Happy Days Nurseries operates 35 nurseries in South-West England and Wales, taking care of almost 2,000 children each day. Since opening its first nursery in 1991, the group’s vision has been to nurture every child to become a learner for life, enabling their future success. The bedrock of Happy Days’ mission is its play-based “Where Children Shine” curriculum which provides opportunities for children to learn, explore and discover, preparing them for a positive transition to school. Both indoor, and outdoor, learning spaces foster age-appropriate and high-quality provision areas, and crucially these carefully designed environments align seamlessly with the group’s distinctive curriculum. 

Whilst working with a range of suppliers, Happy Days has recently engaged Cosy to support nursery refurbishments across different nurseries. “Our day nurseries carefully curate the selection of furniture, fittings and equipment in our playrooms to enhance children’s growth and development,” said Jackie Cambridge, Head of Quality at Happy Days Nurseries. We meticulously choose products from early years suppliers who view safety as their utmost concern through rigorous design processes. These suppliers are also selected based on their commitment to sustainable manufacturing practices. “Our approach centres on promoting children’s physical development, fostering their independence, and ensuring physical comfort.” 

Resources and materials within these spaces are designed to encourage open-ended play, a fundamental aspect of early years learning and key skill development, Jackie explained. This empowers children to exercise their autonomy and critical thinking skills when choosing resources and materials, determining how to use them, and deciding when to use them. 

Happy Days has used Cosy products, in particular, following nursery acquistions but also where they have received money for capital grant fundings to expand places in already established provision. “I met Cosy at a recent industry event – I was just passing by and I saw some of the products and thought, ‘gosh, they look good’,” Jackie recalled. “The small world parts they had on showcase led me to engage in a conversation with their representatives who showed me their product range in their catalogue. I had always associated Cosy with outdoor play, not indoor, and soon discovered they were also very cost-effective. 

“In The Hollies Daycare Nursery in Cardiff, for example, we have used capital grant funding for products such as easels, water trays and shelving units. Once we receive these products I test them in terms of their durability and how they look aesthetically within the environment. I’ve been satisfied and pleased with the outcome of that, and the impact this is having, so then I’ve gone on to explore additional products as well. 

Our curriculum outlines the opportunities that we want all children within our nurseries to learn, explore and discover and to do so in an inclusive way for everyone. It’s then about how we deliver this through high-quality, continuous provision in those enabling environments.” 

As well as The Hollies, Cosy products feature in Happy Days nurseries located in Bristol, Falmouth, Poole and Yeovil, for Explorers (0-2 years), Discoverers (2-3 years) and Adventurers (3 years+). “We have a core list of things we want to see in all our nurseries, a booklet that outlines the resources they could have within individual age-specific areas, ones that we can purchase but also ones that we can find and recycle,” Jackie commented. “Sustainability is significantly important to the business, and as an organisation we’re embarking on a bigger project around that at the moment, but without doubt cost is a driving factor. At Happy Days Yeovil, we have recently opened a brand new baby and parent room, and the majority of products in there are from Cosy.”