We have an enthusiastic team of 1 manager, a deputy and 4 nursery assistants who are all qualified or working towards relevant qualifications as well as a long term volunteer.  

TANIA CONSTABLE MANAGER

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Hello,

I’m Tania, the newly appointed manager at Chalfont st Giles Preschool playgroup. I have lived in Buckinghamshire all my life. I grew up in Amersham with my parents and older brother.In my early teens I baby sat for a few local families.

I left school at the age of 16 and worked full time in a local hotel, where I worked in all the various roles and was promoted to management support.

I left there in 2002 to be a full-time mummy to my daughter Chantelle, now 17.

I met my husband in 2006 and had my second child in 2007, Ruby. We married in 2009 and had our third child Jake in 2013.

In 2016 I joined a preschool where I found a true passion for working with children and enabling their learning. I completed my level 3 qualification.

In 2018 I moved to a day nursery where I found I was magnetised to preschool age children. In January 2019 I was promoted to room leader and management support.

With my 12-year-old starting secondary school and my 6-year-old in year 2 I decided it was time to stop working 10-hour shifts and be more flexible for my children’s needs.

And so here we are 2020 and ready for the next chapter.

Hobbies for me are mainly exercise. Zumba, I am a qualified instructor but haven’t re started classes for a while. I like going to classes.

I attend a new Yoga, Tai chi and meditation class in Amersham.

I love music and I always find motivation in the beat.

Being with my family, cheesy but true!

SARAH ELDRIDGE ADMIN MANAGER

Hello All! My name is Sarah and I’m a proud Mother of two boys Olly and Archie.

I started my working life as an MFL teacher at Dr Challoner’s for Boys. I then went on to be a student achievement manager within the MFL department at Waddesdon C of E school.  After marrying my husband Steve in Cyprus, I became the head of languages at the Cavendish School in Hemel, where I also became an associate assistant head before having my first born Olly.  I have always wanted to be a teacher and whilst working at all of the schools I continued to learn how much I loved teaching children and helping them become all round young adults in the big wide world.

Through my working life, I have always had a passion for children and education and I knew that after having Olly I wanted to get back out there and support young learners. I began tutoring GCSE, primary and even toddlers.  This has been great because it has kept my brain ticking whilst bringing up Olly.  I also took on the role of a trustee at CSG playgroup, because I wasn’t busy enough! It is there that I got involved in fundraising and supporting the staff at playgroup.  So when the role of admin manager came up it seemed perfect, even with a new-born baby!

I don’t have many hobbies these days unless you include cleaning, online shopping and meeting friends for a “quick” coffee! I used to dance and maybe one day when my boys are older I will get the ballet shoes back on!

HAYLEY SOUTHGATE ADMIN MANAGER

Hello I am Hayley and I have been involved in the play group as a parent, a trustee and more recently Administration Manager. My eldest daughter Maisy attended the play group back in 2017/2018 & my youngest Connor who is 3 currently attends.
My back ground is that I grew up in Chalfont St Peter and my first proper job was within a Human Resources team within the financial industry. I continued to work within this particular HR team for 10 years where I took on a variety of different roles. Following the birth of my daughter Maisy I decided not to return to my HR role and have since then been a stay at home mum.
More recently I have been looking to get myself back into the world of working but I wanted a role that was local to home and that’s when the administration manager role came available.

LISAMARIE SAUNDERS DEPUTY MANAGER – LEVEL 2 EYP – LEVEL 3 TRAINING IN PROGRESS

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Hello my name is Lisamarie, I live in Chesham but I grew up in Chalfont st Giles and I even attended the Chalfont St Giles playgroup myself many years ago.
I have been in child care since the age of 16 and I have always had a passion for working with children. I started working at playgroup in 2012 and I am still here 8 years later,
I have a level 2 childcare qualification and I am currently working towards my level 3 while acting as deputy manager. I also help with childcare for other families in CSG and offer babysitting in the week and at weekends.
In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and going for long walks with my dogs.
TRACEY KEANE EYP – LEVEL 3
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Hello, my name is Tracey.  After leaving school at 16 I joined Royal Insurance as a Motor Insurance Underwriter.  I worked there for 12 years and progressed to a Commercial Underwriter before leaving to become a full-time Mum.  I met my husband when I was 18 and we have 3 lovely children, who are now 20, 21 and 22.  We got married in 2005 in Vancouver.

When my youngest child finished attending the local pre-school, I was asked by the manager to join the team.  I really enjoyed working with the children and decided to re-train and obtained my Level 2 & 3.

After many years I decided I would like a new challenge and worked as a receptionist, administrator and medical secretary at a local Doctor’s Surgery,  however I soon realised that my passion was working with children so was delighted when I was offered a position at CSG Playgroup.

In my free time I love to go on walking breaks with my husband, and  going to see live music.  In the last couple of years we have discovered music festivals, and try to visit one a year.

SARAH BELL EYP – LEVEL 2 TRAINING IN PROGRESS

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JANE ROBERTSON EYP LEVEL 2 TRAINING IN PROGRESS

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Before working at the playgroup I was a full time mummy, I have 2 boys of whom I am super proud.
Sport is a huge part of my family home and I find myself ferrying my boys to all sorts of different clubs most evenings and every weekend!
Back in the day before children I worked at a photographic agency in a sales team, this took me travelling quite a bit and I was lucky enough to visit some amazing cities around the world. In 2012 my eldest child was starting reception and I realised I wanted to be part of that journey with him, and I couldn’t do that and work. So I decided to devote my time on my children. I am a firm believer that children need room to explore and make mistakes in a safe environment, to try different ways to achieve a goal, and encourage children to think for themselves and do things for themselves (there’s no snowflakes round me!)
I am what some call the ‘10 percenters’ : that is I volunteer in almost every aspect of clubs and activities that my child are part of, be it on the PTA, cricket manager, admin , event organiser (to name a few)
I love skiing, reading and rugby and socialising .

All of our staff are very passionate about children, their development and learning and they take pride in their work. Our staff are kind practitioners and take a very gentle approach towards all children, working on the basis of promoting positive behaviour rather than focusing on negative behaviour, children seem to thrive in this environment. We use many positive rewards such as the Pre-School reward chart, stamps and stickers (you may find your child covered in stickers at the end of a Pre-School day).

We follow Ofsted’s requirement to have enhanced DBS criminal reference checks (the highest level of checks currently available) on all of our staff. All employee’s undergo a vigirous interview process to ensure we are employing the highest quality of practitioners, during this process a minimum of two references are required from their previous employers.

In order for us to support your child’s development in the best possible way, we employ people with different educational training backgrounds. They all attend regular training courses, which enables them to bring new ideas and updated practices to the setting.

All staff hold a Paediatrics first aid qualification and have attended safeguarding, Manual Handling, Allergy and food hygiene training, these are revised every three years to ensure we are up to date with all current policies and legislation. Safeguarding training is updated every 2 years.

Key Person System

Every child at the preschool has a member of staff who they will spend special time with and build a special bond with. This is their Key Person. The key Person knows your child really well and will ensure your child feels cared for and safe and secure.

The key Person will help with settling in to preschool and respond sensitively to your child’s needs. They will usually attend to your child’s nappy changes or toileting, development and learning and their need for cuddles or someone to talk to.

They will help your child build relationships with other staff and children in the preschool. They will usually be the person to feedback to you on how your child’s day at Pre-School has been. A key Person is also there for the family as well and we like you to build a close relationship.

The key person will also monitor your child’s progress and carry out regular observations to ensure your child’s progress is appropriate for their age and to help plan for your child based on their interests and direction of learning.

The Committee

The Pre-School Trustees and Committee have the overall responsibility for ensuring that it runs successfully in accordance with its aims.  The Committee is formed at the Annual General Meeting (usually September) of parents of Pre-School children and meets once every half-term with the Pre-School Leader and Deputy.

Our Committee currently consists of:

Chairperson – Lindsay Turner

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I am Chair of the Trustees and started the role in Spring 2020. My daughter, Sophie, has just turned 4. She’s been attending playgroup since she was 3 and starts school at CSG infant school in September 2020. I also have a 1-year-old, George. I used to be a Science teacher but now work part time as a project manager and do some private science tutoring on the side. So I always have a big interest in children’s education and enjoy making engaging activities for the children at home. I’m always looking for new ideas and love to see what Sophie has been learning and playing with at pre-school via observations on Tapestry and social media posts. I am a big foodie. I love to cook and eat healthy food and we try to grow some of our own veggies in the garden too. I also love to run as I like to keep fit and get lots of fresh air at the same time!

Treasurer – Tony Lord

Secretary – Sally McClaren

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Sally lives in the village with her husband and 2 children.  Maggie is 4 1/2 and will start CSG village school this September, and Sam is 2 1/2 and attends playgroup which he loves. 
Sally runs her own t-shirt business following a career in fashion buying.  She has been a playgroup trustee since October 2018 (i think – maybe check this?!) and enjoys the small role she plays in supporting the charity.
During her (limited) downtime, she enjoys running, yoga, reading and podcasts.

Emma Farrell

Lucy Webster

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Hello! I am Lucy, I have two cool dudes know as Aaron and Arlo. Aaron is 9 years old and Arlo is 3 years old. Arlo has been attending the playgroup for over a year now and absolutely loves it there. Aaron attends the local Junior school. 
 
I grew up in Harrow but moved to Chalfont St Giles when I was pregnant with Aaron (10 years ago). We love this village! The community is so welcoming and theres always something going on. 
 
My profession is Graphic Design. I’m very fortunate as I see this as a hobby as well as a career. I’ve worked inhouse for some major companies such as BBC, Unisys and Johnson & Johnson. Over the years I have worked my way up to Design Manager. While at Bristol Myers-Squibb (global pharmaceutical company) I managed a team of over 30 people across 3 countries ensuring alignment across all the marketing material. I then moved on to Johnson & Johnson where I have had the privilege to work with brands such as Johnson’s Baby, Aveeno, Neutrogena, Calpol, Clean & Clear and Nicorette (to name a few). Having been made redundant in 2016 I took the decision to go freelance and have never looked back. I continue to work with J&J but now on a global scale and have clients all over the world. It’s a real buzz to see products and graphics you have designed instore and online!
 
In my spare time (which isn’t much these days) I breed and show Hungarian Pulis (dogs). I have two UK champions and am currently campaigning my homebred girl. I also like to keep fit and will run when I can. I have completed the London and New York marathons!

Natalie Zealey