Staff
Come and meet the Rainbow's team.
Alison Pitt - Manager - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead - Deputy SENCO
NVQ Level 3 Childcare
Elklan trained
Designated Safeguard Deputy Lead Foundation modules 1 & 2
Paediatric First Aid
Safeguarding
Food Safety Training Level 2
Makaton Level 1
Ali became Manager in January 2022 after 12 years earning her stripes in the roles of Practitioner, Keyworker, SENCO and DSL.
Ali always believes it is such a privilege to be able to spend time with the children watching their awe and wonder as they learn about their community and the environment around them, helping them grow into independent thinkers as they prepare for the next level of their academic journey.
She is very involved with all the children during their session and delivers targeted work with children requiring additional support as well as small group craft activities with all children. Her favourite time of the day is story time and she loves letting the children tell her a story.
Gill Neal - - Deputy Manager - Designated Safeguarding Lead - Forest School Leader
Early Years Teacher Qualified
NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma for Early Years
BSc (Hons) in Aquatic Biology
Designated Safeguard Lead (Foundation module 1&2)
Forest School Level 2 & 3
Paediatric First Aid
Safeguarding
Food Safety Training Level 2 & 3
Makaton Level 3
Gill began her journey at Rainbow’s End on the parents committee and was the Chair of the pre-school committee while her children attended Rainbow's End. She has now worked at Rainbows End for 7 years after beginning as an Early Years Practitioner, adding more qualifications and skills as time has gone on.
Gill began Early Years Initial Teacher Training in September 2023 and hopes to complete it by June 2024, it will give her an insight into teaching all ages from 0-5 and she will have to do a placement in both a nursery and a primary school to gain experience with 0-2 year olds and reception-age children.
Gill’s biggest love is Forest school and being outside with the children. She believes children learn differently when they are out in the fresh air and she loves to see children challenging themselves in our special forest school environment. She loves bug hunting, making fires and using tools to make something the children can take home from our forest.
Gill has also recently enjoyed the challenge of learning new Makaton skills, putting these into practice every day, especially the insect and animal Makaton signs. Gill intends undertake her Makaton Level 2 training in the near future.
Early Years Teacher Qualified
NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma for Early Years
BSc (Hons) in Aquatic Biology
Designated Safeguard Lead (Foundation module 1&2)
Forest School Level 2 & 3
Paediatric First Aid
Safeguarding
Food Safety Training Level 2 & 3
Makaton Level 3
Gill began her journey at Rainbow’s End on the parents committee and was the Chair of the pre-school committee while her children attended Rainbow's End. She has now worked at Rainbows End for 7 years after beginning as an Early Years Practitioner, adding more qualifications and skills as time has gone on.
Gill began Early Years Initial Teacher Training in September 2023 and hopes to complete it by June 2024, it will give her an insight into teaching all ages from 0-5 and she will have to do a placement in both a nursery and a primary school to gain experience with 0-2 year olds and reception-age children.
Gill’s biggest love is Forest school and being outside with the children. She believes children learn differently when they are out in the fresh air and she loves to see children challenging themselves in our special forest school environment. She loves bug hunting, making fires and using tools to make something the children can take home from our forest.
Gill has also recently enjoyed the challenge of learning new Makaton skills, putting these into practice every day, especially the insect and animal Makaton signs. Gill intends undertake her Makaton Level 2 training in the near future.
Charlie Page - Early Years Practitioner - SENDCO
Level 3 Early Years Educator
Elklan Speech and Language Support for 3-5 years
Paediatric First Aid
Safeguarding
Food Safety Training Level 2
Makaton Level 3
Early Talk Boost
Charlie joined Rainbows in March 2019 and has never looked back. Her background is in supporting children and adults with special needs, and after completing her Level 3 qualification in Early Years, she wanted to train as a SENCO.
In this role, her passion for early years education and supporting children and families with additional needs really comes together. Charlie is taking her passion one step further by undertaking an Early Years Foundation degree at Kingston University.
When Charlie is not studying, she can usually be found sitting on the floor and chatting with the children or reading stories.
Lucy Powell - Early Years Practitioner
NVQ Level 3 Childcare
Paediatric First Aid
Safeguarding
Food Safety Training Level 2 & 3
Makaton Level 1
Early Talk Boost
Lucy has been working in childcare for the past 14 years and her experience ranges from Childminder and Nursery Nurse to Early Years Practitioner. She has been at Rainbow’s End for the last 3 years, endeavouring to deliver the best practise for children’s needs to enable them to thrive in our setting. In the last year Lucy has gained more experience in SEND and working alongside those with 1-1 child needs, being able to help these children learn and grow, preparing them for their transitions school.
Helen Prior-Egerton - Early Years Practitioner - Enhanced Staff
Level 3 Early Years Educator
BA (Hons) Fashion Design
Safeguarding
Paediatric First Aid
Level 1 Makaton
Food Hygiene & Safety level 2
Helen has been working as an Early Years Practitioner at Rainbow's End since September 2021, after working at another pre-school before her son was born. Helen loves working with children and seeing their confidence grow as they spend time with us at pre-school. She especially loves doing arts and crafts activities, reading stories with the children and taking groups up to forest school.
Helen is currently studying for my Level 3 Early Years Educator Apprenticeship and finds it fascinating to learn the theories and research behind our teaching practices and how we plan activities for the children’s development.
Lisa Buckman - Early Years Practitioner - Enhanced Staff
City of Guilds Level 4 Higher Professional Diploma in Early Years
NVQ Level 3 in Children's Care, Learning and Development
NVQ Level 2 in Early Year's Care and Education
Safeguarding
Paediatric First Aid
Level 1 Makaton
Food Hygiene & Safety level 2
Lisa has been working in Childcare since 2003 where she completed her qualifications and she joined Rainbow's Pre-School in February 2022.
Lisa enjoys working with children, watching them learn and grow and help them to develop ready for starting school.
Lisa is a calming influence on the children, along with her extensive qualifications and vast experience makes her a valuable team member at Rainbow's.
Amanda Mtemi - Early Years Practitioner
Amanda has worked in childcare for over 20 years and has dedicated much of her life to working with children, both in the UK and overseas.
She brings a vast array of experience and a beautiful calming approach to the setting. She enjoys being in the reading corner and singing songs with the children.
Currently Amanda splits her time between childminding, working at the local school and Rainbow's End.
Tamsin Davies- Early Years Practitioner - Enhanced staff
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Tamsin is our newest member of staff, having started with us in January. She lives in Cranleigh with her partner and two children who both have SEN, two dogs and two guinea pigs. Tamsin is very much looking forward to getting married this year! Tamsin joins us as part of our enhanced staffing and has experience in working alongside children with autism and SEN. She has settled in beautifully with the rest of the team and it's like she's been here for years! |
Louise Howard - Pre-School Administrator
Paediatric First Aid
Safeguarding
Makaton Level 1
Louise first came to Rainbow's End as a parent and then went on to take an active role in the Committee, as secretary.
From 2017, Louise became a permanent member of the team as the Rainbow's End Administrator and is now a crucial and highly valued member of the team.
Not only is Louise a whizz with IT and all things administrative but her bubbly and warm personality makes her a great asset to Rainbow's End.
