Holiday Clubs

WE ARE NOW CLOSED FOREVER .....

After a lot of thought & consideration & with GREAT SADDNESS I have had to make the very tough decision to stop running Holiday Clubs in Christ Church School in Chorleywood.

The Chorleywood Parish Council’s (CPC), Open Spaces Sub Committee, decision to maintain their stance of charging us for the children in our care to use The Common (despite the 428 signatures on petition (https://c.org/Jd8BGRSKpS) requesting them to to review their decision played a major part in my decision. 

The justification used ‘You are a business, therefore you have to pay’, in my opinion demonstrated a lack of nuanced thinking. The Councillors didn’t seem able to understand that I have always considered & therefore run our childcare as a service to the community. This lack of understanding & support for what we do for the community has left me feeling both undervalued & not heard. 

On top of this, the Chess Valley Primary Learning Trust (CVPLT) has increased our rental charges by 35%. This means that our overall ‘premises’ costs have been increased by 55%. These are on now top of the recent increases in London Living Wage & National Insurance. 

Some have said ‘just add these increase’s onto your prices’. However I already feel our prices are on the high side (even though we have absorbed some of the recent increases in our staffing costs). I think if we just keep passing on the increases, we were in danger of becoming unaffordable to a lot of the hardworking families therefore pricing ourselves out of the market. Running a Holiday Club where we are open & vulnerable to open market forces has been a very different experience to running a Before & After School Club when we had more of a monopoly. I believe considered pricing has been key to our success.  And very sadly, our margins are so small, I can’t absorb any more extra costs. 

So the situation is untenable for me. WHY?

1) The responsibility of providing childcare is now sitting too heavily with me. Hence I no longer want to try to balance the many risks (financial, health & safety, staffing/employment, liability, my personal reputation etc) accompanied with tight regulation (OFSTED / Food Hygiene regulation). 

2) I wish to educate children about the positive psychological effects of the outdoors & nature can have on their spirits/souls, may be even learning how it can help them maintain good mental health for the rest of their lives. Hence any type of financial barrier from the CPC, does not sit comfortably with my soul.

So I gently bow out. I accept that the ‘establishment’ has won the day. I don’t understand their thinking & probably never will BUT I am not going to let that destroy my many good memories of taking care of many beautiful young children over the last 19 years. I just hope CPC might take this opportunity to see the consequences of their decisions & just may be going forward they might start to think in a more nuanced manner. It just might serve the Chorleywood community better. 

We have really enjoyed providing EXCELLENT childcare (recognised by OFTSED in two inspections) in the wonderful environment that Christ Church School offers since 2017. It has been hard, challenging work but also gloriously rewarding work. BUT this old bird knows when her day is up. 

I want to THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of my heart ❤️ for all those who have supported us over the years. It was that (and of course the delightful sweet peas in our care) together with my fabulous team who have kept me going.

Bless you - Pippa 

PS Going forward, in early 2026 I will be setting up my Private Psychotherapy/Counselling Practice in my garden in a Yurt (combining the healing powers or the outdoors & nature with therapy) in leafy Sarratt; I will be qualified & experienced in working with children, young people & adults. I am thinking my services could include some small ‘Good Mental Health’ workshops at the weekends and/or in the holidays 💚. As they say ‘As one door closes, another one opens’.

Uploaded on 9th October 2025

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PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT OUR PHOTOS  BELOW & ON THE FACILITIES PAGE TO SEE THE SOME OF THE FUN WE GOT UP TO LAST SUMMER  .....

We run GREAT FUN, HOLIDAY CLUBS providing the same EXCELLENT childcare as we have done for the last 20 years but now during the holidays & at the prestigious Christ Church School in Chorleywood. We look forward to taking care of children from ALL schools.  

The feeling of the Holiday Club will be NURTURING & STIMULATING Child CARE  with an OUTDOOR THEME. When the weather allows we will get the children outside. This is purposefully NOT your large full on Sports Activity Club; we will be SMALL & INTIMATE aimed at 4 (children regularly attending  a school nursery- See *** below) to 10 year olds.

We will also feed the children a NUTRITIOUS BREAKFAST & NOURISHING HOT TEA **. We know well fed children are happy with good behaviours. We think one packed lunch between 9am to 5.30pm is not enough food for small active bodies.

We will keep employing the same wonderful, experienced, caring & qualified team members as we know a familiar face is always reassuring. We will try to operate at a ratio of just 1 adult to between 6 to 8 children as we fervently believe this is VITAL to providing great child CARE. And Pippa will usually be onsite as being with the children as this is the bit she truly loves. Pippa relishes the constant challenge of trying to deliver the right environment for ALL children. 

The HEAD of Christ Church School recently spent time with us - These are her observations :-

"It is wonderful to see all children flourishing under Pippa & her team's nurturing care. Children have the freedom to roam, choose an activity at their own pace & interact with others of their choosing which has created an environment where children are calm, content & thriving. Children are encouraged to play outside & explore in the beautiful surroundings of Chorleywood Common; having time outside in nature is vital for children's mental, spiritual & physical wellbeing. The Holiday club is simply put a nurturing, kind & happy environment for children to be in".

We very recently been inspected BY OFSTED. We are delighted with the charming report. Click here to read it.  

*** ALL Children need to be able to independently take care of themselves : Hence we will expect all children in our care to be : 1) Capable of understanding & following simple rules/requests (this keeps them & other children safe) 2) Toilet trained 3) Able to enjoy sitting at at a table for meal times & feeding themselves 4) Able to dress themselves 5) Walk unaided for 15/20 minutes.