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.
Nursery closures over Christmas
Don’t look now, but it’s almost December, which means it’s almost time for Christmas and a well-earned break for our hardworking teams across Snapdragons.
This is our schedule for the Christmas week, so you don’t get caught off guard during the festive time!
Monday December 24th - Open, normal hours
Tuesday December 25th - CLOSED
Wednesday December 26th - CLOSED
Thursday December 27th - CLOSED
Friday December 28th - CLOSED
Monday December 31st - CLOSED
Tuesday January 1st - CLOSED
Wednesday January 2nd - Open, normal hours
If you have any other questions at all, please speak to the manager at your Nursery.
Double Praise from Ofsted
Ofsted came visiting in September with Snapdragons Weston and Shirehampton being inspected within the space of a week. Both teams did us proud during their inspections, taking great pride in showcasing their wonderful practice. We’re delighted to be able to share the results with you now that the reports have been officially published.
“Children are superbly well prepared to develop the skills for their move on to school.”
Ofsted Inspector, June Robinson, visited Snapdragons Weston and judged it to be Outstanding in all areas.
She said that the outcomes for children were outstanding and that “Children are superbly well prepared to develop the skills for future learning and eventual move on to school.” Children’s personal development, behaviour and welfare were deemed outstanding and the inspector praised their self-sufficiency and the excellent example set by the staff. The “highly qualified staff work exceptionally well as a team” and “have an excellent knowledge of what children know and can do, and support them highly effectively to meet their full potential.” She was also impressed at the leadership and management at Weston, including their approach to professional development and the support that the team receives to “continually improve their high-quality teaching.”
“Children develop close bonds with staff who know them well.”
For Shirehampton, this was their first Ofsted since opening in 2016 and Inspector Dominique Allotey, was impressed by what she saw, rating the nursery Good in all areas.
She highlighted the strong partnerships with parents, good support and training for staff and safe, healthy and stimulating environments for the children. “Activities away from the setting, such as forest school sessions, help children to be physically active and interact with nature. The homely and very stimulating environments are calm and welcoming. Children develop close bonds with nurturing staff who know them well. This helps them to feel happy and develop high levels of self-esteem.” She identified that manager, Anna, “is very ambitious and committed to providing the best possible learning environments and experiences for children. She continues to raise the already good- quality provision. She seeks feedback from staff, parents and children to identify areas for further development to help raise the quality to the highest level.”
Congratulations and well done to everyone involved in these two brilliant Ofsted results.
Three’s a Crowd at the NMT Awards
Hot on the heels of Christina Noton’s award last month, we’re delighted to announce some more exciting awards news. Three practitioners from our fantastic Snapdragons teams are finalists in the National NMT Nursery Awards 2018.
The NMT Nursery Awards is an annual event organised by Nursery Management Today, a leading business publication in the nursery sector. The Awards are designed to reward excellence in childcare and celebrate the very best people in the Nursery Sector so it is a great honour to have no fewer than three finalists.
Max Bendall & James Fulford
Weston’s Max Bendall and James Fulford from Snapdragons Weston are finalists, where they have been nominated for NMT Room Leader of the Year and NMT Childcare Practitioner of the Year respectively.
Alice Hill
Alice Collard (nee Hill), from our Keynsham nursery, is shortlisted for NMT Personality of the Year.
These are highly regarded and competitive awards and our three finalists will be heading up to London on Friday 19th October to be interviewed by a panel of judges who are all experts in the industry. We wish them the best of luck and know that they will make us proud.
The winners will be announced at a Gala Evening at the Hilton London Metropole on the 1st December 2018 and all three of our finalists will be travelling up to share the excitement of the night.