I started life as a primary school teacher, and in the latter years was on the senior leadership team. My role included heading up curriculum and assessment and I implemented a new creative curriculum through the school.
My last post was as Acting Director of Prep School.
I have three degrees from Durham University; a first class Education degree, a Masters degree (with distinction) in Educational Policy, and a Doctorate in Music Education.
I have lectured at Durham University on their PGCE and QTS programmes, and I currently lecture in the music department at Newcastle University.
Once I gained my Doctorate, and had reached Acting Headship, I left the school system in 2013 to set up a day nursery outside Durham. The business was started with a 10k loan and a lot of blood, sweat and tears! By 2017 I had reached maximum capacity, had been awarded ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, was able to buy my building and double in size.
I am now in the position that I can share my knowledge and experiences to support other Nursery Owners and Managers. I have been working with the LEA and other local nurseries to provide mentoring, training and one-to-one business analysis, to enable managers and owners to run efficient and effective nursery businesses.
Alongside the nursery, I am also an Early Years Music Specialist and run Do Re Mi Musical Learning, teaching early years music classes and running music training for Nursery Practitioners.
I can help you in
many ways! Importantly though, I have ‘walked
the walk’; I am not just a ‘business person’ trying to apply ‘off the
shelf’ formula and spreadsheets. First
and foremost, I am a passionate Educator who has a heart for enabling
people to learn, whether I am working with children, university students, nursery
owners or teachers! I do not lose focus of
the children, families and staff at the heart of nurseries, and how they
impact on business decisions. I
acknowledge that not all nurseries are the same, and different people have
different skill sets. I work
alongside you in a personal and holistic way, taking the time to understand
your business.
My aim is to help
you with any aspect of running a nursery where you feel you may need a
little more knowledge or confidence. You
may have a specific situation in mind that you would like support with. Or you may wish me to work with you to carry
out a financial analysis of your business. What areas you are performing well in? What areas need support to get right? Are you
bamboozled by numbers? Do you need to be
more profitable? Is it that your funding
model is losing you money?
You may be
exploring taking on another setting, or setting up a nursery for
the first time. I can help you work
through the aspects you need to consider to decide whether it is a viable
option, or practical advice for each step of the way.
You may be a nursery
that is not making much money. I can
help you look at your outgoings – are there areas that savings can be
made? Are your staff deployed
effectively? I can also help you look at
your occupancy – what are your numbers like? How are you marketing? Do you have a good online presence?
You may have a new
Manager who has fantastic knowledge of the EYFS but might need some support
with the ‘numbers’ or business side of their new role….
Basically I can
support you or your Manger in any aspect from setting up a nursery, growing a
nursery, marketing a nursery, running an efficient nursery, ‘knowing your
numbers’, and the balance of being a ‘business’ and not losing sight of quality
early years education.
In short though, I
will be what you need me to be: Mentor, Teacher, Advisor, Trainer, Consultant…
get in touch and I will work in the best way for you.
Depending on your
location, I can either come to your nursery for an on-site day’s consultancy,
or I can support you remotely through online meetings, where we can
talk, I can get a flavour of your business, and the areas that you would like
support with. I would prepare a follow-up
proposal of how I would support you to address the areas raised. I would also be available to provide support
via email or phone calls.
As I approach the
‘business side’, this is informed by my knowledge and experience of education,
early years, people management, meaning that my approach is holistic.
I can work
one-to-one with owners and/or Managers, or with whole management teams. I can lead on-site training or staff
meetings, and support in settings too.
Dependent on the
area of support, and the level needed, I would tailor the support package to
what is right for your staff and setting.
