Introducing our Team of Staff

Gail - Pre-school Manager

Safer Recruitment Officer

Gail provides management to our team of staff in the ever changing sector that is early years. She supports the Management Committee in their various roles.

Her knowledge and experience helps Playmates to continue offering the best childcare in the area.

Significant talent: Thinking outside the box! "I've had a really great idea...."

Marrilynn - Early Years' Lead

Designated Safeguarding Lead,

Inclusion Manager & SEND-Co-ordinator

Marrilynn oversees our staff to provide activities and experiences to enhance our children's learning. She also supports Kellie in the SEND-Co role and accessing extra support for our families.

Significant talent: Problem solving! "It is what it is!"

Kellie - Early Years' Deputy Lead

SEND-Co-ordinator, DSL support and

Keyworker for the Yellow Circles

Kellie spends equal time on her SEND-Co (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) role and supporting the children in her keygroup.

She runs the Setting when Marrilynn's is absent and is our Designated Safeguarding Lead support.

Significant talent: Inventing silly songs! "There was an old woman named Kellie......"

Charlotte - Senior Practitioner

Senior Practitioner for the Bungalow & Keyworker for the Yellow Circles

Charlotte runs our Bungalow area for our 3 & 4 year olds. She has a degree in Early Years and is passionate about offering the most up-to-date strategies from her continued studies.

Significant talent for: Spending on outlandish resources! "Could I borrow the debit card?"

Sophie - Early Years' Practitioner

Keyworker for the Orange Stars

Sophie leads the Cabin supporting our 2 year olds and ensuring they have the skills to move into the Bungalow when they are ready.

Sophie has a degree in Education and uses her knowledge to provide an appropriately, stimulating environment.

Significant talent for: Instigating morale boosting activities....

Karen - Early Years' Practitioner

Keyworker for the Red Rectangles

Karen helps to provide a calm environment for our quieter and less confident children while supporting the children in her keygroup.

Karen is great at helping our children explore different crafting ideas.

Significant talent for: Creating wacky activities

Claire - Early Years' Practitioner

Keyworker for the Purple Diamonds

Claire helps to explore lots of small world activities and the children love to play their games with her. She is great at forming strong relationships with her keygroup and their families.

Significant talent for: Making her colleagues giggle at her mixed up cliches

Emily - Early Years' Practitioner

Keyworker for the Blue Triangles

Emma is our newest recruit and has slotted in like she's been here for years. The children love her energy and ideas for learning.

Emma is level 3 qualified and has lots of experience.

Significant talent for: "Not sure yet but she's working on it!"

Bonnie - Early Years' Practitioner

Keyworker for the Green Squares

Bonnie is one of our newest recruits and has taken on a keyworker role for the Green Squares. She is proving to be a great asset, the children love her new ideas and energy during sessions.

Significant talent for: Raising everyone's mood with her happy demeanour

Zoe - Early Year's Practitioner

Offers one-to-one support for our children needing a little extra input.

Zoe has shown great dedication to helping our SEN children and those displaying speech and language delays. The children love her volume and enthusiasm in the small group times and her awesome activities,

Significant talent for: Involving every child in her amazing learning opportunities.

Emma - Early Year's Practitioner

Emma is our keyworker for the Orange Stars, along with Sophie.

Emma joined us in May this year and supports the younger children in the Cabin with amazing activities. She has an Early Years' Degree and is very experienced and passionate about sharing her speech and language knowledge.

Significant talent for: Ummmm......let's wait n see!

Jennifer - Early Years' Practitioner

Offering one-to-one support for our children needing extra support in the Cabin

Jennifer supports our children needing extra support in the Cabin. Her calm and quiet manner compliments the rest of the Cabin Team. The children enjoy exploring the Cabin resources with Jennifer.

Significant talent for: Ensuring all the children join in with activities

Tish - Early Years' Administrator

Management support

Tish supports Gail and the senior staff in their roles by providing administration. She deals with invoices and queries and has lots of experience in solving problems, ensuring an efficient service.

Significant talent for: Solving her own and everyone else's problems :)

"At Playmates we realise our
Pre-school is only as strong as the passion and dedication of our team of outstanding staff."

Each staff member is valued within our setting and is regularly reviewed, to ensure they are happy within their roles.
We spend a lot of time providing opportunities for them to enhance their skills and qualifications, to ensure the Playmates' environment is fun, safe and stimulating for all children.

Each Keyworker gets to know their individual children and their families, so we can offer a more personal service, and parents feel confident that their child is reaching their full potential during their time with us.

Keyworkers will send observations home (via Famly, our online nursery application) and welcome any input from the family to share in their child's learning journey.

All staff supervising the children are qualified to Level 3 or above in childcare, (except Bonnie who is completing her level 3 now) 3 staff have degrees in education and we are all qualified in paediatric first aid.