MEET THE TEAM

We’re lucky to have a dedicated team. Get to know our team members and structure below. If you want to meet us, just book a visit!

MANAGEMENT & PRACTITIONERS

Management Team:

Lily Rajnovic – Manager (Butterfly Group)

Lily joined us in April 2016.  She has been working with children for the past 30 years. She started her professional career as a primary school teacher in Croatia. She moved to the UK in the late ’90s and since then she has lived and worked in Didcot. After working for 15 years in Stephen Freeman Primary School, Lily was excited to join the team. Lily loves gardening, needlepoint and reading.

Dawn Dellow – Deputy (Ladybird Group)

Dawn joined us in June 2017 as a Pre-School Practitioner and then progressed onto becoming our Deputy Manager. Dawn has been involved with the pre-school for several years before being employed by us by being on the Committee and Fundraising Committee whilst her daughter attended the pre-school. Dawn’s hobbies include dog walking, watching touring cars, listening to music, spending time with her family and friends.

Claire Downer – Office Manager

Claire joined us in May 2016.  Claire has been involved with the pre-school for several years before being employed by us by being on the Committee and Fundraising Committee whilst her two children attended the pre-school. Claire’s hobbies are speedway, swimming and spending quality time with her family and friends.

Pre-School Educator’s:

Jackie Waters (Caterpillar Group)

Jackie has many years experience of working with different ages of children over the years from starting as a Childminder, Teaching Assistant, Nursery Nurse,  SENCO and then her previous position of being a Deputy Manager in a Pre-School.   She has 3 children and 2 grandchildren, who she loves spending time with. She also has a cat and a dog.  In her spare time she likes to bake cakes, gardening, reading, walking her dog and Ceroc dancing

Deepthi Dondapati (Bumblebee Group)

Deepthi has previously worked at Stephen Freeman school since 2019. She has chosen this profession due to the passion she has towards working with children and is dedication in her role. She has a keen interest in cooking and would like to  travel around the world. 

Zoe Lewis (Caterpillar Group)

Zoe has re-entered the EYFS after a break of a few years. She has previously worked for Dingley’s Promise and primary schools in Reading both as a 1-2-1 and as a regular class TA.  Zoe enjoys reading, films, crafting and cooking and will not miss an opportunity to dress up. She loves having dinner parties and entertaining and owns rather too many cookbooks! 

Nicola Vaughan

Nicola first went into childcare in 2012 and always loved working with children. She has worked in many settings with lots of different children and enjoys seeing each child’s individual personalities come to light, feeling privileged to be a part of helping them learn and grow. She has three boys of her own who show her daily just how different and amazing all children are. They love to get outdoors and explore different places and they especially love trips to the beach. 

Hannah Rhodes (Trainee)

Hannah is our trainee Pre-School Practitioner and is looking forward to hands- on experience whilst training.  She has a daughter and has previously volunteered at her daughter’s school and realised that working with children is what she would like to further her career in.

KEY PERSON SYSTEM

Our key person system means that your child will be given a key person when they join pre-school and that key person will have a group of children for whom she is particularly responsible.

Your child’s key person will work with you to ensure we provide what’s right for their individual needs and interests.

When your child starts at the pre-school the key person will help them to settle and aid them in benefiting from our activities throughout their time with us.