Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford

Unit 3a, Derriford Business Park, Derriford, Plymouth PL6 5QZ
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9.9 197 Reviews
  • Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford, Plymouth
Happy Days at Derriford has both indoor and outdoor spaces for children to play and grow during their time at nursery.

Staff support children to embrace outdoor play and have as many new experiences as they can in a safe and secure environment.

The nursery provides equipment and furniture that supports children’s physical development over muscle control and co-ordination.

Two nursery chefs provide fresh meals for children every day, but children can also be involved in learning about food preparation and taught how to be independent at meal times.

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Care Provided by Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford

  • Type of Service
  • Day Nursery – Privately Owned
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care

Good to Know

  • Person in charge
  • Zara Austin (Nursery Manager)
  • Number of Childcare Staff
  • 50
  • Total Places for Children
  • 146
  • Age Range
    • from 0 years 3 months
    • to 5 years 0 months
  • Opening Times
  • Monday 07:00-18:00
    Tuesday 07:00-18:00
    Wednesday 07:00-18:00
    Thursday 07:00-18:00
    Friday 07:00-18:00
  • When Closed
  • Bank Holidays & 1 week at Christmas

Funding & Fees Guide for Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford

  • For fee information, contact the Nursery directly.

Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford Reviews (197)

Total of 197, showing 161-180
9.9

Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.890) out of 10, based on 40 reviews in the last 2 years. Over all time Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford has 197 reviews.

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Review from Sophie W (Mother of Child) published on 10 January 2018
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My daughter has attended this nursery now for nearly two years and it is fantastic. The staff are all friendly and I feel at complete ease leaving her in their care. The activities they do during the day are engaging, educational, supportive to developing skills and above all else fun. The food is fresh,
made on site and a wide selection of tasty and healthy foods. My daughter looks forward to going to Nursery and it has shaped her as a person. She, her dad and me will all be sad when she leaves for school in September. Thank you Happy Days for being mum when I’m not able to!

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Review from Kim (Mother of Child) published on 10 January 2018
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My daughter loves attending nursery. The staff are always pleasant and friendly when we arrive and leave at the end of the day. Lots of different activities each week and the food provided is varied and nutritious. Parents are kept up to date with regular newsletters and without the nursery, my daughter
would not be as confident around other children.

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Review from Mel (Mother of Child) published on 10 January 2018
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My child loves going to nursery in the explorers room. All staff are really welcoming and seem to have a good connection with my child. I would recommend to any friends and family looking for childcare, especially if based in or around Derriford hospital.

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Review from Amy M (Mother of Child) published on 9 January 2018
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Such a great nursery, very friendly and attentive staff. My daughter really enjoys it here, they have a good range of different activities every day. The food is also excellent. I feel comfortable knowing that my daughter is in safe hands and happy whilst she is at Happy Days.

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Review from Jodie M (Mother of Child) published on 4 July 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

I think that Happy Days provide all round excellent facilities and care for my child.
She truly flourishes during her day at nursery.
She enjoys all of the activities provided and all of the staff are friendly and attentive.

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Review from Laura B (Mother of Child) published on 18 May 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The staff are always friendly and acknowledge the children by their name every time they are dropped off.
They do seasonal fayres which are always full of activities and the staff are encouraging and enthusiastic with the children.
I always feel welcome by the staff.
Lots of materials for the
children in the nursery and a selection to take home, with regular catch ups to see how your children are getting on.

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Review from T M (Mother of Child) published on 15 May 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

The staff are very friendly and appear to genuinely care about the children they look after. My son is very settled and happy there and really enjoys the garden and the range of activities there.
The communication between the staff and management and parents is good and I receive regular newsletters
and emails.
The only negative comment I can think of is that staff seem to change very regularly for some reason so we need to get used to new faces, although my child's key worker has always been consistent which is important.

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Review from P M (Father of Child) published on 15 May 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

A nice nursery. The carers are wonderful. Both kids attended from the age of 8 months until they were ready for school. Carers were always interested in welfare.


The negative was the poor invoicing system. Isn't it simple to have to pay per month for sessions used? But the admin works on the

idea that you divided in 50 weeks and invoicing is done on the basis of this. Multiple times we were overcharged. We would not have known if we didn't calculate the hours.

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Review from Annabel G (Mother of Child) published on 10 May 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Brilliant nursery- the most important thing is the flexibility they can always accommodate extra sessions. The staff are brilliant and committed and friendly.

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Review from Kirsty S (Mother of Child) published on 12 April 2017
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Our son has attended Happy Days for nearly 3 years and has enjoyed every second of it. From the location and ease of access to the rooms where the children spend most of their time, to the resources available to the children, the whole set up is just amazing. The on-site catering is fantastic and the
choice and balance of meals the children receive is the best any parent could wish for. The books, toys, outside play area, including the forest gives every child all the stimulation they could ask for. The biggest asset this nursery has is its staff, they are truly amazing in so many ways. They are very knowledgeable, trustworthy, professional and above all else have every child's welfare at heart. We could not have wished for any better support in so many ways. You name your worry or concern and their help and support is so genuine: from potty training to preparing for school. Most impressive is how they remember all the children's names! A truly brilliant nursery.

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Review from Dita C (Mother of Child) published on 15 July 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

Happy with my daughter attending the nursery. Would be happy with extended hours until 6.30 p.m. Sometimes feels as there is too many children on a day and big gap between them 2 to 5 years. Otherwise happy and think she has a good time.

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Review from Laura P (Mother of Child) published on 28 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Happy Days have very friendly and approachable staff who make you feel happy and safe leaving your little ones with. They always listen to day to day updates on our little boy and do the best for him. They've been extremely flexible around work and change of hours and we really appreciate that. I
was so pleased at how well my child's key worker knows him and how similar her observations are to ours. Thank you also much.

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Review from Laura E (Mother of Child) published on 27 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

We have been very happy with the care provided and my daughter loves attending Happy Days. She has made good friends and is always happy to be there while we work. I would like there to be "preschool" room though where children in the year prior to starting school could do different activities.

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Review from Mahender (Father of Child) published on 27 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

Good nursery with outstanding value for the services provided. Extremely helpful staff with the utmost patience and skill. Helpful feedback on a daily basis enabled us to not only optimise my daughters learning but also ensure she has a well balanced diet for the day as we know what was given in the
nursery and can calculate what she might enjoy for the rest of the day.

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Review from Natalie (Mother of Child) published on 24 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Happy days at Derriford is a wonderful nursery. my daughter who is nearly 3 has been at the nursery since she was 9 months old and for the first 18 months she cried every time we left her but the staff made this process much easier. They are caring and friendly and really understand the needs of the
children and I feel so reassured to leave my daughter in their care. The facilities (indoor and outdoor) are brilliant and the activities they do are different every week which allows my daughter to develop different skills. The food is always different and every day my daughter eats 100% of their home cooked meals.
I cannot recommend happy days highly enough and feel very lucky that I am able to leave my daughter in the care of such amazing people where the children are the focus of attention.

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Review from Amanda D (Mother of Child) published on 24 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

The nursery took on my son with short notice and have been helpful, flexible and professional when dealing with my enquiring and requests. My son is happy in his new setting which appears to be well managed by qualified staff and he has made friends well. I never have concerns about leaving him as I
believe he is in trustworthy hands. I'm very happy with the nursery setting and would recommend it.

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Review from Zoe L (Mother of Child) published on 23 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

My daughter joined in April and was struggling to be left without tears , but two months in the staff at Happy Days Derriford have helped her to settle in and now I have a stress free drop off and pick up . Makes for a happy mum going to work knowing my little girl enjoys her day at nursery.

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Review from Shilpa (Mother of Child) published on 23 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

I am happy with the nursery. Both my children have attended Happy Days and seemed to enjoy being at the daycare. The key person for both my children was same and very good at her job.
Only one slight complaint I have always struggled to understand their billing/ invoicing system. The nursery charges
monthly fee which is calculated by dividing the annual fees by number of weeks. So essentially a child who leaves nursery midway through the year might end up paying more per month than he/ she would have actually attended! I have previously tried to get clarification on this issue but received generic replies which were unsatisfactory!
A better way would be billing for exact number of days attended (including extra days) per month and generating a monthly invoice based on this.

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Review from Nicola (Mother of Child) published on 23 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Such a warm and welcoming nursery. All the staff are lovely and are always happy to help and support you. My children have settled in so well and absolutely love going. Communication between the parents and staff is brilliant and I feel this is vital to have.

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Review from Lee w (Father of Child) published on 23 June 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

Very happy with the way in which the nursery operates and will be sending child No 2 when at the correct age. My son enjoys going and has never indicated he was worried etc and when he comes home he does speak about what he has done that day and enjoys showing us what he has made.

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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.890)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.890) out of 10 for Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  • a) The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 40 Reviews in the last 24 months.

  • b) The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 40 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  • a) 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months.

    The Average Rating of 4.890 for Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford is calculated as follows: ( (433 Excellents x 5) + (41 Goods x 4) + (6 Satisfactorys x 3) ) ÷ 480 Ratings = 4.89

  • b) 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5').

    The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Happy Days Nursery & Preschool - Derriford is based on 40 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    • i) 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4

    • ii) 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 146 number of registered child places is 29.2, which has been reached with 40 Positive reviews. Points = 1

  • When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.

  • If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please Contact Us for Latest Vacancies

Awards / Recognitions (6)

Top 20 Large Nursery Groups 2024

Recipient: Happy Days Nurseries & Pre-Schools

Date: Thursday 28 Mar 2024 More details

Top 20 Large Nursery Groups 2022

Recipient: Happy Days Nurseries & Pre-Schools

Date: Friday 29 Apr 2022 More details

Top 20 Large Nursery Groups 2021

Recipient: Happy Days Nurseries & Pre-Schools

Date: Friday 28 May 2021 More details

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Meet the Team (1)

Zara

Zara Austin

Job Title: Nursery Manager

Zara has worked in childcare for 17 years, 7 of those at Happy Days where she started as a Peripatetic Deputy Manager. Accompanied by her wealth of experience, Zara has also received a Level 3 Diploma, a Level 4 Team leading qualification, and a Level 5 award in Management. Zara is loving her new role and enjoys building relationships with her colleagues and the families in her care.


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