Romsey Mill’s new Pre-school Coordinator, Sylvia Briscoe (pictured below), shares about new beginnings in our settings at Romsey Mill Centre and Ross Street Community Centre.

“Laughter, shrieks of excitement, chatting, crying, pangs of anxiety and words of reassurance, that their beloved carers WILL return; are all sounds that can be heard in our Pre-school settings at the start of each new academic year.

This September, some children returned to the same Pre-school setting, after the summer holiday; whilst some children moved on from the setting in Romsey Mill Centre to the Ross Street Community Centre setting. For other children it was the first time that they had stepped into a Pre-school at all, and possibly the first time that they may have even been separated from their main carer.

It is always so rewarding, helping the children to settle in and a privilege to be part of their journey, and to watch them grow into confident, increasingly independent little people.

It was not just the children that experienced new beginnings! For our Pre-school, it is the start of a new chapter, following the retirement of our lovely Co-ordinator, Yvonne Burke. During her time at Romsey Mill, Yvonne nurtured and supported everyone that was fortunate enough to cross her path, a legacy that will be hard to follow!  However, I will endeavour to do my best to help Romsey Mill’s Pre-school settings to continue to thrive.

During the summer, we recruited new team members, and our team has now grown to 11 members of staff: 1 co-ordinator, 2 leaders, 4 pre-school assistants, and 4 one-to-one assistants.

We are always happy to receive offers of help from volunteers, so if you would like your life to be enriched by helping our Pre-school children grow, please do speak directly with one of the team, or contact us via: [email protected].”