Happy Days Club and Nursery School

A pet tortoise, garden herbs and a story about feelings give Happy Days at Jubilee Walk a recognisable character. In September 2023, children cared for Sheldon, used herbs in the mud kitchen and drew on The Colour Monster to talk about their emotions. These were small, concrete ways of connecting play with responsibility, language and relationships.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and identified a carefully sequenced curriculum that helped children build their knowledge and make rapid progress. The important qualification concerned relationships between children: support for managing emotions and behaviour during shared play needed further development.

The Holmes Chapel nursery accepts children from 2 years, with Twinkles and Stars and Sunbeams among its named rooms. Morning, afternoon, full-day and extended-day sessions give families several attendance patterns to consider.

Rooms and Ages

Twinkles has key-person roles and a lead for two-year-old children, giving the youngest children a clear staff structure around their care. Stars and Sunbeams is another named room at Jubilee Walk; Golden Bear spends time with this group, while Freddie the Teddy stays with Twinkles.

The bears go home with a different child each day. That creates a simple connection between nursery play and family life, with something familiar from the room becoming part of a child's evening at home.

Learning and Activities

The nursery follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children's learning, development and care. In parent language, that means play and everyday experiences have an educational purpose, helping children develop communication, practical skills and independence.

In September 2023, dinosaur play became an opportunity to introduce unfamiliar vocabulary, including the word predators. Stories, singing and dancing sat alongside conversation. An interest already engaging children became the starting point for extending their language.

Practical tasks also mattered during that September 2023 visit. Younger children cleared food from their plates after snack, while older children worked out how to use a garden tap to fill a toy truck. Cutting oranges and squeezing them with a pestle and mortar gave children another reason to practise controlled hand movements. Independence was exercised through things children could actually do for themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2023, the outdoor area supported running, climbing and bicycle riding. Growing flowers and vegetables added a different pace of activity, and herbs from the garden became ingredients for pretend food in the mud kitchen. Sheldon, the nursery's tortoise, gave children an opportunity to watch and handle a living creature carefully.

These examples make the outdoor provision more than somewhere to expend energy. Movement, gardening and imaginative play each offered a different kind of involvement, from physical effort to patient observation.

Relationships and Communication

Twinkles has staff working as a key person or key worker, providing an identifiable adult relationship for children in the room. The Jubilee Walk team also includes a deputy safeguarding lead with current paediatric first aid certification. Those are concrete arrangements, rather than a substitute for a safeguarding judgement.

At the September 2023 inspection, Ofsted found parent partnership a strength, with families kept informed about progress and staff offering advice on matters including sleep and healthy eating. That matters because conversations about nursery life can also help parents manage the routines surrounding it.

During September 2023, children separated comfortably from their carers and formed close relationships with adults. Older children used wooden figures and a small wooden house to mark themselves present. The routine gave them an active part in the start of their nursery day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In September 2023, The Colour Monster story helped children associate colours with feelings and find words for their emotions. Staff also helped upset children express what they needed. However, older children sometimes struggled to recognise the effect of their actions on others, resulting in disagreements during play. The improvement priority was to strengthen the support children received in managing those moments.

Preparation for school was practical during September 2023: children visited the local primary school, spent time with their future teacher and practised carrying lunch on trays. These experiences addressed unfamiliar routines as well as the change of adults and surroundings. Attending Happy Days does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Jubilee Walk, Holmes Chapel, CW4 7FN. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with bank holidays and Christmas closures.

Nursery AM runs from 9am to noon and Nursery PM from noon to 3pm. Nursery Full Day covers 9am to 3pm, while Nursery Extended Day runs from 8am to 6pm. Before School and After School sessions cover 8am to 9am and 3pm to 6pm respectively. The shorter nursery sessions and the extended day serve different routines; opening hours alone do not describe the choices families can book.

Jubilee Walk enquiries can be made by telephone on 01477 544373 or by email at admin1@happydaysnursery.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free Early Years Entitlement is offered from the term after a child's third birthday, with two-year-old funding subject to eligibility criteria. The funding arrangements also include 15 hours of early learning and care each week over at least 38 weeks, and 30 hour funding for families who meet the criteria.

The 15-hour entitlement must span at least two days each week; daily funded attendance has a minimum of 2.5 hours and a maximum of 10 hours. Additional private hours are charged separately, and an extended day can combine funded attendance with paid hours and an After School session.

A mid-morning snack is included with Nursery AM and Nursery Full Day; Nursery Extended Day includes breakfast and morning and afternoon snacks. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charging structure on its fees page.

• Shared play and emotions. In September 2023, older children sometimes found it difficult to consider one another's feelings during play. On a visit, ask how staff now help children manage disagreements and practise taking turns.
• The shape of your day. A 9am to noon morning, a noon to 3pm afternoon and an 8am to 6pm extended day make different demands on family routines. Choose the pattern around the hours you need rather than treating all nursery days as equivalent.
• Funding across the week. The 15-hour entitlement must be used over at least two days, and an extended day may include separately charged attendance. Families using funding should weigh the weekly pattern alongside the whole day's charge structure.

Happy Days suits families considering either a short morning or afternoon session, a 9am to 3pm nursery day, or an extended day. Its September 2023 picture was strongest in purposeful everyday learning and relationships with parents: dinosaur conversations, practical independence and preparation for school all supplied concrete substance beneath the Good judgement.

The balancing point is equally specific. Helping children manage emotions and their effect on others was the development priority. For parents, that makes the handling of shared play a useful part of assessing the nursery alongside its attendance choices.