My name is Sharon Morrell and I am the Nursery Manager at Children 1st @ Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

I have worked for Children 1st Day Nurseries for over 13 years and started working as a Private Nanny in 1997 for 3 years for a 6 week old little boy. I have also worked as a Children’s Representative for Airtours in the summer of 2000 which was a great experience.

I joined the Chesterfield Royal Hospital Nursery in 2001 as a Qualified Nursery Nurse after qualifying with my NNEB in 1996 at Chesterfield College. I knew from the moment that I walked into the Nursery that it was the place for me and that I would be very happy here.

I settled into the toddler room well and after being with the Nursery for a few years I completed my Senior Nursery Nurse Training with the company. By this point I had established good working relationships with children, parents and staff and knew that I wanted to become the Manager of the nursery one day but it would be a long and hardworking journey to achieve my goal.

In 2005 I was given the opportunity to develop myself and transfer to our Newark Day Nursery for 4 months to complete my Deputy Manager training working alongside the Nursery Manager and supporting with the running of the Nursery. I found this move a great experience with challenges and felt it gave me a lot of knowledge and understanding of how the Nursery operated.

Once I returned to my Nursery in Chesterfield at the end of August 2005 I was promoted to Deputy Nursery Manager and then within a year was acting Nursery Manager. My hard work had paid off and I had nearly reached my goal. In 2007 I was given the opportunity to finally become the Nursery Manager and I have never looked back since.

I am a mummy to a 3 year old little girl, who has attended Children 1st since she was 8 months old. I initially found it very hard to leave my baby and go back to work full time and it took a while to get into a good routine. But with the support from the nursery staff we settled into nursery life and my daughter loves every minute of her time at nursery. She has gained confidence and has made many friends. She even has a bigger social life than me!!!!

I am confident that when she starts school this year she will be thoroughly prepared for the new challenges.

I believe that Children 1st Day Nurseries put the child and family first in 'Leading the way and shaping the future.'

I decided to stay with Children 1st Day Nurseries because I feel that they are dedicated to providing a safe, secure and sustainable environment's for each and every child in their care. They take pride in developing their Nurseries and this is shown from the moment that you walk into a Children 1st Day Nursery and from the quality that you get from that first impression.

I am extremely happy in my role as Nursery Manager which can at times be very challenging but the most important thing is that it has its rewards and this is shown by the happy and inviting atmosphere that makes my Nursery what it is……... A happy one!!!!

Hello, I’m Katie Macnamara, Acting 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 Nicola Taylor and I am the acting Deputy Manager at our Chesterfield nursery.
I am a mum of 3 children who have all gone through our nursery and 1 who is still at our nursery. My career started with the company in 2009 as a qualified nursery nurse.
Through the years I have developed myself and grown in confidence, gaining years of experience in working with all age groups. In 2010 I transferred to St.Peters and St.Pauls nursery where I became senior nursery nurse in our baby suite.
I then took on my biggest challenge and become deputy manager of the baby suite. I have many years of experience with the under 2’s, I deliver a high standard of care and support with new parents and children settling into nursery life. I thrive on watching the babies grow into confident children.

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.

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.