Happy Mind™

Ofsted's Guidelines for Foundation Stage education (three to five years) provides a benchmark for desirable standards in pre-school education, but it is up to individual nurseries whether they follow these guidelines or not. Happy Times is committed not just to following the guidelines, but to exceeding the desirable standards, and equipping children with the intellectual, cognitive, social and behavioural skills they need to fulfil their potential at school.

Although our curriculum is informed by Ofsted’s Guidelines, it is unique to Happy Times. We approach the six main areas of development identified by Ofsted with our own blend of educational focus, creativity, individual attention, collective fun and partnership with parents. We call this Happy Mind™, a blend of education and development unique to Happy Times, Happy Mind™ entails:

Personal, Social And Emotional Development
It is vital at this stage to foster every child's willingness to learn and ability to concentrate, so that by the time they start school, they are alive to all the opportunities to learn and develop. To do this, our carers plan each session to ensure that it really engages their interest. At the same time, we help them to form good relationships with their classmates and with our staff, understand the consequences of their behaviour, look after themselves and respect other people's feelings.

Communication, Language And Literacy
We take a holistic approach to communication, using modules that focus as much on listening and understanding as on reading and writing. We monitor progress by inviting the children to ask relevant questions, create their own stories, link sounds and letters and identify familiar written words. We make it fun too, with songs, role-plays and games.

Mathematical Development
Most children quickly learn to recognise numerals. In our maths development, we encourage them to understand how to use numbers, add and subtract and grasp concepts such as 'more than' and 'wider than'. We also do a lot of work with shapes and patterns, which they learn to recognise and recreate. In all the work we do with them, we make maths fun and relevant to their lives by giving it familiar contexts, like shopping with mummy, planning a birthday party or preparing a meal.

Knowledge And Understanding Of The World
We want the children to get to know the wider world around them, rather than just their immediate surroundings. So we look at life in other countries as well as our own, and explore how things work, using fun activities involving designing, making and researching. Warning! Parents may need to dig out their atlases to keep up.

Physical Development
Physical exercise is an important part of our curriculum at Happy Times. We have our own Sports Coaches. When the weather is clear we get out in the fresh air but for when it is too wet, cold or windy outside all our nurseries have a large indoor exercise space. We have invested in the latest safe and fun equipment to help children develop coordination, balance, self-control and spatial awareness. And we do not just monitor the children during these periods; we actively guide and support them.

Ofsted's Guidelines
Through information technology and traditional materials, we help children discover the magic of expressing themselves through art and design. We use music frequently too – not only listening and singing, but basic composition as well. We produce regular reports on your child's progress in each of these areas. We are also happy to suggest activities you can do with them at home to complement our work. Happy Times is only part of your child's development but we hope an important part.
Through Happy Mind™ we do much more than simply take good care of the children. We give them strong foundations in all the major skills they will need to succeed at school and beyond. It is the least we can do.

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