our team
Sue Smith, Manager
Sue has been one of the managers of the Nursery for 11 years.
She is a mum herself and her little boy,
George has progressed through the nursery from Caterpillars right up to Big Butterflies. He is now about to take the big step up to big school.
Of course, this experience has given Sue a greater insight and empathy with new parents and the problems of leaving babies in the care of others.
Sue is an efficient Manager - she always has her finger on the pulse and she generally has the answer to a problem - before you even thought of the question!
Sue adores and spoils all the children in her care. She is a good leader and gets a lot of satisfaction out of training and organising new staff.
Sue Bines, Manager
Sue has worked at this Nursery for more than 18 years and has seen it go through all sorts of changes. She has been Manager or Officer-in-Charge for most of that time and so has an uncanny knowledge of the intricate workings of the Nursery - if you need anything Sue knows where it is!
Sue thoroughly enjoys her job and loves working with her children. She forms very strong relationships with them all and knows just how to get the best out of them. On a management level, she is extremely capable, very reliable, enjoys making the Nursery run efficiently and supports all the staff in creating a happy, working atmosphere.
Sue is very creative and imaginative. She likes the fact that each day is different at Chrysalis!
Yvonne Hardcastle, Manager
Yvonne works along with Sue, Sue, Kathy and all the other staff to maintain an extremely high level of educational stimulus throughout the nursery. Yvonne has a great deal of management experience which she uses to promote, train and develop staff throughout the nursery. Yvonne is the person who ensures that Chrysalis gives that little bit extra.
Yvonne may be behind the planning of activities that you see such as "Grandparents Day", or the developing and establishing planning and assessment systems. She works hard to generate and utilise resources to the full, and most important of all, she leads by example when she works with the children as she is an excellent practioner.
Denise Kilty, Big Butterflies Area Co-ordinator
Denise is the Area Co-Ordinator for the Big Butterflies (children aged 3-5 years). She sees the safety and the happiness of the children to be of paramount importance to her job. Denise has worked at this day nursery for more than 15 years. She gained her nursery nursing qualifications as a mature student in 2002. Denise says that she loves her job because she is lucky enough to work in such a lovely nursery with lovely children and lovely colleagues! She says that each day is totally different, each child is different, bringing different delights all the time! Denise is enjoying her leadership role because she likes being in control of the organisation and the preparation of her area.
Denise has two grown up children of her own. She enjoys caravanning with her friends and family and travels all over the country. Denise also involves herself in charity work. She particularly likes helping to raise funds for the Edwards Trust which is a charity that provides accomodation for families of very sick children.
Karen Holland, Little Butterflies Area Co-ordinator
Karen is Area Co-ordinator for Little Butterflies. She is supported by Shereena Quittenton and together they organise a whole variety of activities and experiences for the 2-3 year old children. Karen has more than 12 year's childcare experience. She is qualified to NVQ Level 3 and currently undergoing further study to enhance this qualification with the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage)
Karen says the things that she enjoys most about her job is the satisfaction she feels when her children run in to play and they have such a happy day they don't want to go home at night!
Julie Greaves, Cocoons Area Co-ordinator
Julie is the Area Co-ordinator in Cocoons. Julie is a superb early years practitioner. She motivates her team by leading through example. Julie is a mother of two and she has many years experience in Play Schools.
Julie is qualified to NVQ Level 3 and is also studying the EYFS along with Karen to further improve her knowledge and skills.
Julie is an excellent communicator. She has a good understanding of parents' needs and believes that the exchange of information about the children is of vital importance.
The children in Julie's area do become rather attached to her - and she to them!. She has been likened to 'mother duck' as she walks through the Nursery with her little followers behind her!
Vanessa Day, Caterpillars Area Co-ordinator
Vanessa is Area Co-ordinator in Caterpillars. She says that the most important part of her job is providing quality care for her babies and loves to create stimulating activities.
Vanessa has a bubbly personality and she has experience as a nanny. She particularly loves working with the babies. She is confident, great fun, a good team player.
Vanessa is NNEB qualified and has 10 years experience of looking after babies. She works very closely with Kate Williamson her deputy, and between them they run a very happy close-knit room which is safe and reassuring to parents and children.
Julie Ford
Julie is our nursery administrator. It will probably be her musical scottish accent that you hear if you need to call the nursery for anything! Julie
deals with all manner of things to assist with the smooth running of the
nursery. She sorts staff rotas, holidays, bookings, newsletters,
accounts and much much more. She is currently under-going training to
increase her already high level of skill on the computer.
Julie's own little girl Holly came to Chrysalis before going to school and so has a deep understanding
of
concerns parents may feel about leaving their child in day-care. this is one
of the reasons why she really really doesn't mind going to check on children
when mums or dads ring to check up on their children!!
Carol Borley
Carol Borley is our cook. She joined us in August 2006 and is proving to be an asset to the nursery. She is highly qualified and experienced in catering and pastry cooking. Carol comes to us from another day nursery in Knutsford and so knows how to specifically cater for children aged 0-4 years. She is continually revising the menus and has introduced some exciting new dishes for the children. The weekly menus are displayed in the nursery and Carol is willing to share her secret recipes with parents and staff!
Jackie Short
Jackie Short is our happy housekeeper. She works from early in the morning keeping everywhere clean and tidy. Jackie can turn her hand to anything. She can cook, do laundry, entertain children, clean windows and carry out risk assessments - all at once!! Jackie is also responsible for the beautiful planters and window boxes that you see around the nursery - of course she does have lots of willing helpers!
The Team
We are very lucky to have a well balanced and experienced team of staff at Chrysalis. They bring to our nursery a wide range of experiences and skills. They are selected to work for us on the basis of their genuine desire to care for children and on their commitment to providing a very high standard of care and education.
Our girls have that little something extra - they throw themselves into everything that we do at nursery! Whether it is a fun fundraising activity that we may be carrying out for charity; or a backpack walk with the babies; or a sports afternoon in the summer - they always fully participate and make the nursery special for the children!
We carry out frequent in-house training. Many of the ladies are on courses to increase their qualification levels. They are all willing and able to attend regular refresher courses in order to keep them abreast of current trends. This all helps towards our efforts to maintain high standards.
All our staff are either qualified or training to at least NNEB, National BTech Diploma, or NVQ Level 2 or 3 in Child-Care and Education. All these qualifications are hard earned and respected by OFSTED. The authorities stipulate that at least half the staff should be qualified. We pride oursleves in aiming for 100% qualified staff. With this in mind we expect our staff to achieve the high standards that we set.
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Our Aims
Our Nursery
Our Team
Parents' Feedback
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