Nursery News 19th July 2021

NURSERY NEWS

19th July 2021 – Edition 233

Find out About:

A. Staff changes

B. End of Term arrangements July 2021- A reminder

C. Leavers Day –Thursday 22nd July- 8:50am-11:50am- A reminder

D. The end of the 2020-2021 Academic Year is rapidly approaching.

A. Staff changes

Saying Goodbye….

Mrs Shambrook will be leaving us at the end of this term. She has been working at Willow for the past 20 years in a variety of roles, both in the classroom and in the school office. Prior to that she volunteered as a Parent Helper when her two daughters attended Willow. Mrs Shambrook looks after all the staff, is kind, and very generous with her time. We will all miss her from the staff team. Mrs Shambrook said: ‘It is with a heavy heart that I am saying goodbye to Willow, and I will miss everyone dearly.”

A Warm Welcome Back….

Mrs Cashmore has been working at Willow as a Teaching Assistant since January 2013. Since then she has been studying hard, achieving her Science GCSE, then Maths GCSE, following this with a foundation degree in Child and Family studies, then completing a BA degree in Child and Adolescent Studies. In September 2020 Mrs Cashmore left Willow to study full time to achieve her Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) to become a fully qualified Primary teacher. I’m pleased to say she has returned and will be joining our team in September.

B. End of Term arrangements July 2021

The last day of term in July 2021 for all children will be Wednesday 21st July.This day will run as a normal Wednesday. Timings of the day will be the same as all Wednesdays.

C. Leavers Day –Thursday 22nd July- 8:50am-11:50am

On Thursday 22nd July school will open only for the Main Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be from 8:50 am to 11:50am. All Main Nursery leavers are invited to attend this session, regardless of your child’s normal attendance days. As children are attending for the morning only, no child will require a packed lunch. Children will require their water bottles. Children should arrive at 8:50 am and wait outside as usual.

D. The end of the 2020-2021 Academic Year is rapidly approaching!

We find ourselves rapidly approaching the end of another year at Willow. I have some ‘Thankyous’ that I would like to share. Firstly I would like to thank each and every parent who has chosen Willow for their child. Parents rarely realise that our funding is directly linked to the number of pupils we have, so without your children, there would be no Willow. Thank you to those parents who have kept us well stocked with fruit for snack time. The children have really enjoyed the ice-pops that parents have provided during the summer term. Parents have been very generous this year. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our collection of boxes and tubes for the children to build models with. All support is very appreciated.

Thank you to all parents and staff for working together to keep all our pupils safe. I know the majority of parents have not been inside school at all this year, so thank you for trusting us to look after your children.

I would like to thank all the children that have been with us throughout the pandemic. Their behaviour has been Outstanding. The children have been resilient and resourceful which has been proved in the excellent outcomes they have achieved. The school has provided a sense of normality throughout this challenging time for staff and pupils. Staff’s wellbeing has been challenged at times, but channelling our energies into keeping the children safe and stimulated has kept us going.

The year group that are leaving us at the end of this week are a very special year group, who will be remembered as the group who went through Covid 19 with us. I want to wish all these children every success as they leave us to move on to their Primary Schools in September. There is a collection of very unique and special

individuals that will be leaving us, and we will miss them.

To those families that are staying, my hope is that we can all get to know each other better, that school will become a more ‘open’ place, and we can resume all the normal Nursery activities that we have been excluded from doing during the past year. (Amongst other things, we have all missed Playdough, Sand play/ Messy play, Dressing up and Cooking!)

The only thing left for me to say is ‘Have a Safe Summer’. None of us know what the next few months will bring, but children are only little for a short time, so try and have some positive family time together.

Leigh Davies