Happy Faces Day Care Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Happy Faces Day Care nursery is a special place for children to be. Positive relationships and well-being for children and families are at the heart of what this nursery does. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Leaders and staff have exceptionally high expectations for all children who attend. Staff have a primary focus of supporting children's personal, social and emotional development, which begins in the baby and toddler room. They recognise the positive impact that children's well-being has on all aspects of children's learning and development. Children engross themselves in learning that captures their interest. Staff support children to develop a superb understanding of letters and associated sounds. Older children are able to write their name with clear, well-formed, recognisable letters.

Behaviour is excellent. Children show exceptional care and concern for their friends. For instance, as they use magnifying glasses outside, a child asks another: 'Would you like to share mine?' Children learn to understand their emotions, and staff provide them with the necessary tools to help children self-regulate through activities and discussions, so that children learn how to put those emotions into words. Staff clearly praise children's efforts and encourage their achievements. This helps to raise children's confidence and self-esteem. Children thrive at this exceptional nursery. All children make outstanding progress from their starting points. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

• Staff have established an extremely well-planned curriculum that promotes inclusion, diversity and rich learning opportunities. Children learn about the diversity of the wider world through creative arts, reading and celebrations.
• Staff support children's communication skills exceptionally well. They ensure children are immersed in a language rich environment consistently throughout the day. Children listen intently as staff read stories. They ask interesting questions and predict endings.
• Staff develop babies' speaking and listening skills extremely well. They sing songs, tell rhymes and play games that introduce babies to keywords and phrases that they need for future learning. Staff are especially mindful of babies' immediate personal and emotional needs. They use smiles, praise and cuddles to reassure babies and build excellent secure bonds with them. Babies and toddlers show that they are incredibly settled and secure at nursery.
• Mealtimes are very sociable events. Pre-school children eat in the main school hall, which supports their transition to school very well, as they become familiar with this routine in a larger space with lots of older children. Younger children develop their independence as they feed themselves and learn to use the cutlery. Staff sit with the children and engage them in conversations, enhancing their awareness of the healthy food choices they have and the importance of staying hydrated.
• Children are articulate and confident at expressing their ideas and opinions. They demonstrate this as they eagerly engage with visitors, comparing the similarity in the appearance of a dinosaur and a kangaroo. They compare the small arms, large tails and big feet. One child exclaims the dinosaur does not have a pouch for the joey.
• Children benefit from excellent opportunities to explore nature and access fresh air and exercise daily. Children develop a love of nature and the natural world through the nursery's innovative planning and implementation of the curriculum. Learning about respect for living things is a core feature of the curriculum.
• Weekly swimming sessions provide further opportunities for children to move their bodies in various ways. Children talk with enthusiasm about the swimming sessions they take part in each week. Staff skilfully embed mathematical language into everyday activities. For example, children move their body when they hear the instruction to become a 'tall bean', 'broad bean', 'small bean' and 'runner bean'. Children squeal with delight as they make the shapes with their body, careful not to bump into their friends.
• Partnerships with parents are superb. Parents speak very highly of staff. They report that 'staff go over and above what is expected' and express that 'staff know their children inside out'. They say the care and education their children receive is excellent. Parents comment on the 'remarkable progress' their children make in all areas of learning. They are fully aware of their children's learning in the nursery and how to continue to support this while at home.
• Leaders are fully committed to supporting and empowering staff to successfully fulfil their key-person duties and their own personal development. They value the staff team and place high emphasis on improving their professional development. Leaders and staff are passionate about the care and education they provide, and continually strive to improve further. Leaders spend time in each of the nursery rooms, working alongside staff to support their practice and ongoing development even further.