New magazine now available
The new issue of the Snapdragons Magazine is now available online and (shortly) in your child’s nursery!
The new issue of the Snapdragons Magazine is now available online and (shortly) in your child’s nursery!
It’s filled to the brim with news stories from across our settings from the past four months, including long-awaited nativity photos, pictures from our employee party and some of the visitors to the nurseries.
We’ve also got a great ragu recipe for you to try and a family from Shirehampton have shared their experience on how they adopted their first child.
Grab a copy on our website now, or pick one up when they start appearing at the nursery!
It's time to talk about snow....
A little guide on what will happen at nursery if the snow causes disruption.
We may not have seen much of the stuff at the moment, but the warnings are in place - it could be coming in tomorrow and so we’d just like to make everyone aware of the protocols in place should the downfalls be heavy.
Every nursery will always make every attempt to remain open in any circumstances, but heavy snow can cause travel disruption which impedes the ability of some of our employees to get into work on time.
Should you rise one morning and see the roads looking particularly covered in snow or ice and generally have any doubts about what the situation might be, you have a few options which we’ll lay out here now.
Follow our Twitter feed. Our fastest updates will always be on Twitter (www.twitter.com/snapdragonsltd), so if you want to know ASAP, check there.
Check this website. We’ll also keep our front page (www.snapdragonsnursery.com) updated with our latest info as we release it.
Phone your nursery. The team will be on hand to let you know what the situation is, but please be aware that the lines will be particularly busy if everyone is trying to phone in.
As mentioned, we will do everything we can to avoid any disruption, but we have to ensure that our teams are safely onsite and that we can provide adequate care for any children that arrive.
For now, have a lovely evening and hope for enough snow to make it fun with minimal impact!
Fun with your baby
We're excited to be announce a new parent and baby group at our nursery in Snapdragons Broadwood!
We're excited to be announce a new parent and baby group at our nursery in Snapdragons Broadwood!
Starting in just a few weeks time, this group will aim to support new parents, offering fun ideas for you to use with your baby at home, whilst meeting other parents at the same time.
The group comprises of four sessions, with the following themes:
• Friday January 25th - Baby sensory
• Friday February 1st - Story & rhyme time
• Friday February 8th - Baby gym & massage, with the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics
• Friday February 15th - Messy play
Spaces are limited for the group, so you'll need to book in advance by either calling the nursery on 01225 811515, or emailing them at broadwood@snapdragonsnursery.com
All sessions will be from 10-11am and held at the Broadwood nursery at Broadwood Avenue, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 0LX.
Partying with best of the best
We enjoy an amazing Christmas party with all of the employees of Snapdragons Nursery.
On Saturday, we celebrated another fantastic year with our teams across Snapdragons, as we all met up at We The Curious in Bristol for a fun-filled evening of games, food and dancing.
With over 200 employees in attendance, this was no ordinary Christmas party, as the tables were packed with our hard-working teams looking for a night off from changing nappies and setting up art activities. The cash grabber machine offered opportunities to win prizes, whilst the snowboard simulator offered opportunities to… fall off in an embarrassing manner.
The annual party is also the perfect place to announce our awards for the year, voted on by everyone who works for the company, so each winner knows they got there through the votes of their peers and coworkers.
As always, it was fantastic to see so many in attendance, having a wonderful time and showing us what an amazing team of diverse people we have working for us. The party will only continue to grow in size, as we complete the opening of our new Redland nursery in 2019.
Congratulations to all of our winners and also a massive thank you to all of the employees of Snapdragons, who prove to us, day in and day out, exactly why they’re worthy of being called “the best of the best”.
2018 Snappies Awards Winners
Commitment and Dedication - Winners
Anne-Marie Jones
Tayla Everett
Runners Up
Amy Byers
Kira Pearce
Inspirational personality - Winners
Hannah Saunders
Lyndsey Tanner
Runners Up
Christina Noton
Paulina Rybicka
Supportive personality - Winners
Jenna Schroeder
Kim Webster
Runners Up
Bethan Haughton
Emma-Louise Gissing
Creativity - Winners
Amy Rabbitts
Katherine Skuse
Runners Up
Lorraine Pascoe
Emily Sargeant
Childcarer - Winners
Abigail Hiscox
Sarah Chalk
Runners Up
Eleanor Knott
Paige Lippiatt
Rookie of the Year- Winners
Elise Cullen
Zahria Laing
Runners Up
Halle Wheadon
Isobel Lawton
Mucky Pup (messy activities) - Winners
Elizabeth MacDonald
Nicholas Holder
Runners Up
Shannan Timbrell
Gabrielle Fear
Creative Environment - Winners
James Fulford
Timothy Graham
Runners Up
Lauren Jeffries
Katie Lally
Pearly Whites (always smiling) - Winners
Katie Adams
Lynda Brown
Runners Up
Hannah Woolley
Carl Houghton
All rounder - Winners
Natalie Rankin
Zoe Casey
Bethany Kneebone
Maxwell Bendall
Personality strikes at the NMT Awards in London
It was a wild night at the NMT awards in London on Saturday evening, as we headed in with Alice, James and Max each looking to take home a prize in their respective categories.
With directors Paul, Rosemary, James & Jen, as well as Weston management team Hayley & Kim accompanying them, they enjoyed a delicious three course meal to start the evening. Surrounded by the best of the best in the childcare sector, there was bound to be some stiff competition for our candidates, and the tension was mounting as Gethin Jones took to the stage to start the awards presentation.
Max Bendall looking sharp before the ceremony.
First up was ‘Mad’ Max Bendall, Head of Parrots & Out of School at Weston and looking to scoop the early category of Room Leader of the Year. The category held some tough competition though, with Adam from Evolution Childcare eventually winning the judges’ votes.
James Fulford, looking on nervously as his category approaches.
James Fulford, Nursery Nurse at Weston, began to feel the nerves as the night went on, with a long wait until his category was called. Up against a good group of candidates, he was unlucky to lose to Georgina Elton at Kiddy Caru, but he was happy having made it this far and been considered worthy enough to be on the shortlist.
Alice Collard, from our Keynsham nursery, and recently married to (Creative Director) James, was our final candidate of the night, in what was perhaps the trickiest category - or at least the most difficult to quantify - as she was up for Nursery Personality of the Year. Convincing herself she had no chance of winning, the sense of shock on her face was palpable as HER NAME WAS READ OUT AS THE WINNER!
Alice proudly shows off her new award.
The next ten minutes were a bit of a blur for Alice, as she collected her award on stage and tried to understand what had just happened. But we all knew Alice was in with a great chance - she didn’t get shortlisted for the award for no reason and she can now finally claim to have “a winning personality”.
Congratulations to all three of our amazing finalists and we can honestly say that we couldn’t be prouder to have you as part of our fantastic teams at Snapdragons.
