The Dolphin Pre School and Nursery

A mud kitchen, paper learning books that travel home and separate spaces for successive stages of childhood give Dolphin its character. This Exmouth nursery combines practical, hands-on play with a parent communication system built around an individual key person. The detail matters: families can follow both what their child has been doing and how everyday care has gone.

At its 29 May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective, while identifying improvements needed in communication support and the consistent teaching of independence. Those priorities deserve attention alongside the strengths. Dolphin caters for children from birth to five at 5 Raddenstile Lane, Exmouth, EX8 2JH.

Hourly bookings provide flexibility within an opening window of 7.30am to 6pm, with operation across 51 weeks of the year.

Rooms and Ages

Little Dinos, for three to 18 months, occupies the first floor and combines a soft space with a washable activity area, with creative play and individual care routines shaping the day. That separation gives babies places for quieter play as well as activities involving materials that make a mess. Little Dinos uses one adult to three babies, the statutory minimum for under-twos.

For children aged 18 months to two and a quarter years, Little Explorers combines listening and turn-taking games with a small toilet and access to a garden containing water, sand and mud. The room connects emerging social skills with opportunities to practise physical skills outdoors. Its small toilet also makes the environment relevant to children beginning toilet training.

Busy Bees, for two and a quarter to three and a quarter years, accommodates up to 16 children across connected spaces, with self-care, language and friendship building supported by a toilet block, decking, a mud kitchen and a cushioned reading area. This is a room where messy activity and somewhere to pause coexist. The room cap describes this particular space, rather than the size of the whole nursery.

Pre-school, for three to five years, uses a main room, a smaller space with hard flooring and an outdoor area linked by double doors, with mark making, imaginative play and mathematics among its activities. Children can move between indoor and outdoor play, while the smaller room provides another setting for activities and meals.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework: children develop communication, physical skills, early literacy and mathematical understanding through play and adult-supported activities. Dolphin translates that into ordinary experiences, including exploring capacity while pouring drinks and building vocabulary through stories and songs. Learning is connected to things children actually do.

Visual resources support communication, while planned play, adult-led activities and consistent routines structure the day.

In May 2024, children explored patterns with pine cones, examined snails with staff support and used dough and sensory trays to retell stories, connecting books with practical experimentation.

Monthly yoga led by visiting specialists added guided physical activity to everyday play in May 2024.

Outdoor and Community Life

Garden access is built into the room environments. Outdoor play includes water and sand, while Busy Bees has decking used throughout the year and its mud kitchen. These spaces give children materials to handle and ideas to develop, as well as room for physical play.

Outings to the library, beach, parks and soft play venues extend children's experiences. High-visibility clothing, wrist straps normally used for walking and a walking bus organise trips beyond the nursery.

Relationships and Communication

An allocated key person follows each child's development and keeps parents informed. Parent evenings take place twice a year, giving families dedicated time to discuss progress rather than relying entirely on brief daily conversations. The key person changes as a child progresses through the rooms.

The All About Me Book brings photographs and observations together in a paper record. It goes home on the child's final attendance day of the week, and parents can contribute pictures and notes from home. That creates a two-way account of the child's experiences, rather than a record containing nursery activity alone.

Younger children's daily diaries cover eating, sleep and nappy changes. These practical details complement the learning book: parents receive information about care routines as well as activities. Families are also encouraged to build relationships with the wider room team, helping communication continue when their key person is away.

Room changes have their own preparation. Children make planned visits at different points in the day, parents receive information about the next room and key person, and updated sleep and dietary details are gathered. Moving rooms therefore involves sharing care information as well as introducing a different space.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Let’s Talk More is a speech and language screening programme carried out with parental permission, with targeted strategies or referrals following the assessment. Separate screens cover children aged two years to two years five months, and two years six months to two years eleven months. The nursery has an in-house special educational needs coordinator, and the programme includes support that families can use at home. It provides a route for identifying and responding to communication needs.

At the May 2024 inspection, Ofsted found effective joint work on individual SEND support plans, but said communication strategies for children who were nonverbal or had speech and language difficulties were not consistently sufficient, and teaching independence needed greater consistency, especially for older toddlers. The screening offer and those findings should be read together. Identifying a need and supporting communication throughout the day are separate tasks.

Toilet training is coordinated with parents, using small, accessible toilets and an emphasis on consistency between home and nursery. The operation pants programme supplied staff training about the move from nappies to pants. For children preparing for school, teachers are invited to visit, a transition report is completed and families receive a school readiness information sheet.

Meals are largely prepared from scratch, with a vegetarian alternative each day and arrangements to accommodate dietary requirements. Weaning follows parents' decisions, with food textures adapted to the child.

Staff induction covers nursery procedures; recruitment includes enhanced DBS checks. Team meetings, supervision and a training budget support staff development.

Sessions and Attendance

Dolphin opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm. Flexible bookings are charged by the hour, with attendance arranged around families' needs.

Operation spans 51 weeks, with closures for Bank Holidays and Christmas/New Year. Families planning childcare across the year therefore need to account for those breaks. Enquiries can be made by telephone or through the contact form.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for eligible two-year-olds and through the universal and extended offers for older preschool children. Funding is stretched across the nursery's 51 operating weeks. Paid hourly childcare is offered alongside funded provision, so the funded element and the purchased hours should be considered separately.

For funded children, a separate service charge covers snacks, craft materials, sun cream and outings. Snacks are therefore charged separately, as are the specified non-food consumables, rather than being treated as included in funded hours. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Communication throughout the day. The May 2024 findings called for better strategies for children who were nonverbal or had speech and language difficulties. During a visit, ask how Let’s Talk More assessments translate into support during play, meals and room transitions.
• Independence in Busy Bees. Self-care is part of the room's stated emphasis, but the May 2024 findings identified inconsistent teaching of independence among older toddlers. Ask for examples of how children are encouraged to attempt tasks before an adult steps in.
• Hourly care and funded extras. Flexible bookings and stretched funding can serve different attendance needs, while the funded service charge covers specified extras. Compare a written quotation for the intended pattern, including meals and everyday supplies.
• Dietary needs. Vegetarian meals and adaptations for dietary requirements are part of the food arrangements. Families managing allergies should confirm current preparation and serving practice during their visit.

Dolphin suits families seeking flexible hourly attendance across most of the year, hands-on play and a paper record they can share with their child. Its room environments offer concrete reasons to consider it: outdoor access, small toilets, spaces for messy activity and quieter reading areas all relate to everyday childhood needs.

The May 2024 Good judgement comes with improvement priorities that matter especially for children needing communication support and older toddlers developing independence.