Our Room & Teams...

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We are a group of around 12 - 18 babies aged 3 - 12 months. 

Many families use our baby room full time but some babies only come to play once or twice a week. In our baby room we aim to provide personalised care for your baby. We carefully observe and assess their interests and progress, allowing us to provide activities and experiences that interest them personally. There is always lots of cuddling for the babies that like close comfort and sharing books and one to one games happen everyday. Staff ensure that the babies are given the opportunity to explore the nursery grounds everyday by taking them out for a walk in pushchairs, or for those who can walk - a short walk.  

We use the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ curriculum which gives all staff guidance on what experiences help develop the babies progress and we feel that we provide excellent, well balanced care for everyone. 

Anna is the room leader. She has many years of experience working with children and is an an excellent role model. Anna is fully qualified and has a wonderful bond with children and young babies.  The Baby Room team include Anna, Helen, Poppy, Ruby & Amy W.

We are a group of around 12 - 18 big babies aged 12-17 months. 

Our Big Baby Room is an idea space for babies who are moving on to their feet and need the extra space to master walking and climbing. Our Big Baby Room is bright and spacious with a nice soft carpet for babies to practice walking without bumping themselves and a large hard surface for them to explore messy play. Big Babies spend their day, sharing stories, listening to music, cuddling, playing games and exploring their space with the team. Babies will go outside two to three times a day and will visit the animals at The Ranch on the 'Turtle Bus' which is always very popular. 

Ellen is the room leader, she has many years of experience working with children and is an an excellent role model, she also has a child of her own. Abbie, Becky, Georgina, Olivia and Emma complete the Big Baby Team and all expert at making the welcoming and fun for your children.

We are a group of around 20 Toddlers aged between 18 – 25 months. 

We have one of the largest rooms in the nursery. In our Toddler room we aim to provide a balance between the closeness and care that your young child requires and providing them with access to experiences and activities that their inquisitive minds demand.  

Aoife is the room leader, she is great at building strong, trusting relationships with the children in her room and is a very skilled practitioner. Aoife works alongside Vicky, Kaycee, Caroline, Georgia, Maddie T and Abigail. All of the staff are ‘key people’ for the children in their group and share the responsibility of making observations and assessments of the children’s progress.

We are a group of around 26 children aged around 24 – 30 months. 

In the Big Toddler room we aim to provide an environment where children are able to build upon their natural interests and skills. A wide range of resources are accessible including sand, paints and construction materials that enable your child to explore and experiment independently. 

Children of The Big Toddler room age usually begin to learn and master many tasks of independence including self dressing, personal hygiene and potty training and all of these skills will be supported and celebrated whilst your child is in our care.

For those children who sleep during the day, we have a lovely sleep room which children can use at any time depending on their routine.

Saffron is the room leader and is fully qualified to care for children. Saffron is supported by Ellie, Emily, Phoebe and Mims.

Having one of the most spacious rooms provides the Mini - Pre-schoolers with plenty of space to play. We enjoy time in our creative area - where children paint, stick, and use tactile materials including, sand, water, shaving foam, tea leaves, soil and wet autumn leaves. We have lots of opportunity to develop our imagination with stimulating resources laid out in areas that focus on the seven areas of learning outlined in the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ (EYFS). 

Although we are an energetic bunch and have a lot of high energy play we also have a nursery routine that encompasses lots of time for us to enjoy focused activities  -  when we make time to chat and talk about our favourite things, share a story or have a sing.  The team in Mini Pre-school include, Becky, the room leader who is en extremely experienced and qualified practitioner as well as a mummy to two children. Becky Mc has Amy R, Lydia, Ellie and Kayleigh in her team.

We are a group of around 24 - 36 children all aged 3 – 4 years. 

Our Pre-school is ideally designed with lots of inside and outside space enabling the children to build confidence in a new environment with lots of new resources and things to explore. Communication and Language development is a major part of our day to day focus in Pre-school and opportunities are made to ensure children get plenty of opportunity to express themselves verbally as well as with creative materials. 

We have an amazing ‘imaginative play area’ giving the children space to develop their personal, social and emotional behaviours and our weekly routine incorporates lots of problem solving and numerical activities to give a broad concept of Maths. We use our ‘home corner’ to enable children to get lots of opportunity to promote their knowledge and understanding of the greater world.

 All of our work in Pre-school is focused around supporting your child’s development, we aim to provide personalised learning, development and care through building strong relationships with the children through our ‘Key Person’ system. 

Charlotte is the Room Leader and she is a fully qualified, highly experienced Pre-school practitioner. Her team includes Jason, Rosie, Kim & Connor. All qualified and experienced practitioners.

Every child has a different journey through education and for many this begins with joining nursery. For some, being in a busy environment where everyone is part of a ‘group’, is easy but for others this can be a huge challenge. 

At Annabelle’s we have lots of experience caring for children who need a bit of extra support to help them through their nursery journey and we have strategies, resources and approaches to care that we have found really benefit a child’s experience when they are with us as well as setting them up for the next stage in their education.  

The Little Lodge is a space at Annabelle’s that we are very proud of. It is a cleverly designed space for children who are not yet ready for the bustle of a big room full of children. It is highly flexible, incorporating distinct zones, sensory-friendly features, and visual supports to help children with a range of conditions, such as autism, ADHD, and other learning differences, feel secure and ready to learn. We have easily accessible sensory equipment, such as fidget toys, lights, interactive resources and soft spaces available for children to use as needed throughout the day. 

The classroom environment is supported by a team approach. Our Little Lodge Leader, Tasha is the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and she collaborates with speech therapists, occupational therapists, and other specialists who may work directly with children who need the extra help as well as working closely with parents

Tasha is one of our most qualified, experienced practitioners at nursery and she  is supported by Claire, another qualified practitioner who has been working for Annabelle’s for over 10 years and has a beautiful skill in supporting children’s individual needs on a 1:1 basis. Claire is a kind, gentle and patient carer and over the years has helped many children, who have found the mainstream pathway of nursery challenging but with her support, have successfully integrated into primary school.

As well as being a specialist space for children with SEND The Little Lodge is also a place where Tasha and her team are able to work with children who can benefit from some small group time. Children who have speech and language delay, Children in receipt of pupil Premium,  the children of parents who are in the forces and make regular home moves, Children who are ‘looked after’ or have challenging home lives. 

If we believe that your child can benefit from some time in The Little Lodge, we will share this with you. 

We are a group of around 16 children all aged 2 ¾ – 4 years. 

We aim to provide personalised learning, development and care and we do this through planning for your individual child. During their time with us we carefully observe and assess their interests and progress, allowing us to provide activities and experiences that interest them personally. 

Creative development is a major part of our daily routine and children get plenty of opportunity to express themselves with paint, chalk and playdough as well as learning the behaviours of natural materials like  sand, soil and water. We have an ‘imaginative play area’ giving the children space to develop their personal, social and emotional behaviour and our weekly timetable incorporates lots of problem solving and numerical activities to give children a broad concept of Maths. The day starts with a chat about the weather, the weekend or perhaps our family and encourages the children’s conversation. 

All of our work ensures we make progress towards the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ and we feel our Pre – School is the the perfect preparation for school. 

Bridget is the Pre-school leader and is fully qualified to care for children. She is great at building strong, trusting relationships with children and is very committed to her job, completing all of the planning required. Bridget works alongside Becky A and Mya.

There are five of us in the 'organisational team'. Annabelle is the nursery manager and owner of the nursery. 

Sam and Carissa are also nursery managers, Rachel, the deputy manager and Helen who is responsible for all of the administration. All staff are responsible for staff development, children's welfare, ensuring the nursery is compliant with relevant legislation and maintaining high standards but can also all be found having a chat or cuddling children! Annabelle and Sam are the Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) and hold ultimate responsibility for all safeguarding requirements.