First for Childcare - York

Paula Astle

2 years ago

My Grandson has been at Happy Jays for around 10 months and in that time this nursery is unrecognisable to what it was. So much effort has been made by the staff who work there to make it a brighter more welcoming place to be for children. A place where they are cared for and encouraged to develop. A great outdoor space to play and so much new equipment designed to excite and develop inquisitive minds. Each child is treated as an individual and our grandson loves to go. The fact that we (my daughter, son in law and family) feel comfortable in leaving our most precious little man in the care of Happy Jays should say it all.

Christina Acaster

6 years ago

Happy Jays is a lovely nursery. My children both went from 8 months old until school. I feel they are looked after, well stimulated and kept entertained. They have great outdoor space too. The staff are what make the nursery-they are all lovely and put you at ease when leaving your little one. I would recommend Happy Jays Nursery.

Michelle Bruce

3 years ago

There are far better, adequate nurseries than Happy Jays. I do not recommend. Just read the OFSTED report from September. Between May and September this nursery went from needs improving to inadequate and there's a reason for it. Poor management, consistently using agency staff that don't know the children. They did try to use the same staff, but it wasn't always possible. The number of times I went in to collect my son to be greeted by different staff was ridiculous. High turnover of permanent staff, I counted at least 6 in 4 months. I had to fight to be allowed back in the nursery to collect my son. There were multiple times my son had napped late afternoon and when I mentioned he shouldn't be napping, the standard response was 'oh should he not'. Most likely because the staff aren't permanent and it would be time consuming to update all the different agency staff! Communication on what was going on at nursery was limited. Over 2 months there was just 5 observations uploaded to Tapestry. Throughout October I asked for them to be uploaded multiple times a week so I could see what he was doing and how he's developing, and was consistently told the iPad is on charge. Turns out there was only 1 observation, so they'd basically lied to me each time I asked! When the OFSTED inadequate report came out, there was nothing from management updating us on what they're doing to turn things around, and the report is pretty grim! Pretty much everything in the report had been raised by multiple parents, but instead of listening, they just buried their heads in the sand. When I finally gave notice on my son leaving, I was removed from receiving a key update the week before he was due to leave. Even though he was leaving, I should have been included in all comms. There are far better nurseries in York, ones that are engaging with parents, and most importantly, challenging children to develop whilst making it fun for them. Blue Sky, Muddy Boots to name a couple. Try them before even considering Happy Jays. I've had a 6 year relationship with the nursery, stuck by them through thick and thin, including when they were rated inadequate in 2018, but back then the staff were amazing. Always giving updates, they were trusted, uploading observations so you could see what your child was doing. This all changed when their excellent, hard working, long-standing manager and 2 permanent staff left, it's gone downhill ever since and it hasn't gained traction to turn the ship around. I never thought I'd have to move my son from Happy Jays before graduating to go to school, and so I was very sad when I had to make this decision. I do wish Happy Jays all the best, but they have a long way to go until they're back at the high standard they once were.

Gracie Davies

11 months ago

Great facilities, all on one floor, dining room, sensory room, art room etc, access to a safe garden. Staff are great, very accommodating to special needs and dietary restrictions.

Lee Thomas

4 years ago

It's all about profits rather than safety don't use and remove your children