Little Steps Childcare

🚒 Join us at Gloucester South Community Fire Station and SkillZONE Open Day!

Enjoy live demonstrations, have-a-go activities, family fun and refreshments, all completely FREE. Come along, meet your local firefighters and discover more about the work we do.

📅 Date: Saturday 22 August 2026
🕚 Time: 11am to 3pm
💛 SkillZONE tours 11am to 1pm
📍 Location: Gloucester South Community Fire & Rescue Station, Shepard Road, Gloucester, GL2 5EL

We can't wait to see you there! 👨‍🚒🔥

🚒 Join us at Stroud Community Fire Station Open Day!

Enjoy live demonstrations, have-a-go activities, family fun and refreshments, all completely FREE. Come along, meet your local firefighters and discover more about the work we do.

📅 Date: Sunday 9 August 2026
🕚 Time: 11am to 3pm
📍 Location: Stroud Community Fire & Rescue Station, Paganhill Lane, Stroud, GL5 4JT

We can't wait to see you there! 👨‍🚒🔥

This is exactly how I feel this week 🥹 Three little ones leaving me ready for their next adventure 💫

The hardest part of working in early years isn’t the long days, the paperwork or the endless cleaning ...
It’s the goodbyes. 💔

This week, I say goodbye to some incredible little people. Some have been by my side since they were just eight months old. I’ve watched them take their first wobbly steps, heard their first words, celebrated countless milestones and had the privilege of watching their personalities unfold, one day at a time.

People sometimes ask whether you get used to it.
Whether, after enough years, saying goodbye becomes easier. 🤔

It doesn’t.
Because this has never just been a job.

It’s years of shared laughter, muddy adventures, bedtime stories read in the middle of the day, tiny hands reaching for yours, cuddles after wobbles, celebrations after triumphs, and ordinary moments that quietly become the ones you’ll treasure forever.

The children leave ready.

Ready because somewhere along the way, confidence replaced uncertainty. Curiosity replaced hesitation. Friendships blossomed. Independence grew… And that has always been the goal.

But knowing they’re ready doesn’t make the goodbye any less emotional. 🥹

I think that’s something many of us in early years understand. We spend years helping children spread their wings, all while quietly knowing that one day they’ll be ready to fly.

And when that day comes, we hold two feelings at once... immense pride in how far they’ve come, and quiet sadness that our chapter together has reached its end.

So this week, I’ll smile.
I’ll celebrate every achievement.
I’ll tell them just how proud I am.

Then, when the last little wave disappears through the door, I might have a little cry too. 🥲

To every child beginning their next adventure...
Thank you for letting me be part of your story.
You have filled my days with more joy than you’ll ever know.

Go and shine brightly.
I’ll be cheering you on, always. 🌈🫶🏻❤️

🍓Strawberry Picking!
One of my favourite things to do in the summer! 🍓Are they ripe/ready?
🍓What does ripe mean?
🍓Can you reach that one?
🍓 Let’s take in turns holding the basket
🍓How many strawberries have we got?
🍓Is the basket heavy?

Then let’s get them weighed, pay and have an ice lolly treat 🙌🏻

🍓When we got home we mashed and cut the fruit and made our own delicious smoothies to drink. Look at those strong hands and fingers at work 💪

What a morning of learning!

🎶 We all can dance when we find music that we love 🎶

We’ve enjoyed reading Giraffes Can’t Dance this week and decided to have our own dance party today! 🦒