Happy Days Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter with an air of confidence and excitement, immediately showing they feel comfortable and safe in this warm and nurturing nursery. Children benefit from flexible settling-in procedures and staff ensure they have access to their favourite resources to help them settle. Parents are informed of their child's key person at the start and invited to meet their new one before they move to the next room. Stay-and-play sessions are also offered. This thorough and collaborative approach means children develop strong, secure attachments with their staff and make seamless transitions through the nursery.

The provider plans a curriculum that is flexible and accessible to all children, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, symbols and visual aids are created in the environments and staff adapt activities to help all children access their learning successfully. Occasionally, when children find it difficult to share a popular toy with their peers, staff sensitively approach at the children's level and support them to try and solve the problem themselves. Their gentle interaction and guidance prompt children to independently ask if their peers would like to take turns with them. Staff praise their initiative, which reinforces this positive attitude and kind behaviour towards others.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Since the last inspection, the manager and staff team have accessed support to make the improvements needed and used this to reflect on the whole setting. In-depth supervisions with the management team have ensured staff access professional development opportunities, such as training, and receive some feedback on their practice. Staff morale is high. This is evident in the good quality of education children receive and children's overall happiness and success.
• Robust assessment processes help staff swiftly recognise when children need additional support. Staff work closely with parents to implement targeted interventions and adapt these when necessary. This ensures all children make good progress and continuously have the opportunities to build on what they already know and can do.
• The management team make timely referrals to outside agencies, such as speech and language therapists. While children await assessments, staff provide learning opportunities to help narrow the gap. For example, children benefit from small, focus group activities, where they play games and participate in back-and-forth interactions with others. Consequently, with practise, children are growing in confidence and making significant progress in their language and social skills.
• Babies and toddlers use a broad range of equipment indoors and outdoors, to help them to move from crawling to confidently walking and climbing. Regular outdoor play and active games, such as dancing and using pedal bicycles, help children to develop their physical strength and coordination.
• Children delight in taking part in a broad range of activities based around the seasonal themes of Harvest. For example, children practise and consolidate their cutting skills as they chop up fruit and vegetables safely, with guidance from staff. However, sometimes, staff interactions during key opportunities in children's play do not always enhance and extend children's learning fully effectively.
• Staff have robust training and ensure health care plans for children with complex medical needs are followed meticulously. This ensures the safety and well-being of children.
• Generally, children are developing their independence skills and learning effective hygiene routines, such as washing hands before eating. However, staff do not always encourage children to cover their mouths as they cough. This poses a risk of spreading germs and does not promote good hygiene.
• Children are extremely polite and well mannered. After group stories and rhyme time, children enjoy recalling daily affirmations with staff, such as 'I am kind'. Children share their own opinions on what being kind means to them. Reflecting together helps children understand in more depth, what behaviours are expected of them.
• Parent partnership is remarkably strong. Parents appreciate extensive, daily communication about their child's day. They explain how this information helps them to further support their children's progress at home. Parents appreciate how staff take time to get to know their children and champion their unique characters.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff continue to strengthen the quality of their interactions and fully consider the promotion of available resources to enhance and extend children's learning more effectively as they play
• consistently support children's understanding of important hygiene routines to enable them to become increasingly independent in meeting their self-care needs.