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 over 3 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 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 just celebrated her 10th anniversary of joining Pumpkin Pie!
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 4 years and is loved by children and staff alike for her calm presence and caring nature.
Leanne joined our team a year ago and has since proved 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 has 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 joined us last year, having previously gained lots of experience with older children, working as a teaching assistant in local schools.
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!
Alicia joins us with lots of experience working in after school clubs and wraparound care, so she is looking forward to transferring her childcare skills to a younger audience!
Rose is an apprentice in our Pips room and she is currently studying for her Level 3 Qualification.
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 3 years and is brilliant with the children (and the pets!). She is currently studying for her Level 3 Qualification.
Liv worked in our Pips room on a temporary placement last year, but decided she would like to work for us permanently so is now studying towards her Level 3.
We have known Claire for over a year since her daughter joined Pumpkin Pie. As a qualified Early Years Practitioner, we are now really happy to have her as part of our team too!
Evie is our newest member of staff in the Patch, having studied Acting at college. In her spare time Evie is often found on the stage at Berwick theatre!
Pumpkin Pre-School
3 – 5’s Room
Jenny is a qualified teacher and is popular with the children for her caring and fun nature.
Emily will be acting as our Pre-school Room Leader whilst Jenny is on maternity leave. Emily has 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 back!
Abi is a level 6 qualified teacher and has recently moved into our Pre-school from the Patch.
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 has recently moved into Pre-school to take up the SENCO lead role in this room.
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 brings a bundle of energy and enthusiasm to our Pumpkin Pre-school, having recently moved from our Pumpkin Patch.
Alex has lots of experience working within a school environment and joined our Patch earlier this year. She has now moved over to our Pre-school to work with our oldest children 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 has recently joined our Pre-school team having volunteered at Felton School and will be studying to become a teacher whilst working for us. Great to have you at Pumpkin Amy!
Scarlett joined us straight from school and is currently studying for her Level 2 qualification. She gets stuck in with activities and loves to get the children out and about on adventures.
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!
Jemma has joined the team to be our cook and take over the menu planning. With over 10 years experience as a cook and chef, we’re excited to have her on the team!
Lovely Carol has joined us for 2 days a week as our cook. She joins us with lots of experience, having worked in many cafes, hotels and a bakery, to name a few!