped shape the pre-school’s rules, older children explained the visual timetable to younger ones, and sand timers helped children organise turns on the tree-swing. Independence had practical substance.

This is term-time provision, with morning, all-day and afternoon sessions, plus separately charged early and late additions.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared framework for learning and care: children develop communication, physical skills and relationships through play, alongside early reading, mathematics, creativity and exploration. Dolphins combines activities guided by adults with play that children initiate themselves. That gives the day both direction and room for individual interests.

Music is a concrete addition. Sessions sit alongside the wider curriculum, rather than being presented as an occasional entertainment. In June 2025, staff used music to practise attention and listening; children also explored mathematical problems and an early reading scheme developed by the leaders. Activities led by staff included literacy, maths and science.

Children had a voice in how their shared space worked. In June 2025, they contributed to the rules and worked towards having their names added to the kindness tree, a way of recognising considerate behaviour. Older children took responsibility for explaining the visual timetable to younger children. Both examples make expectations tangible: children could understand the routine and contribute to it, rather than simply follow adult instructions.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large, secure garden faces south, and the free-flow arrangement connects outdoor play with the indoor environment. Waterproof clothing and wellingtons form part of the everyday kit. Families should expect outdoor play to be part of ordinary attendance, rather than something reserved for a special activity day.

In June 2025, the Daily Mile meant exercise before lunch around the neighbouring sports field, with staff joining the children. The setting’s position beside playing fields gave that routine a specific place to happen. Dentists also visited to discuss looking after teeth, linking healthy habits to people children could meet and listen to.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who responds to their feelings, behaviour and ideas, providing a consistent relationship within the staff team. Before starting, families can use photographs of team members and a video of the setting to help their child become familiar with it. This preparation gives parents something concrete to share at home before the first sessions.

Tapestry is the online learning journal: parents can view their child’s observations and add contributions of their own. Regular parent consultations complement everyday conversations, while Spl@sh newsletters, email and an electronic noticeboard provide other communication routes.

Parent Partners brings families into practical projects and activities. Parents have helped install raised flower-beds and bake with children. Participation is an expectation, with an initial six-month exemption while a child settles; another family member may help instead, and volunteering can be deferred until the child moves on. This is a meaningful part of the relationship with Dolphins, so families need to consider how it fits their circumstances.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received support that enabled excellent progress, and that safeguarding arrangements were effective. Outside professionals worked with the team at that time to help children receive the support they needed. A SENCO role also forms part of the current team structure.

In June 2025, staff helped children recognise feelings and use breathing techniques, alongside purposeful music, to manage them. Guidance for parents covered toilet training, diet and difficult behaviour. These are useful examples of care extending into the everyday issues that can make family life harder, rather than stopping at the end of a session.

Children who still wear nappies can attend, with families supplying nappies, wipes and nappy sacks. Staff change clothing after accidents, and parents provide spare clothes. Paediatric first-aid training and a medicine instruction form are practical arrangements; illness-related absences are reported through Studybugs, the system for notifying Dolphins when a child cannot attend.

Moving on up is a free family learning programme delivered in partnership with the Early Years Alliance. It covers independence, hand skills and communication, language and reading. Its resources translate school preparation into manageable activities: practising clothing fastenings, threading and using play dough, sharing stories and learning to ask for help. Reading before school is not presented as a prerequisite.

Sessions and Attendance

Dolphins operates Monday to Friday during term time, with opening hours of 8.45am to 3pm. The morning session runs from 9.30am to 12.30pm; the all-day session runs from 9.30am to 2.30pm. Afternoon sessions finish at 2.30pm, with their start time addressed below.

Early additions run from 8.45am to 9.30am and late additions from 2.30pm to 3pm. Both cost extra and depend on availability. The minimum booking is two sessions each week, supporting continuity with a child’s key person and peers. Attendance follows the term-time calendar, so school holidays require a separate childcare arrangement.

Applications use an online form and require a current photograph of the child and a copy of their birth certificate. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on (01273) 500513. The setting prioritises children during sessions, so lengthy telephone discussions may be difficult while care is underway.

Getting There

The address is The Pavilion, Nevill Playing Fields, off Eridge Road, Hove BN3 7QD. This is the childcare location; postal correspondence goes to the separate mailing address at 34 Welbeck Avenue, Hove BN3 4JN.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered from age two, subject to qualifying criteria. Entitlements include up to 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds from the term following their third birthday, and up to 30 hours for eligible children. Delivery is term time. Additional paid attendance and the early or late additions need to be distinguished from the funded entitlement when assessing the weekly arrangement.

Parents supply snacks, and children attending all-day or afternoon sessions bring lunch; lunches cannot be refrigerated, so an ice pack is needed, while milk is offered and water is provided. Families also send a named drinking bottle, and the lunchbox policy excludes chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks.

Nappies, wipes and nappy sacks come from home when required, including during funded attendance. A non-refundable registration charge applies to securing a place, and families can apply for a payment plan, usually involving three monthly instalments per term.

• Afternoon timing. The afternoon session’s stated 11.30pm start conflicts with the daytime opening window and its 2.30pm finish. Confirm the afternoon start time during a visit before choosing that pattern.
• Term-time attendance. The minimum is two sessions a week, and Dolphins closes during school holidays. Families need a weekly pattern that provides continuity and a separate plan for holiday care.
• Family participation. Parent Partners includes an expectation of volunteering, with a six-month settling exemption, family-member alternatives and deferred participation. Discuss which arrangement would be workable for your household.
• Food from home. Snacks and lunches are parent-supplied, and lunch refrigeration is unavailable. Families managing allergies should confirm current food-handling practice before attendance.

Dolphins suits families seeking morning sessions or an all-day pre-school pattern during term time, with early and late additions where available. Its south-facing garden, music and practical school-transition resources give that offer substance. The June 2025 judgement adds weight, while the examples of children organising turns and explaining routines show why independence is central to its appeal.

The decision also involves family responsibilities: supplying food and nappy essentials, planning around holidays and finding a workable contribution to Parent Partners. For households comfortable with those arrangements, Dolphins combines a clear educational purpose with close involvement in a child’s everyday development.