Essendene Lodge School Nursery

My favourite part of my job is spending time with the children, playing with them and talking to them about their day.

I also enjoy completing the parent welcome interview for all our new families, supporting them in settling their child in at Nursery or Preschool.

I started working at Essendene as the year 1 teacher. After returning from maternity leave following the birth of my 4th child, I was excited to be given the opportunity to work in the Early Years. I currently work with our Preschool 2 class, who have just turned 3 as they transition from the Nursery class. This is such a lovely age to work with as they are discovering more independence in their own abilities and are beginning to use what they have learned to scaffold future learning and interactions. I enjoy spending time with the children and seeing them play together and really enjoy the conversations we have as a group, they have so much to share.

I started working at Essendene as a practitioner. I loved the setting and the children I worked with. I went off to university to complete my teacher training and returned to the pre-school as a qualified teacher. Now I work in the pre-school as a teacher and love supporting the children in their early learning. At this age you get to see the most progress in the children and I love the enjoyment you see in the children's faces when they write their name for the first time or sound out a word and read on their own.

I started at Essendene as an apprentice and while working here I have achieved my level 3 qualification. I love working with the children and providing them with lots of opportunities to play, learn and explore. I work with the 2 year old children and really enjoy sharing stories with them, supporting them with their speaking and listening and watching them interact with each other. My favourite part of my job is supporting the children with learning numbers and letters and seeing how excited they get when we play games together and they start to recognise these on their own.

I am currently an apprentice working towards my level 3 in childcare. I love working with children and spending time playing and talking with them. Before working at Essendene I worked as a Private Nanny working with 1 child up until they started at Nursery. I love seeing the children grow and develop and my favourite thing about my job is getting messy with the children and seeing their creative abilities shine. I am always sparkling as glitter is our favourite resource to use.

I recently joined Essendene following a long career working as a TA in a Reception class. I wanted to work with a slightly younger age group and have enjoyed working in the pre-school room with the 3-4 year olds. The children are very inquisitive and enjoy exploring in their learning with them and the questions and conversations we have had. I have also enjoyed providing specific support to children who need that little extra help. I run Drama Club as an after school activity for the pre-school and nursery children where we share stories and re-enact them, becoming the characters and using our bodies and senses to become immersed in the story. The language the children use from these books and the behaviour we then see in their play demonstrates what they have learned through these sessions, which is amazing to see.

I started at Essendene after recently moving from India, where I worked as an online tutor for children of all ages. The team have been very welcoming and so have the children and I am enjoying getting to know them all and their families. I have enjoyed supporting teaching phonic sessions for all the age groups and encouraging the children to try new and different activities. I am passionate about public speaking and I offer this experience to all the children in the setting as an after school club. Even the children who are reluctant to speak are having a go, which makes me very proud of them and what they are all able to achieve. I look forward to setting in more and sharing my different skill sets with the children.