Doves Nursery

Music gives Doves Nursery a clear point of character: it is used to draw children into activities, alongside large rooms for play and learning. This Gosport setting accepts children from birth to five and has 54 places in total. That is whole-nursery capacity, rather than the size of an individual group.

Ofsted rated Doves Nursery Good at its February 2024 inspection. The detail gives parents more to work with than the grade alone: children collaborated over a toy crane, explored counting through water play and returned to favourite stories. There was also a specific weakness in how staff responded to younger children's behaviour, which deserves attention alongside those strengths.

Flexible attendance is offered, with weekday opening from 7am to 6pm.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, the February 2024 examples show what that can mean in practice: stories, conversation, counting and physical activity became opportunities to learn through play. Music is also an emphasis in the nursery's current offer, giving families a practical point to explore when considering how their child engages with activities.

In February 2024, children worked together to attach objects to a toy crane. They divided the tasks between operating it and fitting objects to its hook, listened to each other's suggestions and celebrated when their plan worked. This was a concrete example of children practising cooperation while solving a problem, rather than simply following adult instructions.

Books supported more than listening. During that same month, staff encouraged children to complete familiar story phrases, while toddlers retold stories to dolls using illustrations and remembered details. Recipe books also prompted new vocabulary. These examples connect language with something children are already interested in, giving them a reason to use and remember words.

Outdoor and Community Life

In February 2024, planting activities linked earlier drawings of daffodils with conversations about plant parts and what living things need. Stories and gardening vocabulary extended the activity beyond putting seeds into soil. The sequence gave children opportunities to revisit what they remembered and build on it.

Physical play took several forms during that month. Children made broad drawing movements on paper fixed to a wall, used pipettes to transfer water into test tubes, and ran, climbed and jumped in the garden. The contrast matters: movement involved both large actions and smaller hand movements, rather than relying on outdoor exercise alone.

At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, children making good progress, and communication support helping children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language. Staff used simple language and objects to help children express what they wanted. This makes the support tangible: communication was assisted through everyday interactions and practical aids.

In February 2024, children approached adults for comfort and drew them into their games. Toddlers also helped babies who were learning to walk by holding their hands. These observations offer a picture of relationships between children as well as between children and adults, although they belong to that point in time.

Parents received updates about learning and what children would work on next in February 2024. Staff used observations to spot learning gaps and worked with families and other professionals to address them. For parents, that links nursery activities with something useful to continue at home.

Behaviour guidance was less consistent. In February 2024, staff sometimes left toddlers' pushing and toy-snatching unaddressed, even though older children followed instructions and took turns. The improvement required was clearer help for younger children to understand how their actions affect others. This is a specific issue about adult responses, rather than a general description of children being difficult.

Sessions and Attendance

Doves Nursery offers flexible hours packages and opens on weekdays between 7am and 6pm, excluding bank holidays. It operates across the year. The flexible arrangement is the booking pattern to weigh against a family's routine; the opening window describes when the nursery operates.

Getting There

The address is 1 Stoke Road, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 1LT, in the town centre. Free parking is provided, which gives families a practical consideration when planning journeys with young children.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers NEG free nursery places for 15 hours during term time for children aged three to five. Private childcare is also offered, so funded attendance and paid care are separate parts of the offer.

Meals are home-cooked. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by email to dovesnursery@aol.com, and tours can be arranged.

• Support for toddler behaviour. February 2024 findings highlighted missed responses to pushing and toy-snatching. During a tour, discuss how staff now intervene and help younger children practise sharing.
• Flexible attendance. Flexible hours packages are offered within the weekday opening window. Use a tour to discuss how the arrangement would fit your child's routine and see the spaces used for play.
• Funded care and extras. The funded offer is term-time NEG provision for three- to five-year-olds. What would your proposed attendance cost, including meals and non-food consumables?

Doves Nursery suits families looking for flexible weekday childcare from birth to five, with music as a recurring emphasis and large rooms for play. Its February 2024 examples give substance to the learning offer, especially shared problem-solving, language and physical activity. The behaviour concern deserves an equally concrete conversation: how adults guide toddlers is an important part of choosing this setting.