CHILDREN and staff at a pre-school in Thornbury held a graduation ceremony to celebrate pupils moving on to reception this September.

The graduation ceremony, held on Tuesday, July 18 at Rainbow Teddies Pre-school, was attended by more than 70 guests, including parents, grandparents, other family members and childminders.

All guests were treated to a sparkly drink and nibbles while each child was given a graduation bear with a message attached which commended a special achievement or mentioning a particular positive attribute.

This year staff at Rainbow Teddies, bases at Manorbrook Primary School for the past decade, celebrated its 50th birthday.

It was established in 1967 by mums who would meet in Christ the King church hall, moving to several sites around Thornbury within the past half a century while the group became more popular and needed larger premises.

Rainbow Teddies is independent from Manorbrook but rents two classrooms.

It was rated ‘Outstanding’ in its two prior Ofsted inspections in 2009 and 2015 and takes in children from age two-and-a-half to four, with spaces available for this September.