Children 1st Sheffield Nursery School

My Name is Deborah Thorne and I am the Early Years Nursery Manager for Children 1st @ Sheffield.

I have been working with children since the age of 16. I qualified as a Nursery Nurse in 1993 gaining my N.N.E.B Diploma in Nursery Nursing.

I then worked as a nanny for almost 2 years having sole charge of two boys Edward and Thomas who are now 19 and 21.

I started work for Children 1st Day Nurseries in May 1996 when they purchased the nursery that I was currently working in. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to grow with the Nursery right from day one and have gained a vast amount of experience. I have worked my way up from Nursery Nurse opening the baby unit, to Room Leader then to Deputy Manager and finally on to Nursery Manager in 2000. I have worked with all ages of children and enjoy the challenges that working with different aged children bring but I especially love the Early Years age group and this has been my area of specialism for a number of years.

While I have been with Children 1st I have managed the Newark Nursery for 6 months working with the team and the new Nursery Manager to build up occupancy levels. I then managed St Peters and St Paul Nursery for 2 1/2 years which I really enjoyed as this took me out of my comfort zone and I grew in confidence and was able to develop my own skills. I then came back to the Sheffield Nursery (home) in May 2009 were I have resumed my role as Nursery Manager for the Peter Rabbits and Early Years.

Through my role as Nursery 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 different 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 Nursery 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 also built a strong team who I work very closely with and feel I am a good role model to all staff members. I am a qualified NVQ Assessor and gained my Level 4 in Childcare and Education, I enjoy this very much and hope to continue to support all the trainee Nursery Nurses that train with us.

I became a Nursery Manager by chance as I had no desire to become one, I was more than happy being a Nursery Nurse and enjoyed the role as key worker to my children but through a passion for my work and the investment of Margaret I was encouraged to move up the ladder. I enjoy the challenges that being a Nursery Manager brings and feel that over the last 15 years that I have worked for Children 1st Day Nurseries I have gained so much and been able to give so much back.

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 Nursery Manager enables me to ensure that the children who use our setting 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 stay until I am old and grey (if you let me)

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 on going 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 out provision is up there with the best.

I hope I inspire other Nursery Nurses 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.