Nursery & Pre-School Staff

Staff at Little Jo’s Day Nursery & Pre School are highly qualified, we have three graduate leaders who drive quality of practice throughout the nursery. Our other practitioners have level 3, 4 and 5 qualifications.

Staff have many years’ experience in child care and education, most practitioners having worked at Little Jo’s since opening in 2002. We maintain an excellent record of staff retention which has a positive impact on standards of care and education for children at the setting.

We actively encourage our staff to continue with their personal development and update their training. Training such as Speech and Language has been undertaken so we are able to provide individual speech, language and communication programmes for young children.

All staff have Safeguard Training (3 have Advanced), First Aid Training and Food Safety.

Our recruitment process is robust. The system requires an up to date Disclosure and Barring System (DBS) document and valid references. We have carefully chosen staff for their experience, knowledge, enthusiasm, continuous professional development and their caring nature.

We are a leading provider of Short Breaks for children locally. We believe our success is due to highly trained staff supported by four Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOS).

Nursery School Staff

Details of all the staff currently working at Little Jo's Day Nursery are listed below.

Name: Karina Jackson Position: Managing Director/Staff Management Officer/Advance Safeguarding Officer Qualifications: BA Honours First Class in Early Years Childhood Studies Date Started: September 2002

Name: Katie Anne Mellor Position: Manager/ Safeguarding Lead/ Lead SENCO Qualifications: BA Honours in Early Years Childhood Studies Date Started: September 2011

Name: Anna Fieldsend Position: Assistant Manager/ Pre-School Coordinator/ Safeguarding Leader /Polish Translator Qualifications: Level 3 Playwork Date Started: November 2003

Name: Marie Cutts (Maz) Position: PSED Coordinator /Health and Safety Officer/Student Coordinator Qualifications: NVQ Level 3 Early Years Care and Education Date Started: September 2002

Currently on Maternity Leave

Name: Geri Johnson Position: SEND Practitioner (Pre-School) /SENCO Qualifications: NVQ Level 3 in Early Years Care and Education Date Started: April 2014

Name: Kim Senior Position: Baby Room Coordinator/Transition Coordinator /Health and Safety Officer Qualifications: BA Honours in Early Years Childhood Studies Date Started: November 2010

Name: Emma Ibottson Position: Early Years Practitioner (Toddler Room)/ Fund Raising Coordinator Qualifications: Cache Diploma Level 3 in Early Years Care and Education Date Started: September 2009

Name: Amie Sheeron Position: Early Years Practitioner (Pre-School) Qualifications: WT Level 4 childhood studies Date Started: September 2013

Name: Zoe Kemp Position: Early Years Practitioner (Baby Room) Qualifications: Cache Diploma Level 3 in Early Years Date Started: September 2014

Name: Jodie Murdoch Position: Toddler Room Coordinator/ 2 years checks Coordinator/ Lead in Wellcomm Qualifications: Level 3 in Early Years Date Started: September 2016

Name: Lucy Fenton Position: Early Years Apprentice (Toddler Room) Qualifications: Early Years Apprentice WT Level 3 Date Started: September 2016

Name: Paige Aspinwall Position: Early Years Practitioner (Baby Room)/ PSED Coordinator Qualifications: BA Honour in Early Years Date Started: June 2017

Name: Ellie Duffy Position: Early Years Practitioner (Pre-School) Qualifications: Cache Diploma Level 3 in Early Years Date Started: January 2017

Name: Faith Senior Position: Early Years Apprentice (Baby Room) Qualifications: W/T Level 3 Childcare Date Started: September 2017

Name: Emma Hunter Position: Early Years Practitioner (Baby Room) Qualifications: Level 3 in Early Years Date Started: 2016

Name: Gillian Mellor Position: Nursery Cook Qualifications: Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene for Catering Date Started:

Name: Sandra Swann Position: Nursery Cook Qualifications: Certificate in Food Safety, Nutrition for under 5's and Food Allergies fo under 5's. Date Started:

Training to Ensure Childrens Safety and Welfare

All staff have Paediatric First Aid and Safeguard Training (including four staff with Advanced Safeguarding). Some staff have recieved Team Teach, Epilepsy, and Epi Pen Training.

Training to Support Children with Special Educational Needs

We have four Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators, who have a wealth of training including speech and language (ELKLAN and WELCOMM), Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) & Autism.