Shining stars

There is an African proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’, which deserves to be the motto for Puddleducks, the committee-run pre-school in Bishop Monkton, North Yorkshire, where everyone has had a part to play in its success.

In August 2007, Angela Oldershaw took over as leader, when there were only eight children on the register. The previous leader had just resigned and Angela, a qualified teacher whose son had attended the pre-school, stepped in to help rather than see it close. ‘I had no idea what I was letting myself in for,’ says Angela. ‘There was nothing – no policies or procedures, not even a record of the children’s names.’ Angela has taught children of all ages in private, state and boarding schools, as well as Montessori. ‘I wasn’t interested in running a babysitting service,’ she says. ‘I made it clear that if I was going to run Puddleducks, it would have to be outstanding.’