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The Fennies Team

As an organisation, our aim is to change the perception of the nursery industry by being the best and moving it forward. Our driven team know what really matters, their passion for our mission and values attribute to our growing business and exceptional culture. 

Education

Rageena Tahir

Rageena

Director of Early Years

Rageena joined our quality team as a Regional Quality Manager, with over 11 years of experience working in nurseries and teaching children English as an additional language. She developed her role and grew into our Head of Education, holding a level 6 qualification in childcare herselfRageena now works alongside our internal education specialists to curate specific moduleand refine learning activities within our nurseries.  

Laura

Laura

Regional Manager

Laura’s background is in nursery management, As a Nursery Manager I have experienced many challenges that the industry regularly presents, and have successfully led teams to ‘Outstanding’ outcomes during inspections.

More recently Laura has been in a regional support role where I spent my time supporting many nursery teams and managers to take steps towards success in providing high-quality childcare.

Laura is very passionate about developing leaders and individuals in a holistic way to ensure they recognise their unique talents to bring out the best, most motivated, and positive version of themselves each day!

Nicola

Nicola

Regional Manager

Nicola’s background is in senior management and has over 30 years of experience working in the Early Years tackling many challenges that the industry regularly presents.

Nicola has successfully led teams to achieve ‘Outstanding’ outcomes during inspections and in everyday practice and more recently headed up training & quality for a large provider, leading a team of specialists, where we spent our time supporting many nursery teams and managers to take steps towards success in providing high-quality childcare.

sam wass 3

Sam

Child Development Expert

Sam is a child psychologist and developmental neuroscientist who studies all aspects of early years behaviour. He studied at Oxford, London and Cambridge and now leads the BabyDevLab at the University of East London. Sam works alongside the Fennies education and marketing teams to provide insight and expand upon innovative child development research topics which feeds into many aspects of our offering including staff training, educational topics and content for our blog and social media platforms. Sam specialises in understanding how the latest research from developmental psychology and neuroscience can be translated into pioneering early years practice.

Ruth Mottram

Ruth

Education Advisor

Ruth is passionate about child-led play and the learning benefits that comes with it, this can be seen within Ruth’s creative teaching processes in which she actively researches new ideas for. Ruth works alongside our nursery teams within each setting, role modeling activities and ensuring best practice. Ruth is passionate about incorporating the arts within her work and sparking children’s creative spirit. 

paula

Paula

Regional SENCO

Paula joined our Educational Department as a Regional SENDCo and Inclusion Manager. With over 10 years of experience working in Early Years and over 5 years as SENDCo and is very passionate about advocating for families with SEN children. Paula now works alongside our education team to promote inclusion within our nurseries and offers support to all staff, especially those working with children with SEN and English as an additional language. 

Christina Leontiou

Christina

Specialist lead

Christina’s passion for early years sparked when she spent a year teaching in Madrid during her time at university. Incorporating her half Spanish and half Greek roots, Christina is passionate about inspiring the next generation to become excited about learning a new language, she achieves this by creating fun educational activities for the children at Fennies.  

art

Priyanka

Art Specialist

Priyanka is a practising mixed media artist who is passionate about sharing her knowledge of art, art techniques and learning through exploration. She has been actively teaching art in the community since 2017, and she strongly believes in how “process art” nourishes the innate magical curiosity the children have in the Early Years and the importance of expressive art and design. She looks to encourage each child to be creative in a way unique to them in a supportive and engaging environment.

Majka

Majka

Art Specialist

Majka is a proven artist grounded in the realm of clay modeling and sculpture, showcasing extensive knowledge and skills. With a passion for both art and Early Years education, she has effectively practiced this symbiosis with children for over twenty years.

As a mixed media artist, Majka embraces nature in her creative process, experimenting with various natural materials. She holds a strong conviction that expressive art significantly contributes to a child’s developmental journey, and laments its often underestimated importance in traditional education systems.

One of Majka’s greatest joys is witnessing the radiance in children’s faces and the surge in their confidence levels as they complete their artistic creations, standing as testament to the effectiveness and power of integrating arts into Early Years education.

Website Images Meet the team 30

Jack

PE Specialist

Jack has worked across both primary and secondary schools. He has professional and personal experience with all physical developmental milestones for children. Jack has a keen interest in passing on his love for physical activity to future generations.

Learning and Development

Jamie Atkins

Jamie

Senior Learning and Development Manager

Jamie is an expressive and interactive facilitator who encourages a collaborative approach to learning. Previously working as a primary school teacher, this experience catapulted his interest in coaching others and Jamie moved into the Early Years sector as a professional Development Consultant. He has a keen interest in coaching others as well as being an advocate for supporting mental well-being.  

Pru Barwood

Pru

Learning and Development Lead

Pru plays a vital role in the management of our apprenticeship program from an operational perspective, ensuring all training is aligned with policies, procedures, Fennies values and creating an open and reflective environment. Pru works alongside learners, Nursery Managers and external partners to deliver an outstanding learning experience, helping our Apprentices develop their skills through innovative training.

Academy

Kelly

Learning and Development Trainer

Kelly has been working in early years for over 12 years. During this time, she has had experience working as a Deputy Manager and Training Advisor. She strongly believes that every child deserves the best start in life, and this drives her to share her knowledge and experience with our teams. Kelly has a 3-year-old herself, which gives her the passion for ensuring parents and team members understand the importance of early years in a child’s life.