Meet Our Lovely Team
Our team are key to everything we do at Pumpkin Pie.
There is a constant focus on training and development to ensure they continue to be the best they can be to teach and nurture your children. We take the education and training of our team very seriously. Whilst the requirement within Early Years is for 50% of the full team to hold a relevant qualification at Level 3, we actively support our team in undertaking additional training and will support them in achieving this qualification if they join us without already holding it.
We are also proud to say that all of our staff are paediatric first aid trained.
Lucy is a Level 7 qualified early years teacher and started out as a childminder in 2011 after having her daughter the year before. Pumpkin Pie was born soon after when she realised how much demand there was for quality childcare in the area. We have grown ever since!
Sophie is Level 3 qualified and is our Pumpkin Patch Room leader as well as the Deputy Manager. You will never see Sophie without a huge smile on her face!
Sarah’s job specification is endless, from website builder to party planner, baby cuddler to bookkeeper. No job is too big for this Office Manager!
Emily is our training lead; assisting, observing and developing all staff who are training for their Level 2, 3 and Level 5 qualifications.
Pumpkin Pips
0 – 2’s Room
Emma holds a degree in Childhood Studies. She lives on a farm and is our very own Springwatch Extraodinaire!
Kate has worked in the Pips room for 4 years. She is very creative and loves to come up with new activities to enhance our under 2’s learning and development.
Sophie is wonderful with the children and nothing ever phases her. With 2 young children of her own, Sophie is a natural nurturer.
Sophie is super organised, keeping the Pips room in order, a master of knowing children’s routines and is also a lost property wizard!
Marie has 15 years of experience in childcare and joined our Pips room after taking a break to bring up her son.
Ali is our longest serving employee, having worked at Pumpkin Pie for almost 12 years and she is loved by babies and parents alike.
Kiera is now on maternity leave. We look forward to welcoming her back with her new addition next year!
Julia has worked with our babies for over 6 years and is loved by children and staff alike for her calm presence and caring nature.
Leanne has almost completed her level 3 apprenticeship and has proven how enthusiastic she is about providing the best care possible for babies.
Denise has lots of experience, skills and knowledge from her previous work in baby rooms and has a very caring nature. Great to have you with us!
With two young children of her own, Amy brought her skills from motherhood to our baby room and has a lovely, calm and friendly presence.
Bev has many years experience in childcare and working in nurseries and is a valued member of our Pumpkin Pips Team!
Amy worked for many years as a teaching assistant in local schools, before joining our team and transferring her skills to our youngest children. She has a wonderful warm nature and is loved by all of our babies.
Rebecca has joined us for change in career after working for the emergency services for the past 15 years. She has 3 young children at home so is well skilled in caring for little ones!
Pumpkin Patch
2 – 3’s Room
Rachel has amazing enthusiasm, keeps everyone organised and is also an excellent cook!
Abbie has worked in the Patch since starting at Pumpkin in early 2021 and is a firm favourite with all the children and staff alike.
Brooke has just joined our Patch as a qualified Senior Practitioner and has settled straight into her new role!
Victoria leads the Speech and Language sessions in the Patch and has recently taken on the SENCO role for our 2 year olds.
Sam has worked in the Patch for almost 4 years and is brilliant with the children (and the pets!). She is currently studying for her Level 3 Qualification.
Liv is one of the most chilled people you will ever meet, her calm and friendly persona is perfect for working with the 2 year olds in our Patch!
We have known Claire for over a year since her daughter joined Pumpkin Pie. As a qualified Early Years Practitioner, we are really happy to have her as part of our team too!
Evie joined us at the end of 2024 having previously studied Acting at college. In her spare time Evie can often be found on the stage at Berwick theatre!
Rose is an apprentice in our Patch room, having also spent time in with our Pips and she is currently studying for her Level 3 Qualification.
Michaela has joined the Patch with many years of experience of working in schools, as well as being Mummy to her boys who came to Pumpkin a few years ago, so it’s been lovely to welcome Michaela to the team!
Pumpkin Pre-School
3 – 5’s Room
Jenny is a qualified teacher and is popular with the children for her caring and fun nature. She is currently on maternity leave and we are looking forward to her being back at Pumpkin later this year.
Emily has stepped into the role of our Pre-school Room Leader whilst Jenny is on maternity leave. Emily recently qualified as an Early Years teacher and has worked on and off for Pumpkin for many years, so we’re thrilled to have her leading our Pre-School team!
Abi is a level 6 qualified teacher and provides excellent support to the running of our busy Pre-School and Upper Pre-School rooms.
Kate is our trained Forest School Leader and she leads 2 Forest School sessions each week for the Pre-Schoolers. She also helps the other rooms to incorporate Forest based fun into their daily activities.
Nicola has worked for Pumpkin Pie for many years and is always coming up with lovely activity ideas for the children. She is our SENCO lead in Pre-School but also supports children with additional needs across the whole nursery, providing advice and guidance to all staff.
Laura holds a degree in Childhood Studies and is our top photographer, capturing special moments from our children’s days.
Katie has been a firm favourite with our older children for many years now, her enthusiasm, group times and fun activities are legendary!
Hanna can only be described as a grafter! She’s full of enthusiasm and fantastic with our Pre-Schoolers, but she is also happy to step into the kitchen when needed and helps Kate to run the Forest School sessions.
Alex has lots of experience in school environments and now works with our oldest children in Upper Pre-School to ensure they are ‘reception ready’.
Caitlin volunteered in our pre-school room for a few months and impressed us so much with her enthusiasm and connection with the children that we offered her a position!
Claire has worked in a variety of childcare and educational settings including schools and private nurseries so brings a huge amount of experience to our Pre-school!
Amy joined our Pre-school team having volunteered at Felton School and is studying to become a teacher whilst working for us. She is a bundle of positive energy and the children adore our Amy!
Scarlett always gets stuck in with activities and loves to get the children out and about on adventures. Nothing phases Scarlett and she can always be relied upon to create wonderful experiences for our Pre-Schoolers.
Our Support Team
Sharon provides an enormous help to the whole team at the end of the day by making sure the whole nursery is looking spotless!
Brianna is a trained chef and has worked in a host of restaurants and hotels, before taking some time to be Mummy to her two children. We feel very lucky that she has chosen to join our team and can’t wait to see what culinary delights she cooks up for our children!