Hello, I’m Katie Macnamara, Nursery Manager at Children 1st @ Chesterfield Royal Hospital. I have worked in childcare for 9 and half years and completed level 3 in Child Care And Education at Chesterfield College in 2009.

I then worked in my first nursery to gain experience and joined Children 1st @ Chesterfield Royal Hospital in June 2010 as a Qualified Nursery Nurse working in the toddler room. After 9 months I started to work with children aged 3 and above to support with the transition to school. I moved back into the toddler room in 2012 to help support younger children.

In October 2013 I was promoted to Senior Nursery Nurse of the toddler room where I gained experience in leading a room. I built up good relationships with the staff team as well as parents and children. I also supported new staff with their induction period.

In September 2014 I became the Deputy Manager. I now support the manager with her duties, I also support with new parents and children during their settling in period ensuring they feel welcome and valued and help them to settle into a new routine. I am enjoying my new role and learning new things about the job, working with Children 1st and what the company stands for.

Hello, my name is Helena and I am the Deputy Manager at Children 1st @ Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

I have been working for Children 1st since 2006 and through the years I have developed myself and achieved numerous promotions. I started as a Trainee Nursery Nurse and I am now the Deputy Manager. Children 1st has given me lots of confidence and support as I am Estonian and have lived in the UK for the last 11 years.

Through the years I have worked with all the different age groups in the nursery. I pride myself on the same values as Children 1st in providing excellent care to our children and their families.

Hi, I’m Carla Clarke, Early Years teacher at Children 1st @ Chesterfield. I studied Early Childhood Education with Qualified Teacher Status at Leeds Beckett University. I have previously taught in several schools, working with children in Reception classes up to Year 2. This has helped me to gain plenty of varied teaching experience.
I previously worked at Children 1st at Sheffield and joined Children 1st at Chesterfield over a year ago and love the close team I work with.
Being passionate about the outdoors as a learning environment, I have made it my mission to enhance learning in our wonderful garden and outdoor classroom, ensuring we have a range of open-ended materials for children to make use of in whichever way they chose and to have loads of fun while their imaginations run free.
I believe children should be able to learn through fun experiences led by their interests and supported by high quality care and provision. Being the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, and having completed training for this role, I think it is of high importance for children to have the extra support and resources to meet their individual learning needs.
My role is also to support and inspire the Early Years and Peter Rabbits team of staff. I aim to make sure the staff feel motivated and always offer training and support when needed.

My name is Rachel Kitts and I am the Senior Manager for the North region at Children 1st Day Nurseries.

I gained my qualification in Nursery Nursing (NNEB) in 1988 at Clowne College and had my first job in the Day Nursery at the college. I started in a part time post which quickly progressed to full time and became the Deputy of the Nursery.

After working at the Day Nursery for fourteen years it was acquired by Children 1st and moved to a new building on the Clowne College Campus.

I have worked with all age groups of children from 0 – 8yrs and finished my time as a Deputy in the Early Years room before taking on the Nursery Manager post with Children 1st Day Nurseries in January 2005.

Through my role as a Senior Manager I have worked with diverse cultures and families with different needs and expectations, this has given me the tools to enable me to meet their differing needs and make a real difference to children's lives, one of my passions is to be able to offer high quality childcare for ALL children regardless of their status.

My role as a Senior Manager also enables me to work with children with Special Education Needs (SEN) and become a linchpin with families and other members of my Nursery Team, giving our children the best start to their Nursery Education regardless of their abilities or needs.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the responsibility and satisfaction that working with children has brought to my working life and would recommend working for Children 1st Day Nurseries to anyone thinking of becoming a Nursery Nurse as it is an excellent base to gain valuable knowledge.

I believe in the ethos of Children 1st Day Nurseries and am fully committed to our mission statement of: ‘Leading the way, shaping the future’ and providing high quality day care and education. My role as a Senior Manager enables me to ensure that the children who use our settings are receiving the very best and I can ensure the quality is there all of the time this is why I have stayed with Children 1st Day Nurseries and will continue to do so.

I like lots of things about Children 1st Day Nurseries the dedication to our small babies that we insist on, the quality environments, the sleeping outside in proper prams, the play experiences that the teams offer, the drive and passion of our teams and the ongoing commitment that we have to achieving the best that we can be.

I always feel proud when I attend outside training events as I know that our provision is up there with the best.

I hope I inspire other Nursery Nurses and Managers to be passionate and proud of the work that we do, and encourage new families to make that brave first step of bringing their children to Nursery for the first time to start the education of their children.

My name is Emma Goodall and I began my journey with Children 1st in 1995 so am now in my 25th year with the company!
I started life at Children 1st as a relatively newly qualified Nursery Nurse having gained my NNEB diploma at Doncaster College and following short stints as a nanny and a childcare coordinator at the college itself. I have since completed a level 4 NVQ in Leadership and Management and a degree in Early Years education.
I have held various roles within the company from Nursery Nurse to room leader, from development deputy to nursery manager, and each one has allowed me to develop the skills, knowledge and experience to lead others in the company to strive to be the best they can be.
I have been part of the senior management team at Children 1st since 2003 and this role now sees me supporting the North nurseries in the company providing guidance and support where necessary, monitoring and inspecting provision and practice and supporting the training of the teams. My role is varied and interesting allowing me to have a real and direct impact on the lives of the children which is what gets me out of bed every morning
! It is most important to me to ensure that the teams working with your children love them, keep them safe and develop them to their full potential.
My own development with Children 1st has been immense and I remind myself every day what a huge responsibility it is to ensure that children are put 1st every day of the week and it is the most important job in the world to ensure that they are safe, loved and able to thrive to the best of their ability.