The Secret Garden Day Nursery

Fruit preparation for preschool children and tunnels for babies give The Secret Garden Day Nursery in Dawlish a practical, hands-on character. At its 19 May 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged behaviour and routines and children's welfare and wellbeing to be at Strong standard, with achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance at Expected standard; safeguarding standards were met.

The nursery welcomes children from 3 months to 5 years and has capacity for 75 children. Morning, afternoon and all-day sessions sit alongside term-time and year-round attendance. That gives families several ways to organise care, rather than a single attendance pattern.

The important qualification concerns language development. In May 2026, staff sometimes missed chances to introduce unfamiliar words and explain their meanings during play. Younger children's vocabulary was developing less quickly than it could. This is a useful point to weigh alongside the stronger findings about everyday care.

Rooms and Ages

Baby room, toddler room and pre-school room provision separates the stages of early childhood. In May 2026, babies practised movement by scrambling through tunnels in an indoor soft-play area, toddlers tackled block-building with encouragement to persist, and pre-school room activities included drawing, play dough and making marks using painted cars.

These are different kinds of practice with a clear purpose: movement for babies, perseverance for toddlers and hand control for older children. The examples also show why the room that matches a child's stage matters more than the nursery's total capacity.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the framework for learning and care here: children develop through play and activities across its areas of learning. It gives everyday experiences an educational purpose, from handling drawing materials to talking about a shared book.

In May 2026, counting was woven into the day, while stories and conversations gave children opportunities to communicate. Toddlers shared decisions about which book to explore, and older children practised concentrating during group activities. Learning involved making choices as well as following a routine.

The registration arrangements also include consent for short local walks and educational visits that do not need transport. These extend activity beyond the nursery, although they are consent arrangements rather than a promise of a particular trip timetable.

Relationships and Communication

In May 2026, staff worked with families to fit nursery routines around familiar sleep patterns. When children became upset, adults responded promptly and drew on their knowledge of the individual child. For babies especially, that connection between home habits and nursery routines is a concrete part of settling.

Tapestry, the parent platform used to share photographs and observations, gives families an account of their child's activities. Each child's account is accessible to staff and that child's parents or carers. Permissions cover observations and different uses of photographs separately, so families can distinguish personal updates from wider sharing.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the May 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that staff used observations and information from families and professionals to identify individual needs, adapted activities and routines, worked with speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, and supported steady progress from children's starting points.

A designated SENDCO and safeguarding lead role is part of the staff structure. The registration process seeks consent for the SENDCO to obtain professional information and work with outside agencies, with families informed before visits and given feedback afterwards. That provides a specific mechanism for coordinating support.

In May 2026, preschool children took turns preparing the fruit station, including learning to cut fruit safely; children also helped consider risks before new activities. Independence therefore involved practical responsibility, rather than simply completing a task unaided.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 3 Barton Villas, Dawlish, Devon, EX7 9QJ. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoon sessions from 1pm to 6pm, and all-day sessions from 8am to 6pm; the application form also offers 9am to 1pm and 9am to 3pm requests, plus flexible arrangements.

Families can request term-time-only or year-round attendance. There is a minimum of two sessions each week and a minimum attendance commitment of two terms. The nursery closes on bank holidays and for two weeks across Christmas and New Year, an important gap for families needing continuous working-year cover.

An application form is required before a child can be considered for a place. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email. A non-refundable registration charge applies when additional private hours are taken, but not to a solely funded place; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Early Years Entitlement funding is offered for eligible children from 9 months and for 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds. The attendance options include 15 or 30 funded hours a week during term time, or the nursery's stretched offers of 11 or 22.5 hours a week. Additional private hours are charged separately, and funding paperwork must be completed before starting.

Food is included in the private session fees shown for children under 2, while other attendance arrangements carry separate food charges; funded hours have a separate cooked-lunch charge, with a packed-lunch alternative that still carries a snack charge. Freshly prepared lunches have two courses.

Parents supply sun protection cream. Trips and additional activities carry extra charges. Fees are paid monthly in advance, and absence does not qualify for a refund or a replacement session.

• Language development. The May 2026 improvement priority was making adult interactions more consistently effective at extending vocabulary. Ask how practitioners now introduce and revisit new words during younger children's play.
• Attendance commitment. Two weekly sessions and two terms are the minimum booking commitments. Discuss how those terms fit your intended start date, attendance pattern and any planned change of care.
• Funded-place extras. Lunch or snack charges sit alongside funded attendance, and trips and additional activities cost extra. Request a written quotation for your chosen pattern, including the packed-lunch option and any additional private hours.
• Cancellation terms. Admission cancellation requires four weeks' notice, while withdrawal wording includes both one month and four weeks in writing. Ask which notice period will govern your contract before signing.

The Secret Garden suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as all-day care, with a choice between term-time and year-round attendance. Its May 2026 strengths lay in routines, relationships and children's welfare, illustrated by attention to home sleep patterns and practical independence. The vocabulary-development priority deserves equal attention. Families whose schedules fit the minimum commitment have several attendance options to weigh against food charges, holiday closures and the contract terms.