Summer Term 2026 Newsletter
First I would like to wish Happy Days Day Nursery a Happy Birthday, which has been opened for 22 years in April!!
Welcome:
We would like to say a warm Welcome to all our families and children who have joined us at Happy Days Day nursery.
We also have some new members of staff called Matthew, Zoe, Michaela and Roo who has recently joined our Team.
Zoe is working in the Butterfly room, Matthew is working in the Pre-school room, Michaela is working in the caterpillar room and Roo is working across all rooms.
Maternity leave: Sophie is now on Maternity leave and we are pleased to announce she has had a little girl and both doing well. Sophie has called her Eleanor Louise and was 6lb 5oz! Congratulation to Sophie and Sam. We will look forward to her popping in to show us baby.
Emma and Gabi are due to end Maternity leave in May. Emma has decided to stay at home and care for her little boy. Gabi is taking the extra 3 months off so will be joining us back in August 2026.
Goodbye
We say Goodbye to Kayla and Caitlin, Kayla after 5 years who is leaving us to change her career to spend more time with her family, Caitlin who has been with us 3 years and is moving on to new opportunities. We wish them both well for the future.
Information for new parents:
Staff team:
A little bit about me:
Jo – Owner has been at Happy days since 2004 as a baby room leader and purchased the nursery in 2011. Jo has a degree in Early Childhood Studies and is level 3 SEND trained. Jo has three children, three stepchildren and four grandchildren. Jo enjoys spending time with my family and friends, relaxing spa days and reading. Jo also does charity work in my hometown Kirton – Lindsey. During Jo’s career in Childcare, she has specialised in babies and supporting SEND Children.
Happy Days Day Nursery has a sister company in Horncastle called Nurture Hub Day Nursery established in 2023.
Staff team:
Sarah – Area manager and is working between both settings. Sarah is Level 5 trained and has level 3 SEND training. Sarah has been working in Childcare for 22 years and works in the Pre-school room. Sarah supports both settings and joined Happy days in 2017.
Becki – Deputy Manager – Becki is level 4 trained and has experience in working in all 3 rooms and is currently working in the Pre-school. Becki enjoys camping and walking with her dog. Becki joined Happy days in 2016.
Briony – Is Assistant Deputy manager and is lead practitioner in the Butterfly room. Briony is a Mummy to two young boys. Briony loves spending time with her family and researching to expand on her knowledge to support the learning and development of children. Joined Happy days in 2025.
Kim – is SEND assistant, she works in the Pre-school room with SEND Children. Kim has qualified as level 3 in childcare. Kim is a mum to grown up children and enjoys baking, crafts and likes knitting in her spare time. Kim joined Happy days in 2008.
Sophie –Is level 4 trained and has experience in all three rooms and is currently working in the Butterfly room. Sophie enjoys singing, shopping and reading as well as researching activities to support learning and development of children. Sophie joined Happy days in 2022.
Chloe – works in the Caterpillar room – rising two’s room and is level 3 trained. Chloe enjoys baking, trips and days out and spending time with her nieces and nephews. Chloe joined Happy days in 2022.
Alex – works in the Caterpillar – works in the baby room and has completed her level 3 qualification. Alex is a mummy to a little girl and was a qualified primary school teacher in Ukraine before moving to the UK. Alex joined Happy days in 2024.
Kayley – works in the butterfly room and is level 4 health and social care and is currently doing her level 3 in childcare qualification. Kayley helps to care for her mum and likes drawing. Kayley joined Happy days in 2023.
Leah – is level 2 trained and had many years’ experience in childcare. Leah works in the preschool room. Leah joined Happy Days in 2025 and enjoys car racing and days out with her family.
Carla – is completing her apprenticeship level 3 in childcare, Carla supports in all rooms to gain experience with the ages. Carla enjoys days out and spending time with her family.
Serejah – is working towards her level 3 in Childcare and Education. Serejah enjoys spending time socialising with friends and loves shopping and works in the Caterpillar babies and rising two’s room.
Jess – is working towards her level 3 in Childcare and Education and transferred to us from another nursery. Jess enjoys shopping, walks with her dog and spending time with her family.
Matthew – is working in the Pre-school room and is currently completing his level 3 in childcare qualification. Matthew enjoys technology with games.
Roo – is working across all the rooms. Roo is completing her level 3 in childcare qualification. Roo enjoys arts and crafts.
Meleia – is working in the butterfly room, Meleia is completing her level 3 in childcare. Meleia enjoys shopping and socialising.
Zoe – is working in the butterfly room. Zoe has a degree in SEND. Zoe enjoys running in her spare time.
Michaela – is working in the caterpillar room, she is a mum to 2 children and is completing her level 3 in childcare qualification.
Learning: Our Curriculum:
Our Ambitious Curriculum is what we want the children to learn whilst at Happy Days Day Nursery. The Curriculum is based on the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) which is a framework that we build on through the 7 areas of learning. The EYFS sets standards for the learning, development and care of the children. Through our curriculum we provide activities, play opportunities and teaching experiences to extend the children’s knowledge to learn, develop and thrive. For more information please visit: Development Matters – Non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Our Themes for April are:
Caterpillars: 5 speckled frogs, Baa Baa , raining and pouring
Butterflies: Lifecycles and growing
Preschool: Easter/spring
May:
Caterpillars: Old Mcdonald, miss Polly had a dolly
Butterflies: Journeys
Preschool: We’re going on a bear hunt
June:
Caterpillars: 5 current buns, 12345, this little piggy
Butterflies: Food and healthy eating
Preschool: Food and healthy eating
July:
Caterpillars: Mary, Mary, down in the jungle
Butterflies: Summer
Preschool: Summer and holidays
August:
Caterpillars: Beehives/ bodies and gardens
Butterflies: Magic and fantasy
Preschool: fantasy and adventures
Home learning Packs:
The homework packs are for the Preschool and the Butterfly room. The homework packs will be linked to the topics that we will learning about. These are not compulsory, but to link nursery and home to promote the children’s learning. These will be sent home at the beginning of the month and to be returned as soon as completed or by 20th of the month so we can prepare the pack ready for the next month.
Caterpillar room – if you would like any ideas with activities on how to support your baby’s development at home, please let us know and we can support you with this.
We will be informing parents on tapestry at the beginning of each month what we will be learning about so parents can support at home, we will be adding some ideas into the homework packs such as how to make playdough, gloop etc. We will be updating the Facebook page with photos of the activities the children have been enjoying.
Children’s belongings:
Please can parents ensure the children’s belongings are labelled with their name to prevent a mix up of items, the nursery will not be responsible for loss of unnamed items.
Please can we also ask you to provide slippers or plimsoles in case the fire alarm rings, and we need to exit the nursery quickly.
In summer please can you ensure the children are provided with a sunhat.
Please can we ensure children are provided with nappies, wipes, sudocrem, spare clothes, coats/ hat/gloves etc if needed. We ask for these to be provided as we don’t always have spare clothing, or can use spare nappies/sudocrem for allergies etc
Nursery suncream:
Nursery will provide the suncream which will be Boots Soltan children’s once 8hour protection suncream. Parents will be charged a fee of £5 for children attending up to 15 hours a week and £10 for children attending 15 + hours per week. This will cover you for the summer period and will be applied prior to accessing the garden each session. We do ask for the 1st application to be applied prior to attending the session as this is time consuming applying it to each child before we can access the outside area.
Family photos
If you have not provided nursery with a family photo, please could we ask that one could be emailed to nursery to display in the room, this is a great focus for the children to discuss with their peers and have familiar adults around for the babies. This supports their PSED development, providing them with a sense of belonging and can offer comfort to them throughout the day if needed.
Parents facebook: Happy days day nursery Private parents’ page: | Facebook
We have a private parents Facebook page up. This page will be private and only our nursery parents will be accepted to join. We use the page to put messages to parents and update regularly with photos of the children taking part in activities. Please see link above to join.
If you do not want your child’s photo on here please email nursery to update the permission form.
Tapestry: Parent partnership – Importance:
Please can I ask parents if they are not logged in or signed up to Tapestry to email nursery so we can resolve this. You will then be able to access any important messages or see what the children have eaten for the day, this is listed on the care diary. Tapestry is an important tool to work in partnership with parents, we would like parents to share photos of what their Child has been doing at home or new ‘wow’ moments. It is important that Parent and keyperson work in Partnership and share information to support their Child’s development to provide them with the best possible outcomes .
Please can we not use the message function on tapestry as sometimes the key person is not in and then we have not got access to the messages sent to the key person. Please email the nursery for any correspondence.
Facebook messenger: Any messages sent out of hours on Facebook messenger, emails etc sent out of hours we cannot guarantee a reply to these as we do not receive notifications after working hours.
Nursery uniform
We now use www.myclothing.com to stock nursery uniforms which include polo t-shirts, cardigans, jumpers, coats, rucksacks etc. We do have a small stock left at nursery. We would like to see as many children in uniform as possible. Please remember to label your child’s clothing with their name.
Policies:
It has been brought to our attention regarding sharing policies and procedures by parents that it would be beneficial to be displayed somewhere that parents can access these to refer to when needed such as the exclusion policy for illnesses. We are currently reviewing policies for the annual update and once completed these are getting uploaded to the documents section on tapestry so parents can access and refer to when needed. If there are any other documents parents would like to see then please email management with their suggestions 😊
We currently have a new safeguarding policy in which we will not accept any child that is sleeping, we will ask for the child to be awoken to check that they are alert and well on arrival.
Funding
From September 2025 all Children are eligible for 30 hours funding from the term after they turn 9 months old. This is for 38 weeks of the year.
To apply for your funding code please visit: Apply for free childcare if you’re working – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Funding codes: Please can parents ensure that funding codes are reviewed within the grace period otherwise this will impact the funding entitlement for the following term resulting in parents liable for the cost.
Nursery cannot see when the code expires, it is your responsibility to renew this in time to be able to access the funding for the following term.
Funding forms: are to be completed in there is any change is circumstance such as change of address or sessions. All children must have a relevant and up to date funding form to be able to claim the funding.
Nursery fees:
From 1st May 2026 there will be a slight fee increase to the nursery fees. Invoices will be amended and sent out. Please see service charge letter attached.
Nursery session times:
Please can your child’s agreed session times be adhered to and collected by the session end time. If you would like to receive feedback about your child’s session, please arrive 10 minutes prior to the end of the day. When children are not collected by the agreed time it is taking staff out of ratio and affecting the children’s routine.
If children are late getting collected there will be a late charge added which will cover the staff members wage of who has had to stay behind to provide care.
If you are planning on collecting your child at an agreed time please can this be adhered to as we have a staff member out of the room, if you are unsure on the timing then please ring when on the way and we will have your child ready for you.
Slippers / Shoes
Polite reminder can you please send all children with slippers, this is to keep their feet warm on cushioned floors and in case we need to evacuate the nursery due to the fire alarm ringing, Thank you. Please can all children be provided with shoes so we can access the garden area.
Parents craft afternoon (weather permitting)
We will be holding some craft afternoons for parents to attend to join in with some craft sessions with your child. These will be held on:
Butterflies – Monday 1st June – 14:30 – 15:30
Pre-school – Monday 18th May – 14:00 – 15:00
This will be weather permitting and we will be provided with some cold drinks and refreshments.
Pre-school Graduation Day:
On Friday 17th July will be Pre-school children’s Graduation ceremony and sports day at Klassic Park. Parents will be invited to attend in the afternoon, then children will go inside for a party with entertainment. There will be invites coming out in the next few weeks with all the details on. The graduation will start from 2pm and will have a graduation ceremony and sports day. Please bring your chairs/blankets and a drink.
Parents Evening:
There will be parents evening slots available for all rooms on the following days/times. If you would like to book a slot please email nursery. These slots will be 10 minutes long and for an update and to discuss any queries or concerns.
Monday 22nd June – Pre-school children
Monday 29th June – Butterfly children
Monday 6th July – Caterpillar children
Please can children in each room be collected by 17:45 on the night of parents evening.
Parents evening is important time to share information, work together for the best outcomes of the children.
Birthdays
Happy Days Day Nursery would like to wish a Happy Birthday to all the Children and Staff celebrating their Birthdays in April, May, June, July and August.
Sickness
If your child shows any signs of being unwell or has a temperature above 37.8, please keep them off from nursery for at least 24 hours. This is to stop it from spreading to other children and staff. If your child is on prescription medication, they must be well within themselves to attend nursery otherwise they will be sent home. Children must have been on the prescribed medication 48 hours prior to returning to nursery. Child’s medication will only be accepted at the managers discretion. For any other illness please follow our exclusion policy.
If your child has had any vaccinations the child is to remain at home for 48 hours in case of allergic reactions.
Attendance
If your child will not be attending nursery, please notify the nursery as soon as possible either by email: nurturehubdaynursery@hotmail.com or phone 01652 648228
Open door policy
Please remember we have an open-door policy if you have any concerns regarding the nursery, staff or your Child’s development. Jo and Sarah can also be contact on either nursery contact details:
01652 648228 – Happy Days – happydaysdaynursery@hotmail.co.uk
01507 581459 – Nurture Hub – nurturehubdaynursery@hotmail.com
Reports
Your Child’s keyperson will issue you a brief summary report of your Child’s progress in December, April and a full summary report in June
Reminder: What should I have in my bag………?
Every child should bring:
*Wipes
*Spare outfits including a top, bottoms, socks, and pants
(minimum 2 sets, more if your child is toilet training)
*Appropriate outdoor clothing
If applicable, please also send:
*nappies/pull ups
*Bottles & formula
*Comforters
If your child borrows clothes from nursery, please can you make sure you return them as soon as possible as our stock does run low.
We also accept donations of clothes.
Dates for your diary…
Term Dates for 2026
5th January – Friday 13th Feb
23rd Feb – Thursday 2nd April
20th April – Friday 22nd May
1st June – Friday 17th July.
1st September – 23rd October.
Happy Days Day Nursery has an open door policy, if you have any questions please speak to management, we are always happy to help.