Happy Hares Nursery and Pre-School

A wooded garden, a children’s kitchen and chickens whose eggs become a snack give Happy Hares a practical, hands-on character in Barnstaple. Children can choose between indoor spaces and the garden, rather than spend the whole day in their age-group base. For families who value movement, gardening and learning through everyday tasks, that combination deserves attention.

At its June 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated Happy Hares Good. The nursery accepts children from six months to five years and has capacity for 55 children in total. Age-group bases sit alongside shared spaces, including the Discovery Den, Jungle Gym and sensory room, so the physical offer extends beyond a single playroom.

Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside short and long days. The important practical distinction is between the opening window and the hours a family actually books: there are minimum attendance requirements, while longer sessions allow more flexibility.

Rooms and Ages

Little Hares is the babies’ base, while the Discovery Den is for two-year-olds; Big Hares and a preschool room are also part of the layout. These bases give children familiar adults and surroundings, with opportunities to explore other parts of the nursery. The arrangement makes the shared spaces relevant to the day rather than simply a list of facilities.

A designated sleep room gives rest its own space, and the children’s kitchen creates a setting for practical food activities. Jungle Gym and the sensory room add further choices indoors. Parents comparing settings should look at how their child would use these spaces, alongside the age-group room where they begin.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS guides learning and care, covering communication, physical development, relationships and emotions alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. In parent language, this means play and everyday experiences contribute to learning, rather than learning being confined to a formal teaching session. Happy Hares combines activities planned by adults with opportunities that begin with children’s interests.

In the moment teaching means practitioners build on what interests a child during play, extending the experience at an appropriate developmental level. This sits alongside planned activities and the nursery’s own aspirations for its under-two, two-year-old and preschool groups. The practical value is a balance between a planned direction and room for children to influence what happens next.

The curriculum information describes a two-year sequence of themes, with monthly planning translated into daily experiences. Children also have daily individual time with a familiar adult. That offers a different kind of interaction from group activities: an opportunity for an adult to respond directly to one child’s interests and learning.

Recent examples make the approach tangible. In April 2026, children collected eggs from the nursery’s chickens and helped prepare a snack, connecting food with its origins through cracking, mixing and cooking. Instruments offered another kind of exploration, with children experimenting through sound, while pouring and scooping featured in water play. These are ordinary materials used for purposeful learning.

January 2026 brought Winter, Healthy Eating and Under the Sea themes. Children made flan, chopped fruit and explored vegetables through printing; seashells prompted listening, while other activities involved counting and investigating textures. The food experiences gave healthy eating a practical dimension, with children handling and tasting ingredients rather than only talking about them.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden has a shelter, a bike area, a wooded space, a potting shed and climbing equipment. Children can move freely into it, and the shelter supports outdoor play through changing weather. This is a substantial part of the nursery’s character: outdoor experiences have several settings and purposes, from active movement to growing plants.

Forest school sessions involve exploring nature through activities such as den building and looking for bugs. In February 2026, outdoor experiences also included football, scavenger hunts and balancing challenges using beams and stepping stones. Those examples show how movement and investigation share the outdoor space, with opportunities to practise coordination as well as examine the natural world.

Community experiences extend the day beyond the building. During July 2026, children visited Pets at Home to observe fish and talk about what they saw, and park visits included climbing and balancing. Back at nursery, gardening involved watering plants and learning to care for them. The connection is useful: children encounter living things both on outings and through their own practical responsibilities.

Relationships and Communication

Familiar adults matter in the room arrangement and in daily individual time. The key person is the family’s main contact, responsible for supporting settling, care and learning, and sharing progress. For a parent, that gives conversations about development a clear starting point.

TAPESTRY, the online learning journal used across Happy Hares and Lovacott, provides another connection between home and nursery. Entries can include observations, photographs, assessments and videos; parents can comment and contribute their own entries. Notifications flag new updates. Its value is the two-way exchange: home experiences can join the account of what a child does at nursery.

Stay and Play sessions give families opportunities to participate in nursery activities. In February 2025, a Chinese New Year session included tasting food, dragon dancing and sensory activities; another session in December 2025 brought parents and carers into the setting. These are dated examples of family participation, rather than a fixed timetable of events.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The manager also holds the SENCo and designated safeguarding lead roles, with deputy safeguarding lead roles elsewhere in the team. For additional learning needs, planning and assessment are used to identify where support is needed, followed by specific interventions. These are support mechanisms; families can discuss how they would apply to their own child.

Registration gathers information about special educational needs or disabilities, allergies and dietary requirements. It also records authorised collectors and a collection password. Bringing those details into the joining process gives staff information relevant to both daily care and collection arrangements.

Preparation for school centres on life skills and increasing independence. In July 2025, children leaving for school had a graduation party, alongside activities involving phonics, ICT and woodwork. The emphasis is on preparing children for their next stage through experiences and skills.

Sessions and Attendance

Happy Hares operates at 11 Boutport Street, Barnstaple, EX31 1RW. It opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm, for 49 weeks of the year. Telephone enquiries can be made on 01271 377034, and the registration pack provides the joining forms.

Morning sessions typically run from 8am to noon or 9am to 1pm; afternoon sessions typically run from noon to 4pm or 1pm to 5pm. Short and long days are also booking choices. For sessions longer than four hours, timings are more flexible, subject to a latest morning drop-off of 9.15am and an earliest afternoon collection of 2.45pm.

Children must attend at least two sessions each week, each lasting at least four hours; the four-hour bookings must be morning or afternoon sessions. A separate minimum of 11 hours also applies. These requirements matter for a family seeking a small amount of childcare, because an occasional short visit would not match the attendance rules.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the 15-hour entitlement, the extended 30-hour entitlement and two-year-old funding. Funding is stretched across the year, with weekly models of 11 or 22 hours for eligible children. Private childcare is charged by the hour, with bands based on age, and fees are reviewed annually.

Snacks in the morning and afternoon are included in the fee, as are nappies, wipes and suncream. A hot lunch is a separate charge if chosen.

The fees information sets out that structure, and families should obtain current prices in the nursery’s written quotation. The registration form requires a registration payment when it is returned. Childcare vouchers and government tax-free childcare payments are accepted, giving families more than one payment route.

• Minimum attendance. The nursery requires two weekly sessions of at least four hours each, alongside a minimum of 11 hours. Discuss how morning, afternoon or longer bookings would fit your working week before choosing a pattern.
• Funding calendar. The stretched funding description refers to 51 weeks, while the Barnstaple opening calendar is 49 weeks. This conflict affects annual planning, so request the precise funded-hours schedule and closure dates in writing.
• Babies’ daily routine. Little Hares is the babies’ base and there is a designated sleep room. During a visit, ask how settling, sleep and movement into shared spaces would work for your baby.
• Address details. The nursery contact address uses EX32 1RW, while the provider address uses EX31 1RW for the same Boutport Street premises. Confirm the postcode when arranging a visit or sending registration paperwork.

Happy Hares suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as short or long days, with outdoor exploration and practical learning prominent in the nursery experience. The garden, children’s kitchen and shared indoor spaces give children several ways to pursue an interest. Daily individual time and TAPESTRY add useful connections between a child’s experiences and the adults supporting them.

The minimum attendance rules make this a choice for a regular weekly pattern. Families using stretched funding should settle the annual schedule before committing, then weigh the nursery’s hands-on day against the routine their child needs.