Stubbington Lodge
Stubbington Lodge is a day nursery in Portsmouth for children aged 1 to 4, with 46 registered places. Ofsted report card, 4 September 2026: Strong standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met.
45 Stubbington Avenue, Portsmouth, PO2 0HP
Key facts
- Type
- Day nursery (Full day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Ages
- 1 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered places
- 46 (Ofsted report, inspection on 4 September 2026)
- Registered
- 11 August 2015 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Opening hours
Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00
Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 4 September 2026
Who runs it
Stubbington Lodge is run by Good Manors Day Nurseries Limited (Ofsted register).
Latest inspection
- Inclusion: Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard
- Achievement: Strong standard
- Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
- Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
- Leadership and governance: Strong standard
- Safeguarding standards met
Source: Ofsted, inspection on 4 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Babies and children arrive happily with smiles on their faces and are greeted warmly by enthusiastic staff, who know them extremely well. This creates a highly nurturing and welcoming atmosphere where children are eager to start their day.
Leaders and staff have high expectations of all children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well to play and learn alongside their peers. Staff have a thorough understanding of children's unique needs and meet these well, creating a sense of belonging in the setting. Children become confident communicators and enjoy a wide range of stories, rhymes and songs. Babies engage in back-and-forth interactions with adults and repeat new words that staff model. Children, including those who speak English as an additional language, are well supported to develop their vocabulary and communication.
Children make progress across all areas of the curriculum. They enjoy a varied, well-sequenced range of activities that reflect their interests and next steps in learning. Children develop mathematical skills as they use their imagination to create pretend pizzas, counting the number of pieces as they play, for instance. Staff encourage independence from an early age. For example, babies thrive on finding their own cups and those of their friends. Older children confidently lay the table ahead of mealtimes and take pride in having this responsibility. This helps to promote confidence and a sense of belonging.
Leaders promote regular attendance, and children benefit from consistent routines that support their wellbeing. Children thrive here as they feel understood and valued.
What Ofsted found in each area
Inclusion: Strong standard
Leaders and staff are extremely proactive in identifying children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other barriers to their learning. They promptly assess children's needs, plan appropriate interventions and regularly monitor their effectiveness. Staff have developed positive partnerships with parents and carers, which help to ensure children have their needs met. Leaders and staff share information regularly and tailor support to suit families' circumstances. For example, staff develop and share strategies to use in the home environment to support consistency between home and the setting.
Staff have excellent knowledge of their key children and work closely with leaders and parents to embed interventions. For example, they proactively meet with parents to explore children's attendance patterns and identify barriers families may be experiencing, enabling them to provide targeted support. These practices have a significant impact on how children settle, develop attachments and access a well thought out curriculum. This helps all children to make excellent progress from their starting points.
Leaders and staff are passionate about identifying and removing barriers to children's learning effectively. For example, they use clear structure, visual aids and social stories to support children. These adaptations are used as part of everyday practice. As a result, children with SEND and/or other barriers to their learning access the same learning as their peers and take part fully and confidently. Staff liaise with shared-care providers and specialist teams, such as speech and language professionals, to ensure a consistent approach is followed and implemented when children start.
Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard
Leaders create a broad and inclusive curriculum, which staff implement to a consistently high standard. They make continuous improvements to ensure it fully meets the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning. Staff ensure children receive the education to which they are entitled across all areas of the curriculum. As a result, children's levels of engagement are high and they are confident and independent learners. The curriculum is planned and carefully sequenced to build on children's learning, ensuring that they are ready for the next stage of their education. For example, children beam with delight as they engage in movement activities, aiding their physical development.
Mathematics is woven into every activity, as staff introduce numbers and positional language into children's learning. For example, staff help children to carefully count how many pieces of play dough are needed during an activity. Children listen carefully and engage enthusiastically when learning about keeping their brains healthy. Staff repeat language and instructions to ensure all children understand and benefit from the learning experiences.
Babies excitedly share memorable moments with staff, such as when all the sensory tubes fall over. Language and communication are embedded across the setting, and staff introduce purposeful communication methods for all children. As a result, all children successfully communicate their needs. Children are highly sociable and have secure emotional understanding. Staff respond instinctively to children's curiosity, expertly adapting their discussions so children can learn from every interaction.
Achievement: Strong standard
Babies and children enjoy a nurturing approach to support their achievement. Children make secure progress from their individual starting points across all areas of the curriculum, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who achieve highly because of the precise and targeted support they receive.
Babies and children show kindness towards each other. They learn and develop skills such as expressing their thoughts and feelings. For example, babies share stories together, and older children are respectful when playing. Children confidently take care of their personal hygiene in an age- and stage-appropriate manner. They develop key skills, such as waiting their turn and participating in small group activities. These skills support children to become very well prepared for the next stage of learning.
Babies and children form secure attachments with staff, which help them to feel safe, confident and emotionally secure. They show great enjoyment as they develop their vocabulary and communication skills, engaging positively with their peers and staff. Children demonstrate attention, listening skills, independence and competence in decision-making. For instance, they confidently select their own snack and make choices throughout their play.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard
Staff consistently provide a warm, nurturing and positive atmosphere, where children develop a secure sense of belonging. They skilfully adapt the environment and routines to ensure all children's needs are supported. For example, mealtimes are calm and more enjoyable due to recent, targeted changes.
Staff are highly respectful and sensitive to children's individual needs. They get to know children very well and build close relationships with them. For example, children seek a cuddle from their trusted key person when feeling tired after lunch. Routines are mirrored and built on through all rooms to provide stability, familiarity and comfort, which support transitions. Recent enhancements to staff ratios and deployment ensure all children's needs are fully supported.
Staff have high expectations for all children's behaviour and are positive role models. They successfully encourage children to be polite and learn how to share. Staff praise children for waiting patiently for their turn. Throughout the setting, children show respect, kindness and empathy. Staff support children to manage their emotions from an early age through embedded strategies, aiding their self-esteem and resilience. This consistent approach by staff supports children to behave well and show positive attitudes to learning.
Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard
Leaders and staff consistently place children's welfare and wellbeing at the centre of their work. They maintain robust oversight of all children as individuals, and they tailor support, care and interventions to meet children's needs, within and beyond the setting. For example, leaders work closely with staff and other professionals working with children to share information and monitor progress. Leaders and staff advocate for children well, which has a significantly positive impact on their overall wellbeing.
A sense of belonging is embedded throughout the nursery, as babies happily separate from their parents and carers to start their day. They thrive due to the secure relationships they enjoy with staff. For example, babies delight in seeing their reflection in the mirror and sharing this with their key staff. Staff consistently and skilfully extend learning during each interaction, supporting children's self-esteem and confidence.
Staff encourage children very effectively to develop the skills they need to independently manage their personal hygiene. Babies confidently wash their faces at snack time. Older children know to wash their hands after being outside and before eating. Children's views are continually sought, heard and valued. They are encouraged to confidently express their preferences, such as requesting additional food at lunchtime. Staff respond promptly, valuing and respecting their decisions. All staff are aware of children's allergies, safe-eating procedures and individual stages of weaning for babies. Safe-sleep procedures are robustly followed and monitored closely.
Leadership and governance: Strong standard
Leaders and staff share a clear ambition to provide consistently high-quality care and experiences for children. They aim to prepare all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, for their next stage in education. Through effective self-evaluation, leaders accurately recognise areas for improvement. For example, recent changes to mealtimes have had a positive impact on children, creating more opportunities for learning during these key times of the day.
Leaders ensure that changes to guidance and requirements are addressed in good time. Leaders work hard to identify how children will benefit from any changes, keeping them at the heart of everything they do. Staff feel valued and included in decisions made at the setting. Effective supervision processes and training for staff are focused on ensuring they can provide the best possible support for all children.
Leaders and staff work successfully in partnership with parents, carers and external agencies to ensure they provide appropriate and high-quality care and education. For example, they have regular contact with local authority specialist teams and speech and language therapists. Parents speak highly of the setting and value the regular communication and support they receive, which enhances their children's learning.
What the setting must and should do next
The provider should:
- Leaders should ensure continued improvement in the setting's successful work to remove barriers for children who need extra help, to realise a transformational impact on all children's achievement and wellbeing.
Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 4 September 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Inspection history
Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)
Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.
The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.
Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.
Source: Ofsted reports
Funded childcare hours in England
All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.
Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.
Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.
The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.
Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)
Other nurseries nearby
- St Nicholas Preschool - Pre-school, Portsmouth PO2 0NG, ages 2 to 4, 24 places, under 0.1 milesOfsted, 30 September 2021: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Dream Catchers Play School North End - Pre-school, Portsmouth PO2 0JG, ages 2 to 4, 49 places, 0.2 milesOfsted, 18 March 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Discovery Nursery School (Portsmouth) - Day nursery, Portsmouth PO2 8HR, 42 places, 0.2 miles
- Twinkle Star Nursery - Day nursery, Portsmouth PO2 0AD, ages 0 to 4, 46 places, 0.3 milesOfsted, 19 May 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- 'Little Thinkers' at New Horizons Portsmouth - Day nursery, Portsmouth PO2 7HX, ages 1 to 4, 87 places, 0.3 milesOfsted report card, 16 June 2026: Strong standard in 2 areas, Expected standard in 4 areas; safeguarding standards met
Schools nearby
- Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School - Primary, 0.2 miles
- King's Academy College Park (Infant) - Primary, 0.3 miles
- King's Academy College Park (Junior) - Primary, 0.3 miles
- Stamshaw Infant Academy - Primary, 0.3 miles
- New Horizons Primary School - Primary, 0.3 miles