Opening hours
Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm
The Ark in Dartmouth
Ofsted: Good
(Sept 2025)
Number of places
36 places
Age range
1–3 yrs
Last inspected
Sept 2025
Local authority
Devon
About this day nursery
The Ark at Dartmouth is a dedicated childcare facility located in Southford School rooms, Dartmouth, Devon, committed to fostering a stimulating environment where children learn through play. The day nursery provides a secure and homely atmosphere, encouraging each child's development.
They offer healthy, freshly prepared meals, actively involving children in the preparation process to teach essential life skills and promote healthy eating habits. The curriculum is designed to be engaging and comprehensive, supporting children from 9 months up to school age.
The Ark also utilises the "Famly" platform, an all-in-one early childhood communication tool, enabling parents to stay connected with their child's daily activities and progress through real-time updates, photos, and videos. The day nursery prides itself on its strong community links and transparent policies, regularly updating parents on important information such as closure dates and funding options.
They are proactive in helping parents navigate the complexities of childcare funding, including various government schemes, and ensure all policies, from admissions to child protection, are readily accessible.
Our ethos
The Ark at Dartmouth is committed to fostering a stimulating environment where children learn through play. They actively involve children in food preparation to teach life skills and promote healthy eating. Their curriculum is designed to be engaging and comprehensive.
What it's like
Staff provide a calm, welcoming and inviting environment for children, who settle quickly and develop positive relationships with others. Children experience a sequenced curriculum that prepares them well for their future learning, with plentiful opportunities for independence, confidence, and social development. They enjoy engaging in activities in the local area, such as yoga, library visits, and seasonal walks, and show confidence in storytelling and learning new words.
Learning through playHealthy meals prepared on-siteUtilises Famly communication platformSupports various government funding schemes
Pricing & funding
Funding accepted
15 hours — working parents (9 months–2 yrs)15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare
Pricing on request
This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.
Key facts
Registered with Ofsted
2023
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating for The Ark in Dartmouth
Last inspected 17 September 2025
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
What it's like to attend
Staff provide a calm, welcoming and inviting environment for children, who settle quickly and develop positive relationships with others. Children experience a sequenced curriculum that prepares them well for their future learning, with plentiful opportunities for independence, confidence, and social development. They enjoy engaging in activities in the local area, such as yoga, library visits, and seasonal walks, and show confidence in storytelling and learning new words.
Inspector highlights
- Children experience a sequenced curriculum that prepares them well for their future learning.
- Staff provide plentiful opportunities for children to be independent, confident and social.
- Children enjoy engaging in activities in the local area, such as yoga sessions, library visits and seasonal walks.
- Leaders support staff to extend their knowledge and skills through training that enhances interactions and sharpens curriculum delivery.
- Staff promote children's independence well by encouraging them to do things for themselves and modelling strategies to succeed.
Areas to develop
- 1promote children's next steps in learning further as they play to support the best progress for all children
- 2improve the use of questioning to support and extend the curiosity, knowledge and skills of all children
- 3review the organisation of group activities to help enhance children's focus and engagement.
Inspection #10407514 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
Staff support children well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to help them achieve. Staff provide some targeted teaching to children with SEND, and all members of staff have received training on targeted speech and language teaching and use strategies modelled by a local speech and language therapist. However, during group activities staff do not always target support as effectively as they could, which impacts on the focus and engagement levels of some children.
Outdoor space
Staff provide daily opportunities for children to learn outside. Children dress for outside play and enjoy playing in the rain, playing imaginatively with plastic ducks and singing. Children also travel on the local bus to take part in forest school sessions at a local school, where they develop physical skills carrying wood for campfires and finding sturdy logs to sit on when enjoying stories in the woods.
Google Reviews of The Ark in Dartmouth
5.0
(4 Google reviews)
elisha morgan
7 months ago
Lovely little nursery, both my children have been there and they both love it. My son has little quirks and is currently non verbal and the nursery have help support myself and my son in every possible way. Amazing team, highly recommend.
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Ahmed Albalushi
a year ago
The Ark is providing a very special environment for the children to enjoy their time and learn. It helped my daughter to learn more about the life skills and develop her knowledge about many things. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Such a great place for the little ones.
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Katie Frost
2 years ago
My daughter can be a little shy when leaving me but she has settled into the Ark Dartmouth with no problems and is always excited to go to ‘school’. The girls have been great at getting to know my daughters likes and dislikes making both of us feel very comfortable.
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mariachiara paccagnini
a year ago
A wonderful experience for our little Marta. During our Italian summer vacation, we decided to give our 3-year-old daughter an entirely English-language experience. We moved to Devon for two months and enrolled Marta in this wonderful nursery. Freya, Amy, Aby, and Izzi were truly fantastic; they immediately put our little girl at ease. Everything about this nursery is child-friendly: the beautiful outdoor space, the games, the ever-changing activities the children are entertained with every day. The outdoor trips, the wonderful walks in the rain, and the puddle jumps. The truly convenient thing for us was the opportunity to enjoy fresh meals cooked in the nursery kitchen. Marta experimented with new things, different from Italian cuisine, and was truly enthusiastic. The atmosphere at this nursery is truly family-friendly, as is the cleanliness of the common areas—everything is TOP! THANK YOU, you have been a true point of reference for our Marta and for us, we love you xox
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for The Ark in Dartmouth. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Most recent inspection
17 September 2025
Only one graded inspection on record — a trend chart will appear here once a second graded report is published.
View full Ofsted reportFrequently asked about The Ark in Dartmouth
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