Happy Hours Day Nursery & Kool Kidz

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children thrive at this outstanding nursery and are making great progress. They arrive with confidence and separate with ease.

Children are greeted warmly on arrival and enthusiastically run in to meet their friends.Children's behaviour is exceptional. They demonstrate wonderful manners.

Babies repeat words 'please' and 'thank you'. Older children take turns and show delight as they seek out their friends to share wonderful play experiences together. Pre-school children are fully aware of their emotions.

For example, they take themselves off into perfectly created calming areas. This creates a harmoniou...s environment and allows them to retreat from larger groups and work through their feelings. This also supports children's emotional needs well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The support that managers and staff have given children during the period of COVID-19 restrictions and upon their return has been amazing. Staff maintained excellent contact with families during the restrictions. They telephoned families and recorded video messages and stories.

On children's return, the team has given exceptional support and focus on children's emotional development, self-care needs and communication and language skills. This has already had an outstanding impact on children's development and well-being. Children are extremely confident, safe and secure in this delightful nursery.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The managers are inspirational. They are passionate and dedicated to ensure that they deliver high-quality care and education to all children who attend. Furthermore, managers are taking part in a COVID-19 government recovery programme and continue to reflect on and assess the impact that the pandemic has had on children.

For instance, plans are already in place to create a 'rainbow hut', providing a tranquil place for children and staff to talk and share their worries and happy memories.Children with SEND are supported extremely well and are making the best possible progress. Meetings take place with other professionals and parents, and specific strategies are put in place.

Additional funding is exceptionally well used to support children's individual needs, and is regularly evaluated to ensure that any gaps in learning are quickly reduced.Children are provided with countless opportunities to practise their mark-making skills in preparation for writing. For instance, babies immerse their bodies in sand, kicking their feet and using their hands as they make shapes.

Older children make marks on registers when they arrive. They draw pictures or practise writing some words. This provides children with fantastic opportunities to develop their pincer grip for writing and in preparation for school.

Children's communication, language and literacy skills are promoted tremendously well. An array of books and reading materials are on offer. Children have an abundance of opportunities to develop a life-long love for reading.

They sit with books together, listen to stories and use them for reference alongside activities. For example, they use recipe books to discuss how they will make birthday cakes. This is paired with staff modelling and showing enthusiasm for reading, reinforcing to children the value that books and reading have.

This results in children's level of speech, emerging language and expressive ideas being magnificent, particularly for toddlers.Staff provide a high-quality, well-sequenced curriculum. All staff have an in-depth knowledge of children's abilities.

They skilfully use children's emerging interests to entice and engage them in what they know children need to learn next. Children find this exceptionally motivating. Staff are extremely skilled in providing exciting activities that challenge children to extend their learning further.

For example, children explore ice, teabags and water. They plant cress seeds and discuss the ideal conditions they need to grow in. Children are exceptionally inquisitive and have an extreme eagerness to learn more.

Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents express their love of the nursery and speak highly of the enthusiastic, amazing staff team. Parents commend staff for their brilliant support, not just for their children but their whole family.

Children are active and have continual access to the outdoors. They run around, climb, take risks and relish the fresh air. Children's hygiene and independence skills are promoted well.

They wash their hands, wipe their own faces and independently dress themselves. This promotes children's good physical health.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the signs and symptoms of abuse. There are clear policies and procedures in place for referring concerns about children or other professionals. Recruitment procedures are stringent to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff prioritise children's safety extremely well. They carry out first-aid training to ensure that they have the required knowledge and skills to deal with any medical emergencies should they occur. Furthermore, staff carry out specific risk assessments of the environment to ensure that children are not exposed to hazards.

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