Happy Faces Pre-School

Independence starts with small, useful jobs at Happy Faces Pre-School: cutting fruit for a snack, remembering handwashing and finding a role in shared play. At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, with effective safeguarding and successful identification of children needing extra support.

Based at Ranvilles Community Centre in Fareham, the setting has capacity for 36 children. Its strongest character comes through in practical learning and support for families dealing with a parent's armed forces deployment.

In February 2024, children used child-friendly knives to prepare fruit and discussed why clean hands mattered. The early years foundation stage sets expectations for children's learning, development and care; here, practical tasks connected those expectations with independence and everyday routines.

Outdoor play also supported movement, with yoga and ballet among the activities children enjoyed that February. Books prompted children to listen and join familiar story passages, while imaginative play included planning what to take for a sleepover. These examples put physical activity, language and pretend play alongside one another.

In February 2024, staff used children's interests and existing knowledge to plan their next steps. Shared construction gave that learning a social dimension: children exchanged cardboard tubes and fabric while making a castle together.

The castle-building example brings several parts of the day together. Children needed to share materials, work with friends and contribute to a common idea. Independence did not mean doing everything alone. Preparing fruit offered a different kind of responsibility: children handled a practical task themselves and connected handwashing with keeping germs away from food. Both examples show how everyday experiences became opportunities to learn.

Story time gave children another way to participate. Listening to favourite books and supplying familiar phrases let them contribute to a shared activity, while the imagined sleepover drew on their understanding of belongings and preparations. In that February picture, language had a place in stories, conversation and pretend play, rather than being confined to an adult-led question.

In February 2024, children had close relationships with their key person, and staff passed on information to maintain continuity of care. Conversations with parents helped staff understand what children could already do and what they needed to learn next, linking home experience with activities at pre-school.

For armed forces families, a world map helped children understand where a parent was serving. Staff discussed parents' work too, giving children a concrete way to talk about separation.

In February 2024, affection was visible in children's everyday interactions with staff: children sought a cuddle, and adults responded warmly. Children also recognised their key group and readily joined their key person for group activities. Those details give substance to the close relationships described above. The handover mattered alongside that affection, carrying information about the child forward so care could remain consistent.

Additional support took practical form that February. Magnetic letters and numbers were among the resources offered to children needing help, who were keen to explore them. Individual attention to vocabulary addressed a different need: staff introduced words and returned to them to establish understanding. For parents, these are useful examples of support through both materials and conversation. The separate concern about questioning still matters, because introducing vocabulary and leaving time for a reply are different parts of helping a child communicate.

At the February 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that individual language support included demonstrating vocabulary and revisiting words, but questioning sometimes moved on before children could think and answer. Giving children more processing time was the required improvement.

The address is Ranvilles Community Centre, Oldbury Way, Fareham, PO14 3BN.

In February 2024, opening hours were 9am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Children attending were aged two to four. These practical details describe its operation at that date.

• Time to answer. February 2024 questioning sometimes outpaced children's responses. For families prioritising language development, allowing thinking time is an important part of the improvement identified.
• Attendance fit. The February 2024 timetable followed term time and finished at 3.30pm. At a visit, what attendance arrangements now apply, and how would they fit your working day?
• Deployment support. In February 2024, staff used a world map and conversations about parents' roles. This is a relevant example for armed forces families weighing how separation is handled.

Happy Faces merits consideration by families who value practical independence, shared imaginative play and thoughtful attention to parental deployment. The February 2024 picture combines these strengths with a clear improvement needed in questioning. Its inspection-era timetable best suits families seeking care within the term-time daytime window.