Happy Days Childcare Services

Sensory socks for babies, real food for pretend cooking and a preschool flower shop give Happy Days Childcare Services a practical, hands-on character. At its 23 January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that staff worked successfully with parents and other agencies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Those strengths sit alongside a clear improvement priority: making teaching and learning plans more consistent for younger children.

Based in Hucknall, the nursery has 48 places in total. Its early-years rooms run from babies through to children aged five, while The Den provides before-school, after-school and holiday care for children aged five and above. That combination gives families with children at different stages something useful to weigh up, especially where siblings would benefit from spending some time together.

Full-time, part-time and term-time-only contracts are offered. The details of the day matter here, but so does the distinction between the different age groups: the baby provision emphasises familiar routines and sensory exploration, while older children take a greater part in choosing and planning activities.

Rooms and Ages

Twinkle Stars Room caters for babies aged 0–16 months, combining a calm room and familiar home routines with mirrors, textured books, sensory bottles and sensory socks that give babies different sounds, smells and surfaces to explore.

For children aged one to two, Sunshine Room brings together chunky puzzles, construction toys, a pretend-play home corner and low storage from which toddlers can choose toys themselves, with an emphasis on early language, movement, sharing and growing independence.

Moonbeam Room, for two- to three-year-olds, links early maths and literacy activities with dressing up, recording devices and a quiet story corner, while low toilets and sinks help children practise managing their own personal care.

Children aged three to five use Rainbow Room, where planning their own activities and role play connect writing, counting and social skills with practical examples such as taking flower-shop orders and sorting flowers by colour or type.

The Den serves children aged five and over through before-school, after-school and holiday clubs, with toys and games suited to older children, a choice about joining planned activities and opportunities to visit siblings elsewhere in the nursery.

These are different stages of experience rather than interchangeable playrooms. The progression moves from babies exploring through their senses to older children making choices, negotiating roles and using early writing or number skills for a purpose. The overlap between the baby and toddler age bands also makes the room move an important discussion for parents of children approaching that stage.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning and care: children build skills through play, exploration and activities across its areas of learning. Here, adult-planned experiences sit alongside children's own choices, with accessible toys allowing children to start an activity themselves. Staff observe play to recognise when a child is developing an idea. For parents, the useful distinction is between an activity that keeps a child occupied and one that helps that particular child learn something next.

The January 2024 inspection identified a need for more effective staff coaching and more individually targeted activities for younger children, because interactions and planning did not consistently support their next learning steps. This is the main qualification to the positive overall judgement. An attractive selection of resources is only part of the picture; how adults use those resources with each child matters just as much.

In January 2024, staff introduced signs to babies and younger children as another way to communicate. A messy-play example involved toy animals and yoghurt, with adults adding new vocabulary as children explored. Older children used vegetables and pretend ingredients to develop their own soup-making game. These examples show language being connected to something children are doing, rather than treated solely as a separate activity.

Rainbow Room also uses stories as starting points for practical learning. Activities linked to Jack and the Beanstalk have included growing plants, watching their development and acting out the story's characters. These are examples of how an interest can extend into observation, imaginative play and early measurement.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outside, the play area has a rubber surface and resources for outdoor use. Physical exploration therefore has space beyond the indoor rooms, complementing the movement activities described for younger children. Indoors, children can also choose quieter spaces for rest and relaxation. The contrast matters: an active nursery day needs room for children to slow down as well as move.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key worker who develops a close relationship with them, attends to personal needs and monitors progress. Daily feedback to parents is part of that role. The arrangement gives families a consistent point of contact for discussing how their child is settling, what they enjoy and what support they need.

That continuity extends to changes beyond the immediate nursery day. Key workers support children through moving rooms, starting school and adjusting to a new sibling. These are useful, concrete responsibilities: a room move is a change in familiar adults and routines, while a family change can affect how a child feels and behaves during care.

For babies, comfort items from home are welcomed and the nursery aims to keep routines as close as possible to those at home. Familiar objects and patterns give parents something specific to build into settling, rather than expecting a baby to adapt immediately to an entirely different day. The emphasis is on reassurance and continuity.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Toileting support follows the child's stage. Sunshine Room supports toilet training when a child shows readiness, and Moonbeam Room has low fixtures for children who can begin managing independently. Practical design backs up the intention: children have equipment they can reach and use as they gain confidence.

In January 2024, older children practised putting on and removing their own coats, shared toys and took turns with adult guidance. They also helped distribute flannels and learned to clean their hands and faces after food. These everyday tasks connect social responsibility with personal care; independence is practised in small, manageable steps.

Meals are prepared on site each day, with an eight-week rotating menu that includes dishes from different parts of the world. Special dietary requirements are catered for on request, and drinks are supplied during the day.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 2 Connery, Hucknall, Nottingham, NG15 7AH. Full-time, part-time and term-time-only contracts give families different ways to organise attendance, alongside before-school, after-school and holiday clubs for children aged five and over. The nursery operates Monday to Friday, with sessions within the 7am to 6pm window; this is the overall operating window rather than a separate timetable for each contract.

Happy Days opens for 50 weeks of the year. Bank holidays and a two-week Christmas closure need to fit the family's wider care arrangements. Term-time attendance and an operation extending across the year are separate considerations: families can choose a contract pattern while also accounting for the nursery's closures.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0115 956 9419, by email at info@happydays-childcare.com or through the contact form. These routes provide a straightforward starting point for discussing the full-time, part-time or term-time contract that matches a family's routine.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded places are offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Paid contracts are also offered, and current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Funding and the attendance contract are separate parts of the decision: the funded age groups should not be read as a promise that every family's chosen pattern will be funded.

School preparation includes confidence, making friends, early writing and number recognition. Key workers support the move to school, keeping that transition connected to the child's everyday development rather than treating it only as a final preschool task.

• Younger children's learning. The January 2024 improvement priorities concerned staff coaching and activities tailored to individual learning needs. At a visit, ask how practitioners now plan a younger child's next steps and review whether those activities are working.
• The baby-to-toddler move. Twinkle Stars Room covers 0–16 months, while Sunshine Room covers ages one to two. Discuss how the nursery decides when a child moves between them and how familiar routines are maintained during that change.
• The care calendar. Full-time, part-time and term-time contracts sit alongside bank-holiday closures and a two-week Christmas break. Families needing care across the year should factor those closures into their arrangements.
• Funding and the quotation. Funded places cover the stated two-, three- and four-year-old age groups. Ask for a written breakdown showing how funded hours fit the chosen contract and how meals, consumables and additional hours are treated.

Happy Days suits families considering full-time, part-time or term-time nursery attendance, with older-child clubs adding another practical option for siblings. Its clearest appeal is the progression from sensory baby play to child-planned preschool activities, supported by a key worker and daily parent feedback.

The Good judgement from January 2024 gives the review a positive foundation, but the younger-child teaching priorities deserve attention. Families should weigh the engaging rooms and practical independence work alongside the nursery's response to those specific improvements.