Happy Kid's Face

Ukuleles, baking and a private garden give Happy Kid's Face a hands-on character. This family-run Twickenham nursery has capacity for 22 children, with play that moves between music, making things and outdoor exploration. Its current offer extends from infants to children approaching school age.

At its April 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with positive relationships between staff and children and good development in communication and mathematics. That is a dated judgement. Alongside those strengths, the next steps concerned more precise planning for younger children and training tailored to less-experienced staff.

Families can choose morning, afternoon or full-day attendance, with term-time and all-year-round arrangements. Those choices make this a nursery to consider for parents who need a shorter session as well as those seeking care across the working day.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the educational framework: children develop language, movement and social skills through play, alongside early literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding the world. Planning starts with observing children's interests, then using those interests to shape what they try next. That gives familiar play a purpose, whether the next step involves explaining an idea, handling materials or working something out.

Jolly Phonics introduces phonics alongside early writing activities. Baking brings measuring, counting and following instructions into a practical task, while songs offer encounters with different languages through simple words. These are different routes into communication and number work, rather than a day organised solely around formal teaching.

Music has tangible resources behind it. Children explore keyboards, drums and ukuleles, with dancing and action songs adding movement and listening. Exercise activities incorporate yoga, giving balance and physical control a place alongside more energetic play. Creative work includes puppets, collage and painting on different surfaces; sensory experiences use materials such as coloured rice, playdough and foam.

In April 2022, younger children played with wooden blocks and imaginative-play resources, while older children explained the meaning of their drawings. Books, responses to children's early sounds and comments during play supported conversation. Number work included counting and, for children ready for it, simple calculations.

At the April 2022 inspection, Ofsted also asked for training better matched to newer staff and sharper use of assessments to plan children's next steps, especially for younger children, whose activities were sometimes too demanding. The practical issue was matching the challenge to the child. An interesting activity loses its value if a child cannot sustain their involvement.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large private garden provides space for slides, gardening, sand and water activities. Seasonal play includes building tents, picnics and paddling pools. This extends the choice of materials and movement beyond the indoor rooms, with opportunities to experiment as well as run and play.

Outings take children to local parks, farms and other places of interest. The broader programme also includes theatre trips, visits to shops and garden centres, and visits from firefighters and police officers with their equipment and vehicles. These experiences connect play with people and places beyond the nursery. Trips or activities carrying an extra charge are optional, with participation arrangements and costs shared beforehand.

Relationships and Communication

The Nursery Story app shares photographs, daily updates and moments from children's activities. For parents, that supplies a concrete connection with the day and material for conversations at home. It also complements the nursery's emphasis on working with families around each child's interests and development.

In April 2022, staff developed close relationships with their key children, using encouragement and reassurance during the day. Communication ran in both directions between home and nursery, supporting consistency in children's learning.

The current team includes educators with degrees covering early years education, psychology and special needs support. Staff also undertake continuing training. Those backgrounds describe the team's knowledge base; the more useful question for a family is how that knowledge shapes the activities and care their own child receives.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In April 2022, children using English as an additional language encountered their home languages in spoken and visual form. Children's photographs and artwork were displayed, giving their own contributions a visible place in the rooms. Together, these details describe an approach that made children's identities part of their surroundings.

Everyday independence featured in the same dated account. Younger children practised dealing with used tissues, while older children helped distribute lunch and pour drinks. Handwashing, outdoor exercise and attention to dietary needs were part of daily care. Staff supervision extended across the play areas, and staff understood how to act on welfare concerns.

Care Catering supplies freshly prepared food, with vegetarian, halal, dairy-free and organic options catered for. Breakfast, lunch and a lighter tea sit alongside snacks, milk and water, so food is spread through the day rather than concentrated into one meal.

Sessions and Attendance

Happy Kid's Face is at 64 Hampton Road, Twickenham, TW2 5QB. Opening hours are 7.45am to 6pm on weekdays. The nursery operates for 51 weeks, closing on bank holidays and for five working days between Christmas and New Year; those closures matter when planning care across the year.

Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, and full days from 8am to 6pm. Half-day attendance is also offered, with other times considered subject to availability. Flexible hours can be discussed, and extra days or hours can be arranged on an ad hoc basis, subject to availability.

Term-time attendance follows Richmond Borough school dates. All-year-round care is another option, so families can select a calendar as well as a session length. Booking priority goes to children attending full-time throughout the year and to siblings of existing children.

Enquiries go to office@happykidsface.com or 020 8241 2182. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children can access 15 or 30 funded hours. Fully funded arrangements operate during term time, with eligibility and availability conditions, and do not require the purchase of extra hours, meals or services. Funded hours can also be applied to booked all-year-round attendance; hours beyond the entitlement are charged separately. The fees and funding information sets out the different arrangements.

Daily meals are included in all-year-round fees, while term-time attendance has a separately charged, optional meal package. For funded term-time attendance, families can decline that package and provide a packed lunch under the nursery's Packed Lunch Policy, with milk, drinking water, fruit and vegetables still accessible.

Paid and all-year-round bookings require a deposit; fully funded term-time bookings do not. The deposit is credited against the final month's bill when two months' written notice has been given and payments are up to date, but is not refundable if the child never starts. Fees remain payable during illness and holidays, and bank holidays are charged despite the closure. These terms affect the cost of the booked pattern, not just the days actually attended.

• Activities matched to younger children. The April 2022 improvement point concerned tasks that were sometimes too difficult. During a visit, ask how observations now shape each child's next activity and how staff recognise when to change the challenge.
• Term dates and meal choices. Fully funded term-time attendance follows Richmond Borough dates, with an optional meal package and a packed-lunch alternative. Compare that calendar and food arrangement with the all-year-round option before choosing a pattern.
• Individual care routines. The offer extends to infants, while the programme includes active garden and sensory play. During a visit, ask how sleep, settling and any additional support needs are accommodated for your child's stage.
• The financial commitment. Paid bookings carry a deposit and a two-month written notice condition for its return through the final bill. Include charged bank holidays and fees during absence when weighing the commitment.

Happy Kid's Face suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with a further choice between term-time and all-year-round care. Its strongest practical attractions are the private garden, hands-on music and creative activities, and daily communication through Nursery Story. The Good judgement from April 2022 provides a useful quality reference, balanced by the specific improvement points around younger children's learning and staff development. For families, the decisive choices are the attendance calendar, session length and funded meal arrangement.