Staff and Management

Our staff team are chosen not only for their qualifications but also for their experiences in, and approach to childcare.

Birkenshaw Kindergarten has a well qualified experienced management team.

Richard and June Bell - Nursery Owners
Richard and June both hold teacher qualifications and have many years experience of running their own private businesses, particularly in the pre-school day care sector.

Beverley Metcalfe - Management Consultant
Beverley is an experienced Management Consultant and provides strategic and tactical input and support.  Beverley has spent many years as a senior business manager in a number of disciplines in the private sector.  She provides business expertise in relation to human resources, planning, continuous improvement, communications and operational management.  She is always available to support the nursery manager, staff and parents/carers alike.  

Catherine Flynn - Nursery Manager

My name is Catherine Flynn and I am the manager at Birkenshaw Kindergarten Club. I have been working with children since the age of 18. I gained a degree in psychology at university, specialising in advanced child development, childhood theorists and children with special educational needs. I then went on to gain my Early Years Professional Status and I am currently completing my dissertation which is the final chapter of my Masters in Early Years Education and Care.

Throughout this time I have been working with children in a variety of different settings. Within these settings I have been lucky enough to be given the opportunity to grow and develop my skills as a practitioner, gaining a vast amount of experience. Through my passion, hard work and commitment I have worked my way up from a voluntary nursery nurse to Nursery Manager.

 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. Through my previous roles 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. It is a real pleasure seeing children grow and develop into independent, confident individuals as they move onto school.

I believe in the ethos of Birkenshaw Kindergarten and am fully committed to our mission statement of being the number one child care provider in the area. My role as a Nursery Manager enables me to ensure that the children who use our setting are receiving the very best.

Birkenshaw Kindergarten has an ethos that children come first and are always striving to improve what we already do well, with a wonderful working environment that is welcoming and settling for children. Children grow and develop in small groups in a fun and safe environment making learning fun developing children to be confident and independent and ready for school.

I like to think I inspire my team of Nursery Nurse practitioners 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.

Emily Chesterman - Deputy Manager
Emily has more than five years experience of working with children in a senior position. Emily supports the manager (Catherine) in the day to day running of the nursery and supporting staff within the nursery rooms.  Emily is currently working towards her Level.4 - 6 early years professional qualification.

Staff in the Nursery
Our staff team are chosen not only for their qualifications but also for their experiences in, and approach to childcare.   95% of our Nursery Nurses are qualified to Level 3 status with lots of experience to offer in caring for young children.  Our Nursery Assistants all have experience in caring for young children and work as part of a team under the guidance of senior staff. We have an experienced Cook who cooks all the homemade food on the premises each day, also taking into consideration special dietary requirements. They are all given an induction period and in-house training and attend a variety of external training courses to develop their own standards and knowledge. We operate using the Key Worker system. Each child is assigned a Key Worker who will cater for his/her individual needs. This provides parents with a particular person they can relate to.

Staffing Ratios
0-2 years 1:3
2-5 years 1:6