WITH the summer holidays now in full flow children across Helensburgh and Lomond have a couple of months to prepare for the start of the new school term.

Several local youngsters – including those at Drumfork Nursery – will take the giant step up from pre-school to primary one in August.

And ahead of that milestone, seven children at Drumfork celebrated their graduation from the nursery at the end of June with a “magical” forest ceremony.

Drumfork Nursery practitioner Louise Jary said: “All our pre-school staff put all their love and effort into creating such a magical, beautiful setting for our little people, awe and wonder and memories that we’ll all keep forever.

“One of the reactions when our little pringles saw the setting was “wow”. That made our hearts melt.

“The forest was full of candles, we made it personal to each child by having their own creations in a frame displayed for all to see, full of lanterns, provocations set up to spark their curious little minds, it really was just wow!

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“We thanked all our little people for being their unique selves, for creating a loving, wonderful, magical atmosphere throughout our setting, for sharing lots of cuddles and amazing memories, for their gorgeous smiley faces, for holding hands and making our days just so special.

“Each child received a gift bag including gifts which were handmade by the pre-school staff and a personalised scroll with a beautiful goodbye poem inside.

“There sure were lots of tears, not a dry eye in the house.”

Louise said she was proud of the Drumfork “dream team” who helped make the event possible, and wished the children good luck as they head on to pastures new after the summer break.

She added: “It was an absolutely magical day, a wonderful setting and we didn’t want the day to end.

“We’re all still on cloud million.

“I want to thank all my tribe for making our vision a reality, and ensuring the whole day ran perfectly, just full of awe and wonder and sprinkling their magic all around the forest.

“I am so proud of my tribe and the whole Drumfork Nursery family. We sure are a dream team.”

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