At Pippins, we pride ourselves on having a highly trained and dedicated staff of Early Years professionals. All of our regular staff members have, or are working towards, a minimum of a Level 3 qualification in Early Years. We have three staff members who are qualified teachers, and a further two staff members who have extensive training and experience in working with children with additional needs. We also have two staff members who are qualified Forest School leaders.
Everyone who works in our playroom must undertake regular training, continuing professional development, and hold an up-to-date Paediatric First Aid Certificate. In addition to their professional qualifications and experience, all of our staff are parents themselves, so we are all sympathetic to the unique joys and challenges that you are experiencing with your own child!
If you ring the preschool or pop round for a visit, Mandy is the person you will most likely speak to. She is naturally friendly and upbeat, with a smile for everyone, and her ability to remember details about children and families is second to none. Her infectious enthusiasm for Pippins carries over to all the staff and children in the preschool.
Before having her own children, Mandy was a qualified chef and spent over ten years working in retail, where she gained extensive experience and training in management. Once she had a young family, she developed an interest in Early Years, and began working for Pippins in 2008. Mandy was promoted to Preschool Manager in 2016 after eight years as a Senior Preschool Assistant.
When not at Pippins, Mandy is a keen runner and enjoys staying active. She goes to regular boot camp classes, cycles, and enjoys trips to the theatre, cinema, and spending time with family and friends. She is less keen on spending cold, wet mornings on the football pitch side lines while her teenage sons play – but she spends quite a bit of time doing this anyway!
Favourite Pippins Activity: Our annual Pippins Christmas Party! This is the only time during the year when we get to have the whole cohort together, along with their families. It’s wonderful to watch them all having fun and enjoying the magic of Christmas as a young child.
Favourite Children's Book: The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
Favourite Memory: When the children excitedly took a staff member outside to show her what they had found. The staff member followed the children out and was presented with a frog - she hated frogs! The staff member put on a brave face and quickly went back inside. The staff all had a good giggle about it afterwards.
Sandra knew she wanted to work with children ever since she took child development as a GCSE in secondary school. She has a particular passion for supporting children with special needs and their families, and is one of Pippins’ Special Education Needs Co-ordinators. Her warm, empathetic nature and limitless patience serve her well in this role.
Sandra first joined the Pippins team back in 2002 – when it was still called Pampisford Preschool! Other than a brief break to spend time with her young family, she has been part of Pippins throughout its history and is the preschool’s longest-serving staff member. Her extensive knowledge and experience led to her promotion to Deputy Preschool Leader in 2008 and Deputy Preschool Manager in 2016.
Sandra enjoys walking in the country with her family and is passionate about animals and wildlife. She has several pets that she loves spending time with, including a chinchilla! She also enjoys listening to music and going to live gigs with her husband.
Favourite Pippins Activity: Can’t choose - I love that no two days are the same!
Favourite Children's Book: The Very Noisy Night by Diana Hendry or Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
Favourite Memory: I was singing ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen with a child, and when we got to the lyric ‘the past is in the past,’ the child told me, ‘No! The pasta's in the pan!’
Ruth is a qualified Early Years teacher, Pippins’ Lead for Learning, and a qualified Forest School leader. She is a wonderful asset to Pippins, taking a leading role in developing quite a lot of the planned activities that happen within the preschool. Her outstanding grasp of child development and the ways in which young children learn help her to support children’s play in the moment and extend their learning through child-led activities.
Prior to joining Pippins in 2017, Ruth worked as a Family Learning Tutor for Cambridgeshire County Council, a Senior Family Worker at South Cambridgeshire Children’s Centres, and a Support Worker for Asylum Seeker & Refugee Families in South Wales.
Ruth is also a talented artist, and in her free time she enjoys drawing, getting crafty, going camping with her family, reading and playing Lego with her children.
Favourite Pippins Activity: Forest School, and getting messy and creative in the art area!
Favourite Children's Book: Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
Favourite Memory: With our child-led approach to learning, I love seeing how and where play develops and supporting the children's learning around this. For example, one child recalling a trip to the dentist led to a group of children creating their own dentist surgery in Pippins, with lots of role play, turn taking, creativity with resources and discussion about caring for teeth and healthy eating.
Katie is one of Pippins’ two highly qualified and experienced Special Education Needs Co-ordinators (SENCO). She is passionate about supporting children’s development, and is particularly talented at adapting her approach to each individual child – going from boisterous and outgoing one moment, to calm and soothing the next – depending on who she is interacting with. If someone plays ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen, Katie will be the first one up and dancing along!
Katie joined Pippins in 2016 after working at Granta Special Needs School in Linton for twelve years. She qualified there as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) and worked with children and young adults aged 2 to 19 years old. She gained a huge amount of experience over the years, whilst working with a wide variety of complex needs. Before working at Granta School, Katie worked full time at Babraham Day Nursery.
In her spare time, Katie enjoys gardening, going for country walks, sewing, painting, and spending time with her family and friends. She loves art, dancing, animals, and laughing!
Favourite Pippins Activity: Singing and dancing with the children, teaching simple sign language, telling stories, going on bug hunts, and arts & crafts.
Favourite Children's Book: Mog and the V.E.T. by Judith Kerr
Favourite Memory: I love standing back and watching the children laughing at Pippins’ end-of-year magic show each year and remembering how far they have all come, and thinking that they are ready for new adventures at primary school!
Sophie is one of Pippins’ two qualified Forest School leaders and a talented preschool practitioner. She loves engaging children in messy play and fostering a love of the great outdoors.
Sophie joined Pippins in September 2016 after previously working as qualified veterinary nurse. She has 2 children, both of whom attended Pippins. She began her Level 2 qualification shortly after joining Pippins and within 18 months she had completed both the Level 2 Certificate in Early Years Education & Care and the Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce.
Sophie loves to read and she enjoys keeping fit by doing Pilates, Zumba, running, cycling and walking her silly Labrador, called Max. She occasionally draws and she enjoys baking with her children. When the weather is good, she takes her children kayaking along the river Cam.
Favourite Pippins Activity: Anything messy! I love to get a tuff tray out, put a variety of materials on it and then let the children decide how they want to play. This often results in lots of mess, and lots of smiling, laughing and engaged children.
Favourite Children's Book: All of the ‘Oi, Frog!’ books by Kes Gray. I think they are really funny.
Fun Fact: I worked for a couple of years in Grand Cayman as a scuba diver and underwater videographer. On a normal working day, I would see turtles, sharks and an abundance of stingrays.
Donna is a highly qualified and experienced childcare professional and has spent her whole career working with children and families in one form or another. She loves getting a bit silly and creative with the children and does the best Peppa Pig voices!
Donna joined the Pippins team in September 2019. She has previously worked as a Senior Family Worker (Social Care) for Cambridgeshire County Council, a Community Nursery Nurse with the Health Visiting Team, a Children’s Centre Family Worker, and a professional nanny.
Outside of work Donna can usually be found at home listening – and singing – to 80’s music, whilst cooking and relaxing. She recently took up gardening as a hobby, so she spends a lot of her free time out in her garden or watching gardening and home makeover shows.
Favourite Pippins Activity: I love creating cosy dens for the children, reading stories and singing.
Favourite Children's Book: The Gruffalo & Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson, and any Peppa Pig stories (as I like doing all the voices!).
Favourite Memory: I remember one afternoon at Pippins we danced to some Greek music. We all held hands in a line, walking back and forth, with the music - and us - getting quicker and quicker. All of us (staff and children) were in fits of giggles by the end of it! It became known as the 'kicking song' and was often requested.
When her own sons attended Pippins, Laura saw what an amazing time they had and how much their time at Pippins increased their confidence. She decided she wanted to be part of that journey for other children. She joined the Pippins team in 2019 and has been a wonderful addition to the team, quickly demonstrating an instinctive talent for working in Early Years.
Laura holds a Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce. Outside of work, she has recently discovered a love for running (or at least attempting to!). She also loves exploring National Trust sites with her family.
Favourite Pippins Activity: Forest School sessions
Favourite Children's Book: The Gruffalo!
Fun Fact: I am passionate about helping children to become independent! I love seeing that ‘light up’ moment when they’ve managed something they’ve been trying to do for themselves, such as putting a coat on or writing their name!
After having three children of her own, Becca pursued a career in Early Years and joined Pippins in 2016. She has a calm presence that quickly puts children at ease, and she loves engaging children in any activity that allows them to develop their creativity and imagination.
Becca is currently undertaking her Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce. In her spare time she enjoys going for walks with her family and relaxing with friends.
Favourite Pippins Activity: I enjoy craft activities and Forest School sessions, because I get to see the children using their own creativity.
Favourite Children's Book: The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet! (It’s one of my own children’s favourites).
Favourite Memory: One of my favourite memories at Pippins took place over the Covid lockdown. Some of the children started a water fight in the playground and gradually everyone started to join in. I ended up on the receiving end of a full bucket of water! It was lovely to see the children happy and having fun during such a difficult time.
Larissa is the newest member of the Pippins family, joining the team in 2021, but she slotted right in as if she has been there forever. Friendly, approachable and always smiling, Larissa has a natural ability to bond with children. Her experience with own child who has additional needs has given Larissa a deep understanding of how to approach each child as an individual and support them to achieve their potential.
Larissa loves animals, nature and is a big fan of anything Disney! In her free time she enjoys photography, crafting, music and trips to the zoo. Larissa is looking forward to becoming a qualified Early Years practitioner, and is excited to begin work on her Level 3 Diploma.
Favourite Pippins Activity: Arts, crafts, reading, dancing, singing
Favourite Children's Book: The Tickle Book Book by Ian Whybrow, and any book by Julia Donaldson
Fun Fact: I have raised nearly £5000 for the Down’s Syndrome Association.
Tina is a former primary school teacher, who joined Pippins in 2018 to allow her to spend more time looking after her own children. After watching her two daughters develop, she decided that working in Early Years would be the perfect opportunity to put her combined experience as a teacher and parent to good use. Tina always has a big smile for everyone and really enjoys all the funny things children at this age say and do!
Before having her own children, Tina worked as a primary school teacher for eleven years, mainly teaching Years 2, 3 and 4. In her free time she enjoys being out in the countryside with her family and baking.
Favourite Pippins Activity: I enjoy doing small group activities, such as sports, science experiments and craft activities.
Favourite Children's Book: Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph
Fun Fact: My family and I usually spend Easter at my in-laws' farm in Wales, where we love holding the newborn lambs, feeding the chickens and taking their dog for walks in the woods.
Yasmin has been part of the Pippins family since 2009, when her first child started attending preschool. She was on the Preschool Management Committee for three years while the next two children attended, then she had a year off before coming back as the preschool administrator in 2016. She cares greatly about Pippins and is always the first one to volunteer to muck in if a job needs doing.
Yasmin is a qualified music teacher and a freelance musician. She is a very active member of the community and volunteers her time as Editor of the Sawston Scene magazine, Chair of Friends of Sawston Library, and for the environmental group, Greener Sawston.
In her free time Yasmin enjoys playing steel pans and cycling (but not at the same time!). She plays in the village steel band, Sawston Steel, and sometimes plays at Notting Hill Carnival with a band called Nostalgia. She also does cycle touring with her family, and she enjoys long-distance cycling (known as audax). During term time, she typically cycles 100 miles every week.
Favourite Pippins Activity: I do love it when the children pop by the office for a chat, or to show me something interesting they've done.
Favourite Children's Book: Cuddly Duddley by Jez Alborough. Or maybe The Book With No Name.
Favourite Memory: A little boy came in to collect a special toy that had been left on my desk for safekeeping. After a brief chat about his day, I said "See you later, alligator!" He shot back with "In a while, crocodile!" I replied "Laters, potatoes!" (it works better out loud). He thought about this for a moment, and then replied "Bye bye carrot!" This has now become a standard expression in my house - I don't know what the neighbours must make of my family shouting "Bye bye carrot!" down the street!
Fun Fact: I love anything Disney, and would love to work at any of the parks as a cast member, if they weren’t so far away!
Yasmin has been part of the Pippins family since 2009, when her first child started attending preschool. She was on the Preschool Management Committee for three years while the next two children attended, then she had a year off before coming back as the preschool administrator in 2016. She cares greatly about Pippins and is always the first one to volunteer to muck in if a job needs doing.
