Dear parents

We have loved being back to ‘typical’ Woodlands Days after the pandemic. The team and I have enjoyed the past three terms with your children and in this final edition of our newsletter for the year we share our abiding memories.

I can’t pretend that we haven’t found it challenging in some ways, with staff changes and illnesses. However , through it all, your children have been the reasons for us to push through, on and upwards.

This year’s cohort have demonstrated exceptionally good listening skills and made our job of teaching them new things, easy. They have relished the opportunities for role play and I can’t recall ever having to wash the dressing up clothes so much.

They impressed us mightily on bring your bike to school day- I honestly did not know that so many three year olds can ride a bike at high speed with the stabilisers removed!

At the start of our Teddy Bears Picnic, I admitted to parents that this was the first time in Woodlands’s 7 years that we had hosted a family picnic.  I really wasn’t sure how it would go…. But looking at the feedback later that day, I feel confident that it can become an annual event now.  As I am sure you can appreciate a lot of organising goes into even the smallest of events.  Thank you to Emily and her catering team for our plentiful picnic treats.  Thank you to the Woodlands teachers for organising the fun and varied games. Every activity was different and even the siblings were able to participate in the fence painting and parachute fun.  Thank you to Donna for writing a fully comprehensive risk assessment. Thank you to Emma for working out the order of the events and keeping us on track. Thank you Mrs Dalkin for clearing space in her hectic schedule and joining the parents, teachers and children.  Finally… we were all grateful for the sunshine turning up that afternoon.

‘Thank yous’  must be reiterated to Catherine and Lily for their unwavering support for me and the team and for the time they have given up to ensure that you all had various opportunities to feel very much part of the Woodlands community.

When we were awarded the Top Twenty in the Eastern Region of the UK again, we all felt grateful. To have our effort and dedication recognised was just wonderful. Thank you to those of you who took the time to answer the survey.

Might I ask one final thing of you before your children either leave us or return in September?

Would you kindly tell your friends, colleagues and neighbours about the hidden gem of a Nursery in the woods in Markyate please? ( We are also in the Top 5 Nurseries in Hertfordshire).

Thank you for sending your child to Woodlands over this past year and I hope to see you around School or indeed back here with another Woodlander!

Have a fantastic summer holiday and please tell your children how proud all their teachers are of them.

Kind regards

Shirley.

Shirley Hayman

Head of Nursery