Introducing The Little Cottage
We're delighted to announce the opening of our new baby unit at Snapdragons Keynsham, with the babies moving across from Monday.
The Little Cottage (okay, technically it's a coach house) will allow the babies to have more creativity and freedom in their play than ever before, providing them with a self-contained playspace, a built-in rest area and easy access to the incredible outdoor spaces at the nursery.
Hannah Saunders, Head of Babies
Hannah Saunders, Head of Babies at Keynsham, was thrilled to start setting the new area up, after six months of renovation work finally came to an end, saying "It's been amazing to create a space that I know will work so well for the babies. Having a vision of what I wanted and now seeing it complete is just amazing. It's a space I know the babies will love and the staff too. It also means we have our own sensory space, which is something I've always wanted too!"
Gemma Smith & Alice Hill, the Management Team
Gemma Smith, Nursery Manager and Alice Hill, Head of Early Years Practice were equally as enthusiastic, adding "It's fantastic for the babies, having such easy access to the outdoor environment. The early feedback from families at the nursery has been overwhelmingly positive and we think it's going to be a massive hit for our little babies."
The Little Cottage opens on Monday and if you haven't had a chance to take a look yet, then just pop in and ask - anyone will be delighted for the opportunity to show you around!
Bringing you all the latest news this June
In this new issue of the Snapdragons Magazine, we've crammed in as much news as we possibly can, covering our trips to the farm, celebration of Holi, rocket launches (including how to make your own) and some discussion on how to save ocean life by not using plastic straws. It's a real bumper issue.
As always, you can download your copy of the magazine right here on our website, or just grab yourself a copy from the nursery. We hope you enjoy it!
The fun of the farm
We've just concluded another fun couple of weeks at Warleigh Lodge Farm and, it goes without saying, we had another incredible time!
Exploring the fields with a brand new set of pre-schoolers, we waded through the streams, charged past the sheep, rode the tractor to see the cows and fed the other animals, like the lambs, chickens and goats.
It's always sad to say goodbye to the farm for another year, but at least we have some great photos to look back on for our memories!
Head to your nursery photo gallery for the full sets or view the videos on our latest videos page.
An odd idea raised a sock load of cash!
When we asked for your help to raise money for #PoundsForPorge we didn't give you very much notice but like the troopers you are, you took up the challenge! We've never been so proud of such an epic wardrobe malfunction and we saw odd socks all week. Thank you everyone for taking up the odd socks challenge and, of course, you did it again and smashed it, raising a fantastic £1,150 (and rising).
Get your odd socks on
Nearly two years ago, Snapdragons said goodbye to Abbie Dougherty, a much-loved and respected member of the Weston team, and we have missed her every day since. Abbie died of cancer after all available treatments were exhausted. With characteristic bravery and selflessness, Abbie told her best friend and fellow Chew Valley Cats rugby team member, Georgia "Porge" Bryant, that she would like to use her remaining time raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust, who had supported her throughout her illness. Porge threw herself into fundraising so that Abbie could achieve her final wish and she masterminded a campaign that raised £70,000 for the charity. Our wonderful Snapdragons parents contributed towards this amazing total by giving generously at a dedicated Chillfest event and by sponsoring our Pretty Muddy team.
Now we're asking for your help again. Just over a year after Abbie's death, Porge was diagnosed with Leukaemia and, after extensive treatment, has been told that all NHS options have failed. Porge's only hope now is to take part in a clinical trial of a new treatment but there is no NHS funding for this.
In Abbie's memory, we would like to support Porge, her family and friends as they try to raise £150,000 to fund the treatment and travel costs needed.
This week our teams are joining #ChewValleyCats in their #OddSocks campaign and we would love it if your children could join us. All you need to do is raid the bottom of your clean laundry basket to find the inevitable collection of odd socks there and send your children to nursery in the most mismatched socks you can find. Then donate £1 (or more if you wish) to the cause. We will be running the campaign all week, so together could raise over a £1000!
Follow Porge's story on her GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/poundsforporge. You can also follow her Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/poundsforporge/ or the hashtag #poundsforporge on Twitter.
Thank you all for your support and we can't wait to see your odd socks!