Our team

Child care qualifications

Louise is qualified to Level 6 Childcare and Education with Early Years Professional Status. She also has a BA (Hons) in History of Art and has Scuba Diving and Skydiving qualifications.

About me

I have three brilliant children. At 6, my eldest, now storming it at Uni, was an integral part of Young Friends at its conception. Those first few children adored her and her them.

My mission, together with my father (now sadly passed), was, in his word to create ‘the best nursery in the UK’. My other two children also spent their first years in Young Friends. We lived in the building, and they were literally breast fed in staff supervisions!

I’ve lived and breathed the place all that time, always fascinated by nature alongside child development and wellbeing. More recently, in tandem with a passion for this at home, I became intent on merging all of this with sustainability.

As Founder, I have now finally taken a step away from daily management – a difficult decision because I just love the Young Friends team, and only made possible because Emma and I happened upon each other. I was determined only to do this when the absolute right person came along. It’s been a sweeping learning curve for me in many areas like biodiversity etc, and my passion has increasingly become about creating little sustainable citizens and helping the team get excited by this. I want to help them to understand what natural sustainable learning truly means in practice and to child outcomes, and how to facilitate it whilst sticking to the EYFS. It’s an exciting journey we are all on, and far from over yet.

When I’m not building up the kindergarten, I love running, and going for country walks with my family and my beautiful Labrador. She has the perfect temperament for a nursery dog, and I often take her to kindergarten. The children adore her. I have always owned pets and been interested in animal therapy. We’ve started keeping (and rescuing) guinea pigs at the kindergarten too. They are hilarious, and I love to encourage the staff to spend lots of time with them with the children.

I also adore gardening and am soon to embark on my RHS gardening course. I learnt a lot about rewilding and in my last house (much to my children’s dismay) I turned the entire (small) garden into a haven for wildlife. Of course I also bring this to kindergarten– hence our gorgeous wild woodland garden.

I am passionate about sustainability inside the house too and have a cupboard dedicated to making my own cleaning and other products. It’s so rewarding.

Interior Design has always been a passion of mine and I love to create a feature wall. Colour plays a massive role in well-being and how we feel and I have tried to incorporate this into the kindergarten décor to establish a feeling of calm and well-being.

I also love photography, which I also manage to use when creating social media posts and to promote a healthy partnership with our families and wider community.

I love coming to work because I am incredibly proud of the environment and team I have created. I believe what Young Friends Kindergarten, and Young Friends Tribe is doing is incredibly important, and our talented and caring team do too. It’s exciting to be making a difference to these children’s lives and, though they don’t know it yet, many of them will grow up to do important things with regards to sustainability because it will be a part of them – they will just do it naturally. That makes me very proud indeed.

Child care qualifications

Emma has an MA in Early Childhood & Education (Integrated Working with Families and Children)

She also has a Diploma in the Montessori Method of Education and a BA in Education (Early Years).

About me

I joined Young Friends in September 2021, and being part of such a fun team whose ethos and values are similar to my own feels like coming home. I believe the early years are the most important with regards to development, so it is important to get it right. I am particularly interested in the way children learn as opposed to what they learn, and the many ways they communicate with us – through their wellbeing, body language, schemas, play choices, creativity, and chatter. I am also passionate about the wellbeing of my staff and feel this is absolutely key to growing a successful team. I have embedded the support models I studied for my MA dissertation into our practice, and we are subsequently a really happy bunch! I have five children of my own and one grandchild. We are a big, rowdy family who get together often. They fill me with joy!

I am passionate about creativity. I was lucky enough to go to art school for a year when I was 18 and study general art and design. From this grew a passion for process art as an expression for children and an interest in the Reggio Emilia methodology. I go to galleries and exhibitions as much as possible. I love, love, love music, especially live gigs and festivals. Brighton and Hove is such a great city to live in for this. I enjoy cooking for lots of people and I’m vegetarian.

I love coming to work because in a world that can feel a little grey, my Young Friends family lifts my spirits and adds the colour.

Child care qualifications Jes has a Diploma Level 3 , a Degree in Early Childhood Education and has a Level 3 qualification in Playwork.

She is also qualified in First Aid and Safeguarding.

About me

I’ve been working in childcare for 20 years now and love the fact that I am still learning so much about children. I am particularly interested in learning about how their little brain neural pathways work and how this affects their learning, development and behaviour.

I love to travel and learn about different cultures and customs, particularly when I can bring this into my practice.

Since working at Young Friends I have also grown a passion for all things sustainable, and take this knowledge how with me to use in my personal life.

I love coming to work because every day is different when you work with children.

Alison has qualified Early Years Teacher Status and a BA (Hons) Professional Studies in Learning and Development.

About me

As a mentor and trainer, I get to develop people professionally. I impart knowledge, expertise and wisdom and professionally guide leaders and educators. I get to see adults grow and progress professionally as they build on their skills, deepen their knowledge and strengthen positive relationships with children and families. I am passionate about the professional identity of all those working in the early years sector, who are committed to the care and education of babies and young children and helping children learn through play.

Outside work I’m a keen cook. I also love walking, gardening and generally being outside.

I love coming to work because I get to see children learning about themselves as they engage with the world around them.

Child care qualifications

Libby has a Level 2 in Health and Social care, Level 3 in Children’s Learning and Development (Early Years) and Level 2 in Employment Responsibilities and Rights in Health, Social Care and Children and Young People’s Settings.

She is also trained in Safeguarding: Basic (1), Intermediate (2), Advanced inc DSL (3), and in Paediatric First Aid.

About me     

My favourite thing about coming to work is being in amongst a great team of people who all work together and want to care for children in the same way. I also love being a part of the first years of children’s lives and watching them learn so many things.

My hobbies are travelling, listening to music, cooking and spending time with my family and friends. I love cooking with the children, too, and really getting them involved.

I love coming to work because every single day something new happens.

Child care qualifications

Sophie is qualified to Level 2 in Children and Young People Care, and is working towards her Level 3 Diploma in Early Learning and Childcare (Early Years Educator). She also has Level 3 Paediatric First Aid.

About me

Watching children grow and blossom is the most wonderful experience to be part of. I love learning with the children about the world and nature around us in an endearing and exciting way. I am currently studying for my Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification and am particularly passionate about holistic education and art/creative play.

I love coming to work because each day holds a new adventure! I love popping on my wellies and exploring with the children, discovering and learning as we go, together.

Child care qualifications

Cieran is currently working towards Level 2 ,

He has a BA(Hons) in Professional Musicianship, and as well as English, speaks rusty French and Spanish.

About me

I love the fact that I get to spend my day interacting with the children. It is wonderful to watch them grow and learn, and they surprise me every day with how clever and creative they can be. Language and music and the effect that they have on children’s development are something that really interests me. I enjoy playing music, and doing cooking activities with the children – two things that I believe are extremely important aspects of life. Children should be encouraged to take part in and learn from these activities, growing in confidence each time.

I play, write and record music of all sorts with friends and by myself. I love sports and the unpredictability of it, and the pure excitement and energy that it can bring. I also love to cook at home, trying different combinations and looking into aspects of varied cultures.

I love coming to work because it is a wholesome and fun experience with the children where you learn something new every day

Child care qualifications

Tanya is Level 2 qualified and working towards her Level 3 qualification.

About me     

Working at Young Friends is a special place to be; I love my team and how well we all work together. The children inspire me to be a better person each day and their creative growing minds make my job such a joy.

I enjoy going to the gym, cooking and listening to music. I feel that physical activity is so beneficial for any age and as a way to look after yourself for some calm down time! We love to have yoga sessions to some calming music in the nursery, too.

I love coming to work because I love my team and we all have great bonds with the children. It feels like a second home and a second family.

Child care qualifications

Faye is qualified to Early Years Educator Level 3.

About me

I started as a Level 2 apprentice at Young Friends, and really enjoy working with everyone here. I have two young nieces who I like to try out activities with before doing them at work, and I am very interested in different child development theories.

Outside work I enjoy lots of physical activity such as yoga, hiking, and running. I also like travelling and listening to different types of music.

I love coming to work because it is always varied, and surprises you.

Child care qualifications

Angela is qualified to Level two in Childcare

About me

I’m a mum of two children who are both at university but still live at home. Watching the various stages of my children has given me an understanding and knowledge of child development which has led me to Young Friends, as it is something I enjoy.

As a mum, cooking is something I do a lot and I enjoy healthy cooking, as well as baking.

I love coming to work because being part of this team is invaluable. The love and care and teaching children about the environment is something really special.

About Me

I love how unique my job is. I never know what to expect and every day the children surprise me with something new they’ve learnt or make me laugh and smile with their kindness or funny moments. I love the ability to think creatively with them and build something only their imaginations can think of. They are all so special and they are the reason I love my job. I am learning so much about early years and I look forward to thriving and growing as I learn more and more. I’ve always had a particular interest in SEN as my nephew is autistic and has always struggled with emotional regulation and his communication skills. I achieved a First class degree in Songwriting and am currently working towards my Level 1 coaching in netball. During my degree I completed a research project about the benefits of music therapy for those with autism and have always been interested in seeing the impacts in an early years environment.

Music, the arts and creative writing have always been a huge part of my life. I love singing with/to the children and hearing their made up songs. There’s definitely a few future songwriters for sure! I love playing and coaching netball and would love to incorporate more sports activities that require and encourage teamwork with the children. Nature is something that really soothes me and I’m interested in learning more about gardening. I love being in the garden with the children and helping them look after our plants and all the insects and animals we encounter.

I love coming to work because of the children. They are at the core of why we all do what we do, and every day they light me up. They make every day unique and purposeful and I love that.

Landa is our friendly Labrador that adores children and coming to the nursery. She lives with Louise and regularly comes in to spend time with the children, whether it be to be washed and pampered or just to sit next to them whilst they are reading a book. The children learn valuable lessons about respect for animals and what they need to be happy. She is wonderful for settling new and established children and creates an air of calm and well-being.