Monday 19 November 2018

Pine Pixies Pre-School history




















When I took over Elbow Lane Pre-School in 2001 it was a well established facility that had been running for approx 30 years and was well known throughout the village. 

I was running the creche at Tone Zone gym at the time and the parents whose children attended Elbow Lane were desperate to save their pre-school, which was in danger of closing.  My second daughter was born basically as I took over, so it was a pretty hectic April that year! 

Clipping below for the pre-school's first anniversary and my daughter's first birthday.



St Luke’s playgroup owner approached me a year later to buy her playgroup at Kirklake Road. I registered it with OFSTED and put in place the free funding and so another pre-school was initiated. 

We needed a name for both combined facilities so ‘Pine Pixies Pre-Schools’ was born. Our logo came from a staff member and friend who attended a creative course for our setting, we loved it so much, it was kept as the logo.  




















We have built up an exceptional reputation for the name of Pine Pixies Pre-School over the seventeen years we were open. We used to annually run the pre-school area in the ‘All Churches Together’ fun day at Duke St Park every August. We also had fun attending the Victorian Day in Formby.





Our OFSTED reports always showed a positive, happy and safe environment for the children who attended and we had good ratings from them.  Feedback from parents has always been positive and parents have returned time again with other siblings.  

























We filled an essential gap within the local community, as we found we were needed not just for the children but for the parents too. Pre-school has always been looked on as a different ethos to a full day nursery or a parent/toddler playgroup. It is a gentle stepping stone to either full time school nursery or reception not just for the children but parents too, as they begin to ‘let go’ of their toddler for perhaps the first time. 

























On February 10th 2012 I closed the Elbow Lane Pre-School, due to ongoing garden space problems whereby the children were eventually fenced off by the church committee from using the grassy area, and the need to open more hours. 

One person I must thank is Santa, who has always visited our setting to give joy to all the children at Yuletide. I will miss Santa! 
































I have loved ‘every single minute’ of setting up and running this successful pre-school business for the last seventeen years and will miss the staff and setting dreadfully. Due to ongoing health problems since April I had to bow out, but  I believe it will continue to grow from strength to strength as Footprints@Pinetots with  the new owners First Steps Enterprises

My family have been a very large part of the enthusiasm, hard work, ups and downs over the years. My husband Pat has been the co-owner, gardener, dogsbody, DIY chap and just about everything required behind the scenes. 








Our four children, Fiona, Kyle, Jasmine and Jason have all been a part of the business helping along the way. 





Many staff have come and gone, but two have been with us for fifteen years, Lynda and Kay. Sue nine years and Martine for eight and a half years. Lynda and Martine (below) joint managers of Pine Pixies are two of the best people I have had the pleasure of working with. Their professionalism is second to none and the working relationship the three of us had was fantastic.







































They are continuing at the nursery and I must also congratulate Alesha in her new role as Deputy.

The staff members have always been very committed to the facilities and have been a pleasure to work with. They brought in many unique qualities, expertise, ideas and personal materials/equipment to enhance the quality of children’s learning.

The years of SENCO expertise we collated, made our nursery a constant choice for children with additional needs. The hard background work towards getting many children ready for school, alongside speech therapists,Sefton professionals in special needs and gaining extra funding to support the children along the way, has been an inspiration I have felt very proud of. 

I can still recall many of the children over the years as 3-4 years old, yet they are now attending as high school students on work placement! I have a lot of memories to look back on. 

I would like to thank all the staff, the numerous parents and children who have been a part of Pine Pixies Pre-School, Sefton people from Early Years, Finance and other areas, Ian from Macpac, Zoe and Dobbies Garden Centre, Formby library, Darren who carried out our end of term discos, Freshfield Children's Centre, OTSNews, Formby Times, Formby Bubble, to mention just a few. Many of the community have helped along the way including below;


Catherine with Zoe at Dobbies Garden Centre


Pictured Salwa Moustafa, Centre Manager of Brookdale Day Centre, Dementia specialist care centre in Ainsdale  (left) with Catherine Owner Pine Pixies Pre-School, accepting the donation of £40 alongside some donated plants after a raffle to raise funds for the centre. 































Lots of cable reels donated from Harbord Electrical.











A big thank you goes out for the lovely leaving gifts from colleagues and friends, also to the lovely card from the children. Our family will miss you all. x

Below last staff photograph of Pine Pixies Pre-School.






















Left to right; Lynda, Joanne, Sue, Kay, Zoe, Martine, myself and Alesha. Great colleagues to finish my seventeen years with.

https://www.facebook.com/PinePixiesPreSchool/

https://www.facebook.com/footprintspinetots/

https://www.otsnews.co.uk/new-chapter-unfolds-formby-pre-school/?fbclid=IwAR1MMpmpTNvcncXANJ9XbDLtEyWzJiGA-pvZVEyiWuYUhGa9oVP3YeJmERA





















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