Class of 2023

Last night we held a very special event for our school leavers. Families were invited to spend an evening on the lawn to celebrate their little superstars as they prepare to leave nursery and start their school career. The team were on hand to welcome our guests and serve delicious biscuits in the shape of our logo, (thank you Liz) and drinks. Families and friends enjoyed playing in the garden and chatting before the celebrations commenced.

Sarah welcomed everyone warmly and it was an emotional moment to reflect on just how proud we are of this group of school leavers. We thought back to the long days of lockdown and how much we missed seeing our children in our nursery and hearing laughter and giggles. We only had groups of 8-10 in nursery during those times and life was very strange for all of us, including us grown ups!

'Puffins' group have grown and bonded as a class and we couldn't be more proud. Our team, many of whom have been here 15 plus years and have over 276 years of early years experience, attended the evening too as many of the children have gone through nursery and even started in our baby room!

Sarah pointed out the many siblings of families, many of whom went all the way through nursery and continue to make us proud with their ongoing achievements - some are also taller than us now! We also thanked our amazing volunteer Rhys who has been volunteering on Friday afternoons with the class as part of his DofE award. Rhys was once an after school attendee here and we love the fact that he keeps in touch with us.

Thank you to the anonymous family who nominated us for the Jamie Oliver School Meal award this year. Our on site chef Liz works so hard in the kitchen sourcing food sustainably and creating a varied and delicious menu. Emma Hedge was also nominated for the Nursery World 'SENDCo of the Year Award'. Emma works tirelessly with children, families, staff and other professionals to meet the needs of our children and offer advice. It was an incredible honor to be nominated in these categories and although not successful this time, they are both absolute St. Michael's Legends for the work they do here.

In May, we were shortlisted for the North Devon Business Awards in the Sustainability category and we won! We are an accredited Plastic Free Nursery with Surfers Against Sewage and we are all Eco-Heroes! Sarah invited two Eco-Hero representatives up on stage with Sustainability Lead Katie 'Fox', where they were presented with the award.

This is the start of a very bright future within our nursery. In recent months, the nursery has invested in Forest School training, initiated a Maths Champion Training Programme and we have two qualified 'Baby Champions' based in our 0-2 years room.

The children performed songs from the forest and the big emotional one....'You Got a Friend in Me', (from the film Toy Story). The children sang every lyric beautifully accompanied with signs using Makaton, (and a little poetic licence!)

Each child was then invited to come to the front and shake Sarah's hand before receiving their Graduation Card from Emma Hedge and a beautiful seed bomb from Team Leader Leah.

A wonderful evening was had by all and the weather held out too! Thank you to all our families for attending and making this such a special event. Thank you to the team for their constant care and support and to Sarah and Emma for making this event happen.

Farewell to all our school leavers. Good luck and keep in touch with us!