Collingham Gardens Nursery

With over 15 years of experience in Early Years education, Dorothy holds a Bachelor of Education from the Institute of Education, University College London. She also has a Montessori Pre-Primary Teaching Diploma for children aged 2–7, a Montessori International Diploma, and a Level 3 qualification in developing Speech, Language, and Literacy in the Early Years.

Throughout Dorothy’s career, roles have included Montessori Teacher, Pre-School Room Leader, Third in Charge of a Nursery, Deputy Manager and Manager at several Outstanding Nurseries.

A passion for connecting children to nature drives Dorothy to provide the best possible start in life, creating a creative, nurturing, and stimulating nursery environment for young children.

Shamsia
Early years practitioner

Shamsia is a qualified early year practitioner and childcare worker with a broad experience of working in nurseries, crèches, primary schools and drop-in centres, all of which have provided a high standard of care to children and their families. She also has experience as a community outreach worker to support and encourage local families to access provisions and services independently. Shamsia has undertaken her Level 2 Forest School training and is a Level 3 Forest School Leader.

Shamsia is always looking for new ideas to support the children’s interests in the nursery and delights in building a loving rapport with the children and their families.

Zeljka
Early years practitioner

Zeljka is a qualified early years practitioner with over 20 years of experience of caring for children in the early years and primary sector, alongside experience of working with children with complex needs. Having grown up in rural Yugoslavia Zeljka spent much of her own childhood gardening together with her family and playing in nature. This strong connection with nature and the happiness it brought left a lasting impression on her and has formed part of her approach to supporting children in their own education.

She joined Collingham Gardens Nursery in 2020 after being entranced by its hidden, magical garden and unique educational ethos of learning through outdoor and meaningful play, which she believes is the cornerstone of children’s learning and development.

Sarah is a qualified nursery practitioner with a NVQ level 3 in Early Years, she has worked in childcare for over twenty years and has enjoyed every moment working with all ages form 3 month old babies to four year olds. During this time Sarah has worked at several different nurseries and has enjoyed teaching and watching children grow and develop into confident children. Sarah comes with Montessori and Forest School training and experiences she is very family orientated and loves spending time with her own three year old.

Fatema is an emerging Early Years practitioner with an NVQ level 2 Diploma in Childcare and Education. She is very compassionate and dedicated in nurturing and fostering the developmental needs of Children in their early stages. Fatema is eager to create an enriching, safe and supportive learning environment for all the children and to be part of a team.

Antonia (Toni) is an Early Years Practitioner from Spain she has a Degree in Early Years from The Metropolitan University London and has over six years experience working in London based Nurseries. Toni teaches Spanish rhyme time and Yoga to the children as well as Tai-Chi which she finds really rewarding. Toni is very excited to be working in a Forest School system that connects children with nature to give children the best opportunity and start in life in a safe creative environment that nurtures their development and independence.