Springwood Copnor

Dear Springwood Families,

Today marked our very last day of the preschool year, and what an incredible journey it has been!

We want to say a massive, heartfelt thank you for all of your incredibly generous gifts, beautiful cards, and kind words today. Your thoughtfulness truly means the world to our entire teamwe are feeling incredibly spoiled and so very appreciated! ❤️

Thank you for trusting us with your wonderful children this year. Watching them grow, learn, and play has been an absolute joy.

🌴 Summer Holidays & Return Dates:

We hope you and your little ones have a fantastic, fun-filled, and relaxing summer break🌞.

Just a quick reminder for your calendars:
First day back: Thursday, September 3rd

Have a lovely summer, stay safe, and we can't wait to see you all in September!

Warmest wishes,
Springwood Preschool 🥰

What a beautiful, busy day we’ve had at Springwood Preschool! With the sun shining brightly🌞 , the children made the absolute most of our last days in the garden, immersing themselves in wonderful sensory play and teamwork.

At the water tray, a dedicated “crew “worked together beautifully to splash in the bubbles, scrub a toy car, and use teapots and bowls to practice pouring.

Nearby, some of our little carers gave the dolls a thorough wash, even having fun styling their hair with soapy bubbles.

Over in the gravel area, our builders and bakers were busy sorting stones into colourful cupcake liners to make "pebble cupcakes" while incorporating bricks and soft toys into their play. It is so heartwarming to see the children sharing, giggling, and making such special memories together during these final days in our lovely garden!🌞🥰

A huge thank you to all of our wonderful Springwood parents for your incredible generosity and support. 💛

Thank you to everyone who kindly donated party food and contributed money towards our graduations and party. Your kindness helped make the day so special for all the children.

We truly appreciate your continued support. It means so much to us and helps create wonderful memories for our children. Thank you for being such an amazing community! 🎉😊

Springwood team 🥰🥰

‼️ We are now open 45 weeks per year! ‼️

To all our parent’s

From September 2026 our services are open and providing childcare and education for 45 weeks per year.

You’re child’s funding can be used ( spilt ) over 45 weeks per year, instead of 38 weeks.

We have attached highlighted dates from this academic years calendar showing the additional weeks we are open.

Some parents have informed Catia they wish to switch, and this switch has been completed with Portsmouth funding team ready for September .

Our addittional services open in the holidays can also be paid for instead of using you’re child’s funding.

So if you’re needing childcare during the highlighted weeks on this calendar , please let Catia know who will share the costs , and book you a place.

We can look after children up to 8years old during the holidays.

We are super proud to be able to extended our services to our local community, we appreciate your continued support.

Kind regards

Rachael
Director

📢 Important Update: September Funding & Hours (Action Required Today!)

Dear Springwood Preschool Families,

We are currently working on our funding and scheduling for the upcoming academic year. To ensure we have everything perfectly in place for September, we need all families to confirm their choices by the end of the day today.
Please read the following options carefully and let us know your decision as soon as possible.

🗓️ Term-Time vs. Stretched Hours
We will be open for 45 weeks of the year.

You need to decide whether you want to use your funding strictly during term-time( 38 weeks) or "stretch" your hours across the 45 weeks:

30-Hour Funding: Can be stretched to 25 hours per week across 45 weeks.
15-Hour Funding: Can be stretched to 12.5 hours per week across 45 weeks.

💡 Top-Up Option: If you wish to keep your full hours during the week and still cover the holiday periods, you have the option to pay an additional fee for the extra hours.

⏰ Daily Timings & Funding Windows
Breakfast Club: Open from 8:00 AM (This is a separate, chargeable fee and cannot be covered by funding).
Funding Hours: Government funding can only be applied to care delivered between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM.

What we need from you TODAY:
Please reply to this post or message us directly with:
1. Your child's name.
2. Whether you choose Term-Time Only or Stretched Hours.
3. If you want to pay extra to top up your hours over the holidays.
Because we are finalising our funding submissions today, your prompt response is incredibly important.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support and cooperations

Early Years Funding update:

We have news!!😬
From September 2026 we are expanding our services, offering childcare term time, and over 45 weeks.

This meaning children are able to keep their funding as it is now, or stretch their funding over 45 weeks.

If you choose to stretch your funding, the amount of hours you will be eligable to use each week are as follows;

15 hours - 12.5 hours per week over 45 weeks

30 hours- 25 hours per week over 45 weeks

If you wish to swap to stretch, please let us know as soon as possible.

We are claiming for september funding this week, which the portal closes by July 3rd.
We would need to know by this date how parents wish to use there funding, ( standard or stretch)

Please message us or comment below if you wish to stretch your funding.

Kind regards
Rachael
Owner

URGENT UPDATE: Adjusted hours for tomorrow (Closing at 12:30pm)

Dear Parents and Carers,
We are so sorry to be messaging you again so quickly after our last update!

Unfortunately, since sending our previous post , several of our team members have been notified that their own children's schools and childcare settings are closing early tomorrow due to the extreme heat.

Because our team will need to leave to collect their own children, we will unfortunately not have enough staff in the building to safely maintain our required adult-to-child ratios for the afternoon.

As a result, we will only be able to open for the morning tomorrow, and the nursery will close early at 12:30pm.

Just to confirm the plan for tomorrow morning:
Shorter hours: We will be open for the morning only, closing at 12:30pm.

Cooler space: As planned, we will still be spending the morning in the beautifully cool church hall rather than our main rooms.
Drop-off and Pick-up: Please continue to use our normal nursery doors for both drop-off and the 12:30pm pick-up.

Staying home is okay: We know that a half-day might make things even more difficult for your working arrangements. We completely understand if it is easier to just keep your children at home tomorrow. If you decide to do this, please just drop us a quick message so we know.

We are truly so sorry for this back-and-forth and for the immense disruption this causes to your week. Trying to navigate this heatwave has been incredibly challenging, and we cannot thank you enough for your continued patience, flexibility, and kindness.

Warm regards,
Springwood team 🥰

Urgent Update: Nursery Closure Tomorrow Due to Extreme Heat

Dear Parents and Carers,
We are writing to provide an urgent update regarding the current heatwave and our nursery operations.

While we have been doing everything possible today to keep the children cool, the exceptional heat has made the environment very challenging.

Furthermore, because our outdoor area only receives one hour of shade in the morning, we are unable to safely take the children outside during the heat of the day.

As a result, the children have understandably been very unsettled. Their health, safety, and well-being are always our absolute priorities, and we cannot comfortably or safely care for them under these conditions.

Therefore, the nursery will be closed all day tomorrow, Wednesday 24th June.
We completely understand that a short-notice closure causes inconvenience for families, and we truly apologise for the disruption to your routine. However, we must put the safety of the children first.

We will monitor the weather and indoor temperatures closely tomorrow and will keep you fully updated via our usual channels regarding our reopening plans for Thursday.

Thank you so much for your understanding, flexibility, and continued support.
Warm regards,
Springwood Team

🎈 Party Countdown! How you can help us get ready 🍰

Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s hard to believe, but our End of Year Party Day is almost here! We can't wait to see you all on Tuesday, 14th July (10:30 AM – 12:30 PM) for some well-deserved fun.

To help us get everything organised here at Springwood, we need a little bit of teamwork!
We’ve had some lovely offers of help, and now that the date is creeping up, we’d love to get a final headcount on donations so we can plan ahead.

If you're able to help out, could you please have a quick chat with one of the team?
We'd love to coordinate on:
🪙 Money donations (to help us buy party supplies)
🥪 Party food and drinks
🍬 Nut-free treats for the kids

A quick heads-up on what you'd like to bring helps us make sure we don’t end up with ten plates of sausage rolls and no juice!

Thank you all so much for your kindness and generosity. We honestly couldn't ask for a better community, and we can't wait to celebrate with you all!

Big hugs,
Springwood Team 🥰