Tanglewood Nursery School

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History

Tanglewood Nursery School was founded in 1946 and was formerly known as 'Corporation Road Nursery', based on Corporation  Road, in Chelmsford.

Corporation Road Nursery School was initially set up as a nursery school so that the women could return to work while the men were at war.

In later years the air raid shelter became the bike shed!

The Nursery was renamed when it relocated to its current site in Melbourne Avenue in September 1985 .

Tanglewood Headteachers - Through the Years                                                                   

  • Olga Burrell came over to Tanglewood from Corporation road in 1985 and on retirement in 1987 was replaced by Jackie Arnott.  
  • Jackie retired at Christmas 2001 and we welcomed Ann Barker.
  • Ann Barker joined us in January 2002, she was previously the green room teacher and Deputy Head.  Ann retired the Christmas of 2009.
  • Sue Sutton joined us in the January of 2010 and left us at Christmas 2016 moving on to a new post in Cambridge.  
  • In January 2017 our 2 Deputy Heads Rose Harmer and Donna MacDonald took over as Acting Headteachers on a temporary basis until a new head was appointed. 
  • Our new head, Deborah Watson joined us in September 2017.
  • In July 2019 we are pleased to say that Ofsted rated us as outstanding. 

 Tanglewood & Little Tanglewood - Through the Years

  • Rainbow Room - We were lucky enough to have an 'I-Can Speech and Language' unit named 'Rainbow Room', put in place by Essex County Council working together with the Speech and Language Service. It was the first of its kind in Essex and only the fourth nationwide. It opened in November 1993. 
  • Reception Area - Building work to the front of the nursery was started in September 2011. We moved into a new office area, heads office, library and staff room in January 2012.
  • Forest Garden - A second piece of land was acquired in 2012 to the rear of the back garden and we created our forest garden. Tanglewood and Little Tanglewood make good use of the Forest Garden throughout the year, enjoying a range of 'Forest School' activities.
  • Tanglewood Garden - Ground works were started in the back garden during the summer of 2014. The result was the addition of a second hill, trees, and our giant sandpit with water pump
  • Sadly in June 2015 our storage shed was burnt down and we lost a lot of our equipment. Parents donations and fundraising were ongoing in 2015 to raise funds to replace the shed and equipment.
  • Little Tanglewood - We started an exciting new phase in 2015 and we opened Little Tanglewood for 2 year olds!! The project was started in August 2015 and 2 year olds were admitted in September 2015 to a temporary base in Green room, the building was completed by half term. Staff took the children for play visit sessions after half term to introduce them to the new building and they all moved in to the new building on Monday 16th November 2015.
  • The Training Room - Green room was closed and used for the temporary base for Little Tanglewood in September 2015. Then in January 2016 it had the deck dismantled, was re-painted and turned into the new Tanglewood Training Room. The room is used for courses and meetings offered by Tanglewood and other professionals, e.g The Tanglewood Partnership, Essex Early Years Team, Early Excellence, The Speech and Language Teams and The Specialist Teacher Teams.
  • Over the summer of 2016 a replacement shed was built in the forest garden. This is a fabulous building that not only stores our forest garden resources but is also big enough to act as an outside classroom during forest garden sessions.
  • Tanglewood Garden - In January 2017 we where excited to have phase 2 of the rear garden started. This includes natural climbing areas and a slide into the hill.
  • Alecia's Corner - Forest Garden- In spring 2017 a set of memorial benches were set into the forest garden, in memory of one our pupils Alecia Lee who sadly passed away in the spring of 2016. The benches were chosen by her family and Mr Stuart Hall, Alecia's class teacher. Mr Hall kindly carved her name on the benches in both English and Cantonese. On the front of the benches it has her English name and on the back of the bench it reads her Cantonese name, Lee England Surprise and "Loving Corner" in Cantonese. This is a very special, quiet, chatting place for both staff and children.
  • Time Capsule - In 1994 a time capsule was buried in the footings of the new front garden sandpit. In the summer of 2015, when digging began for Little Tanglewood, the capsule was found. Sadly the documents and photo's had a lot of water damage but the original letter has been saved, click on the link below to read it. time-capsule-letter-found-August-2015.pdf

    THE DIGGING UP OF THE TIME CAPSULE WHEN FOUNDATIONS FOR LITTLE TANGLEWOOD WHERE BEING EXCAVATED.

  • The Bubble House - In January 2018, we discovered a hidden room at Tanglewood. Attached to Red Room is our very own sensory room which we re-named 'The Bubble House'. This was restored by the SEN Team and has proved to be a valuable resource for children with additional needs.