Davenport Lodge Nursery School

Cooking and Thursday sports at The Xcel Centre give Davenport Lodge Nursery School a character that reaches beyond its Davenport Road setting. Physical activity sits alongside language, independence and preparation for Reception. The practical choice is broader than a full working day: morning and afternoon attendance are also part of the offer.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with the same judgement across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. There was a clear improvement point, too: staff needed to give children greater freedom to develop their own ideas in art and early drawing and writing.

In Coventry, the nursery has 116 places in total and accepts children aged 3 to 59 months. That is whole-setting capacity, rather than the size of an individual group. Kindergarten is the named stage for children aged 3 and 4, bringing preschool learning into the same setting as care for younger children.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes the day through play, communication, physical development and growing independence, alongside early mathematics, literacy and creative work. This is the common framework for early-years provision. Davenport Lodge uses Birth to 5 Matters guidance to organise learning within it, combining activities chosen by children with experiences introduced by adults.

That balance matters. Children have opportunities to explore their own interests, while practitioners also introduce skills and ideas deliberately. Music, cooking, karate and dance are among the activities, with PE adding another route into movement. The curriculum overview explains the relationship between play, development and the areas of learning.

For Kindergarten children, visits to the school library and local parks extend learning beyond their usual surroundings. Books and outdoor exploration therefore form part of the preschool experience, alongside the activities within the setting. These visits should be understood as experiences rather than a promise of a particular outing frequency.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2024, older children rode balance bikes around obstacles, while other physical experiences included climbing, sliding and jumping. A wooden plank gave children a chance to practise balancing with help when needed. Babies crawled and climbed using large play equipment. These are concrete examples of a day that gave movement room to develop, rather than confining physical learning to a single organised activity.

Thursday mornings bring off-site sports at The Xcel Centre for children aged 3 and over, usually across 30 weeks of the academic year. These sessions carry a separate charge. For preschool families, this adds a named external venue and a recurring sports experience to the attendance decision.

The Enrichments Programme covers additional experiences beyond the standard curriculum. Its activities may include gardening, baking, cultural work and specialist-led sessions; these examples are possibilities within the programme, rather than a guaranteed weekly timetable. On funded attendance, enrichment is part of the separately charged optional packs.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2024, babies and young children sought practitioners for reassurance and shared play, with consistent care routines supporting their day. Children were encouraged to attempt everyday tasks themselves: younger children practised feeding themselves, and older children tried putting on their outdoor clothing. Help remained close when a task became difficult. The emphasis was on practising independence with support appropriate to the child.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, highlighted the strength of the key-person arrangements and found that children with SEND made strong progress through coordination between staff, parents and external agencies. Those findings give useful weight to the care picture, while remaining judgements about that inspection date.

For children learning English alongside another home language, parents supply familiar words and phrases through the All About Me form. That gives staff something specific to use when helping a child feel comfortable. It also makes the family's knowledge part of the settling process, rather than relying entirely on what staff observe after attendance begins.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support has a defined structure. Wellcomm Assessment is used for two- and three-year-olds, with observation informing assessment for younger children. The SENDCO coordinates provision with the key person and parents, and outside specialists can become involved where appropriate.

A Targeted Support Plan sets out agreed goals, intended outcomes and the help a child will receive. Plans are updated every two to three months, with parents contributing to reviews. This gives families a practical mechanism for discussing whether support is working and what needs to change.

There is also an important admissions condition. Admission for a child with SEND depends on their ability and aptitude to access the academic curriculum, their needs being suited to that curriculum, and suitable resources and facilities being available. Continued attendance also depends on the nursery judging that remaining is in the interests of both the child and the nursery community. Its policy allows a place to be withdrawn if its stated conditions cease to be met. Families needing additional support should weigh that condition alongside the assessment and planning arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 21 Davenport Road, Coventry, CV5 6QA. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 50 weeks annually, with public holidays, an annual training day and a two-week Christmas closure excluded.

A full day runs from 8am to 6pm. Morning attendance is 8am to 1pm, and an afternoon runs from 1pm to 6pm. The minimum booking is four sessions combining mornings and afternoons, or all five mornings. A family looking for occasional attendance needs to consider that minimum just as carefully as the daily clock times.

Applications begin with an online enquiry and proceed through a viewing, registration and an offer. The enquiry form is the contact route for starting the process. A registration charge and payment of fees in advance apply, with both waived for fully funded places under the current fee terms. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded hours are stretched over the nursery's operating weeks. The two annual allocations translate into 11.4 or 22.8 funded hours each week, while attendance beyond a child's funded hours is charged separately. This structure spreads support across the year instead of concentrating it into term time.

For funded attendance, food and non-food consumables are charged separately through optional packs, as is enrichment. Families can decline these packs on the funding declaration; those declining food packs provide their child's lunch and snacks in accordance with the nursery's food policy. The fees information provides the route to the current charge structure.

• Creative freedom. The January 2024 improvement point concerned children developing their own artwork and drawing ideas. During a visit, ask how practitioners now support children's choices rather than directing the finished result.
• Minimum attendance. Four mixed sessions or five mornings are required. Match that commitment to your weekly routine, including the Christmas closure and training day.
• Additional support. SEND provision includes assessment and regularly reviewed plans, but attendance is conditional on the nursery's ability to meet a child's needs. Discuss the resources your child would need and how continued support would be reviewed.
• The funded package. Stretched hours sit alongside optional food, consumables and enrichment charges, plus separately charged Xcel sports. Obtain a written quotation covering your chosen sessions and extras before accepting an offer.

Davenport Lodge suits families seeking either full-day attendance or a regular pattern of mornings or afternoons, with physical activity, cooking and preschool experiences beyond the usual learning space. Birth to 5 Matters gives the curriculum a named organising approach, while the SEND planning process provides concrete points for parent involvement.

The balance is practical as well as educational. Minimum attendance and the treatment of funded extras deserve attention, and children's freedom in creative work remains the clearest dated improvement point.