Meet the Team
Jade Topliss
Hello, my name is Jade, I am the Manager of Woodborough Village Preschool. It is with huge delight that I inform you, after Easter, this will be on a permanent basis. I will be in Preschool Monday – Wednesday and working from home the rest of the week.
As some of you may know, I started at preschool at the end of November 2022 on a part-time, temporary basis but since then have become extremely passionate about ensuring the preschool continues to flourish. I have loved getting to know all the wonderful children and the lovely staff (old and new) and look forward to developing these relationships further. I know we are going to make an amazing team and I am very excited for the future of the preschool and what we can collectively provide for our children.
A bit about me – firstly, I am a mum, Walter is my little boy, he is 2 and a half years-old and he comes to preschool with me. He absolutely loves it!
I am a qualified Primary school teacher, with just under 10 years teaching experience. I have worked in KS1 and KS2 and 5 of these years I taught in Early Years Foundation Stage. I love teaching all years but working with the little ones is my favourite!
As a hobby/passion, I enjoy writing children’s books. Over the past 3 years, I have written three children’s books, all of which have been published and are available to purchase on Amazon.
For the future of the preschool, I plan on continuing to develop my relationships with all children, their families and staff, plan and prepare lots of exciting and stimulating activities - in and out of Preschool, develop ways in which staff can ensure that all children are making progress, begin to get children ready for primary school and ensure that they develop a lifelong love of learning.
Victoria
Hello, my name is Victoria Cooper, but everyone calls me Vicki. I am the Deputy manager of Woodborough Village Preschool and I work full time. I started back in February 2017 as a practitioner and have worked up to my current position at preschool, I have loved every single day of that journey.
The team and I have already developed strong bonds together and all have the same focus and ambitions for the preschool. I know the preschool is going to thrive and go from strength to strength with the team we have in place and the continued support from all our lovely parents.
A bit about myself – I am a mum to two fabulous girls. Tamzin is 8 in April and Georgia is 3 this month. Tamzin goes to Woodborough Woods school and loves it there and Georgia comes to preschool with me every day and absolutely loves it here.
I am a level 3 fully qualified in childcare, learning and development and I’m planning to start my early years foundation degree this summer. I have worked in the early years sector for 15 years and my heart is with this age group. I have always loved being around children as they can bring such fun and happiness to our lives, I love watching them grow and develop into young people and their personalities blossom. Children are truly blessing upon us.
As a hobby I love to play and watch football, I am a huge Notts County FC fan and go to all home matches and most away matches. I love to draw and be creative, read and bake.
For the future of preschool, I will continue to work closely with the parents, carers and staff to make sure that the children have the best possible care and start to their lives and that they are happy and thrive in their development. There are many exciting new activities planned for after Easter, I can’t wait to get started.
Jennifer
Hello, I'm Jen and I'm a senior practitioner at Woodborough Village preschool. Until this week I have worked Wednesday to Friday at preschool, but from Monday 20th March I’ll be working full time.
I am a qualified childcare practitioner, with almost 30 years’ experience working with children. I have worked with children of all ages over the years but I really do love working with the little ones the most!
I am also a mum to three grown up children; so it's really nice to have little ones to look after at preschool
I will be classroom based with the children and I will also be leading weekly yoga and cooking classes. Get ready for lots of fun!
In the coming months I will be completing ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) Training, as I am passionate about being able to identify, help and support any children who will benefit and will be helping improve our forest school provision with formal training and accreditation.
About me....
I love yoga and my passion for the practice took me all the way to the remote mountains in the Himalayas where I completed my yoga teacher training in traditional yoga, breath-work and mantras. I also studied in London as a meditation teacher. The combination of both Eastern and Western practices work really well to help with stress reduction and relaxation. I’ve also run private yoga and well-being classes for children in my small home studio, although now I will be working full time at preschool, I’ll be taking a break from that for time being.
My other passion is food and nutrition. I am the founder of a vegan food company called 'Love Vegan by Jennifer' and I have completed a diploma in vegan nutrition. I love to teach and educate others about the benefits of a plant-based diet and I create and share lots of plant-based recipes that can be enjoyed by everyone. I am really looking forward to sharing all of my passions with everyone at preschool
Elizabeth
Hello, my name is Liz Maltby and I am a practitioner and SENDCO at Woodborough Village Preschool. I joined the team on 6th March 2023 and work full time.
I have worked in early years for 20 years, doing my level 3 when I left school and working as a practitioner and SENDCO at 2 different day nursery settings where I have worked with children from babies to 5 year olds.
In 2020 I achieved my foundation degree in early childhood studies which I feel has really enhanced my practice.
My role as SENDCO
As preschool SENDCO (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator), my role entails making sure support is in place to develop children who may be having difficulties or presenting with some delays in their development and learning, as well as those with physical disabilities. My role is to identify difficulties a child may be displaying, put appropriate support in place, work closely with parents and any other agencies involved.
If you do have any concerns regarding your child and would like my support, please feel free to speak to me, I will be happy to discuss this with you.
About me....
I have a 12-year-old son, who is soon to be a teenager, his name is Reilly. Myself, Reilly and his Dad really enjoy attending Notts County Football matches and spending lots of time together at the seaside in Scarborough where we visit quite often.
Reilly was born 13 weeks early and spent the first 4 months of his life on the neo-natal units at both City Hospital and QMC. He received the most amazing care in both units which we are forever grateful for and which inspired me to organise a fundraising event when Reilly was 1. We raised over £2000 for the Nottingham neo natal unit, this is something I would like to organise again in the future.
Having a premature son also taught me a lot about the effects of being born early on a child’s development, which has helped with my practice in early years when looking after others who have been born premature.
I am really excited to be part of the team at Woodborough Village Pre School and look forward to getting to know the staff, children and parents.
Millie
Hello! My name is Millie Heath, I’m 22 years old and I am the beginning of my new career. I joined Woodborough Village Preschool at the beginning of January 2023 as a Preschool Practitioner, and I am loving it!
In college I studied Health and Social care which was great however I found myself enjoying working with children the most, so I did 2 years of work experience in 3 different primary schools while completing the course.
From there I began working as a Nanny to 3 children with the youngest being 5 months and the eldest 6 years however they soon grew up and youngest began school, so it was time for me to move on. I loved working with the children, and I knew I wanted to work within a preschool next, so I joined the amazing team at Woodborough! Here, I am going to begin working towards a Level 3 Early Years Educator which I will hopefully become fully qualified in September 2024!
Since working here, I have really enjoyed getting to know each child and becoming a part of their early years development. The children love doing creative activities just as much as I do so we always find ourselves having lots of fun making paper aeroplanes or binoculars, even if that means I have to repair them all! I am looking forward to developing myself and my career surrounded by an amazing team and children!
Shelia
Hello, my name is Sheila Middup and I have worked at Preschool for 30 years I currently work full days on Wednesday and Friday.
My early career was in catering but after getting married and starting a family, two boys, I was a stay-at-home mum, I also helped my husband in the family business which was Market Gardening (growing vegetables)
Both our boys went to Woodborough Preschool so I've served as a committee member helping with fund raising and then became part of the staff back in 1993, I currently look after the provision of snacks for children and any dietary requirements they may have.
It is a job that I find really rewarding even after all these years, to watch your young children come to us (some with tears) and to watch them grow in stature and confidence is the best thing ever and that their early years learning with us will set them up for their next adventure of starting school.