In 1965, Mrs Davida Higgin realised that there was a need for a nursery school in Danbury when she decided to close the play group that she ran in her own home.  A meeting of all interested mothers was called, the outcome of which was that a working committee of 12 was elected.

Negotiations were immediately put into effect to secure premises to run the nursery school from and the congregational hall was rented for the reasonable sum of thirty shillings per week!  In September, 1965 with our full quota of fifteen children and a trained nursery nurse, Mrs Heather Riches, Danbury Nursery School, as it was then known, was born.
Volunteer parents and members of the community ran the nursery school to great success and by 1969 there was a waiting list of 160 children. In the years that followed, the nursery school expanded to three sites and continued to be run by volunteer parents as a community venture.

Gradually, things have changed and we now run with trained staff, Ofsted inspections are carried out, and we now follow the curriculum guidelines for the early years foundation stage.  These days parents are still very much involved. A committee of parents oversees the smooth running of the Pre-School, the employment of staff and fund raise on its behalf to ensure that your children have the most up to date toys and equipment available to them.

A number of years ago, a decision was made that we needed to create a permanent home for what had become Danbury Pre-Schools, Busy Bees and First Friends in order to create a better environment for our children and our staff.  In our own building we would be able to improve the facilities we offered and design a space specifically for our “little people”.  The Yellow Brick Road Project was created and has been supported by the hard work and dedication of parents within the village and the wider community.

In 2010 we were lucky enough to receive a Sure Start capital building works grant.  This, together with the funds raised through the Yellow Brick Road Project, enabled us to build our wonderful new home in the grounds of St John’s Church of England Primary School.

We would like to thank anyone who has been involved with the Pre-School over the years and those that have supported us at our many fund raising events for all the hard work that has gone into making the Pre-School the success that it is today.