About Us

Family is at the heart of our nursery. Toni Weidner, an infant teacher, started the nursery on its journey of enriching the lives of young children in the local are in 1990. The success and reputation of the nursery was built on Mrs Weidner’s values and genuine love of teaching children. The nursery moved to it’s purpose built home on Lubards Farm in 2002. The build was a labour of love by Mrs Weidner’s husband and son. The nursery remains in the Weidner family as Nicole (Mrs Weidner’s daughter) has owned the nursery since 2016. Inspired by Mrs Weidner’s values, working alongside her talented and extremely experienced team, including Kate, the manager who has been at the nursery for nearly 30 years, Nicole’s sole aim is for Happy Days to nurture every child to become the best they can be.

With many of our staff having been here for a number of years, the Happy Days Family has extended to include staff members and their children, many of whom have attended the nursery. We consider it fundamental to our nursery that many of our staff are long standing. The values are embedded in everyday life in the nursery and, with our open door policy, we welcome and support families on their child’s journey through Happy Days.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for learning, development and care requirements for children from birth to five years. Our nursery values the EYFS, its welfare requirements and statutory guidance. We have our own set of policies and procedures that work inline with the EYFS which are made available for parents at anytime. Play is an important principal of the EYFS and a central part of young children’s learning and development. Through play children can explore, develop their ideas and creativity, be imaginative and develop friendships. Play is spontaneous and allows children to be in control of their learning, take risks and try out new ideas. The rich and purposeful play that is provided at Happy Days Nursery allows children to develop holistically. Practitioners plan for children’s next steps ‘in the moment’ to ensure their learning is meaningful and sparked by their individual interests. The opportunities we provide for all children will enable them to succeed in an atmosphere of care and of feeling valued.

Characteristics of effective learning describe behaviours children use in order to learn. To learn well children must approach opportunities with curiosity, energy and enthusiasm. Effective learning must be meaningful to a child, so that they are able to use what they have learned and apply it in new situations. These abilities and attitudes of strong learners will support them to learn well and make good progress in all the areas of learning and development which is weaved through the provisions that we provide.

We use the areas of learning and development when we are observing, assessing and planning for your child’s individual needs. The areas of learning and development ensure that we are constantly challenging your child and helping them to develop and succeed. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating understanding through the seven areas of learning and development. These are communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design.