Welcome to Little Birds
Preschool We are explorers, we are adventurers, we are a family, we are The Little Birds. LEARN MORE Welcome to PRESHCOOL Planting seeds in the hearts and homes of preschoolers is the best way to strengthening children, families, and communities. LEARN MORE LET'S GO learning & Fun We are explorers, we are adventurers, we are a family, we are The Little Birds. LEARN MORE LET'S GO Learning & Fun Planting seeds in the hearts and homes of preschoolers is the best way to strengthening children, families, and communities. LEARN MORE LET'S GO

Hygge environment

We have worked hard to create a Hygge inspired, enabling environment. Our preschool embraces the feeling of warmth and togetherness.

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The unique child

At the heart of our curriculum is your child. Every Child is unique. We follow In The Moment planning (ITMP). Your child’s interests are so important in motivating your child to reach for the stars. We aren’t afraid to risk take and try at Little Birds as we know that we don’t need to fear failure, because we can adjust our plans and try again. Learning is not linear. We help support your Children to become confident and happy learners. Your child’s wellbeing is paramount.

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Qualified and caring staff

Our staff have sound child development knowledge and a real passion for childcare. Any training needs individually or as a team are identified and addressed. We love our jobs and our Preschool is genuinely like one big family.

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Welcome to our wonderful Preschool

Little Birds Pre-school

When a Child joins Little Birds, we believe it will be the beginning of an enjoyable learning journey and that you and your child will feel happy and involved here. We are here for you as a family unit, to support you all in the Early Years of your Childs development. Our Preschool really is one big family, taking a holistic approach to Early Years Education.  We aim to provide a warm, safe, secure, stimulating and welcoming environment for your child to learn and enhance their development.
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Are you ready to explore all that Little Birds has to offer?

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Meet Our Early Years Practitioners

Jude French

Deputy Safeguard Lead, and SENDCo

Jude joined our Little Birds team in May 2017 as a level 3 practitioner. Jude holds a CACHE Level 3 NVQ in Children's care, learning and development. She has been deputy Leader since January 2018. Jude previously ran an outstanding childminding business in Watford. She moved to Swanage with her family and loves it here. Jude recently completed the Early Years Professional Development Programme - Building on Success. Jude is Deputy DSL and A SENDCo. Jude is married with 3 children and 2 cats and a Dog, Milo. Jude is a fitness fanatic and loves nothing more than neon lycra and Zumba!

Nicola Howard

Level 2 Early Years Practitioner

Nicky volunteered for Little Birds for about a year before applying to become a member of our team. She went on to study at Bournemouth and Poole College for her level 2 qualification in childcare and in September 2022 she was awarded her NCFE CACHE Level 2 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner. Nicky is our Tortoise expert and looks after Gary during the holiday periods. Nicky has 3 children, 1 of which attended little birds. Nicky enjoys walking and exploring our beautiful countryside and Jurassic coastal walks.

Jodie Edmunds

Preschool Leader and Designated Safeguarding Officer and SEND Co- ordinator.

Jodie has been working at Little Birds since April 2015. She started as a preschool practitioner moving up to Deputy and then moved to Preschool Leader in January 2018. Jodie has a CACHE Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young peoples workforce QCF Early years qualification, and holds a BA (Hons) degree in Childhood and Youth studies with Upper second class honours. Jodie is also the setting Designated Safeguard Lead and SENDCo. Jodie is married with 2 children and 2 cats and a Dog and lives in Swanage having grown up here. Jodie likes to relax at her weekly yoga class and get out in the bay with her paddleboard.

Elaine Marsh

Level 3 Practitioner (Language & Speech Co-ordinator) and SENDCo

You have probably seen Elaine up on our local Mowlem stage. She is something of a starlet! Elaine has worked at Little Birds even longer than Marion and is our expert in speech and language. She has a level 3 qualification in early childcare, Level 3 Diploma for the Childcare and Young peoples workforce ; Early Learning and Childcare pathway, and has a wealth of language and speech training under her belt. Elaine is married with 2 children and has recently become a grandma for the second time! Her husband runs a local fishing boat offering excursions to all the tourists. Elaine loves arts and crafts and messy play and is our very own lady glitter sparkles.

Karen Crooks

Level 3 Practitioner

Karen is a very experienced Level 3 practitioner. Karen holds a Level 3Diploma for the Children and Young peoples workforce; Early learning childcare pathway.  She has worked in Early years education for many years, and has a beautiful calm aura about her! A popular member of Little Birds with children and staff alike. Karen joined us from another Pre School and we feel very lucky to have her. When Karen is not at Little Birds you’ll find her hairdressing or looking after her beautiful Granddaughter. She has recently welcomed a Grandson to her family. Karen loves cruising with her Husband, we only wish the Little Birds uniform was available in sequins!

Tracey Gardner

Early years practitioner and SENDCo.

Tracey started with Little Birds as a bank staff practitioner and was a Primary School Teaching assistant for many years. She is now a permanent member of the team and is a SENDCo and an experienced 1:1 practitioner. Tracey lives with her family in Swanage and is our local ‘Pound fit’ instructor. Tracey loves being outdoors and looks after the preschool garden. She is often cooking up a storm in the mud kitchen! Tracey is vibrant and is full of fun, loud, energy!

Kathryn Cooke

Level 3 Early Years Practitioner

Kathryn joined the Little Birds team, first as bank staff, in 2021 before becoming a permanent staff member in 2022, after her daughter attended and loved Little Birds. She moved from Wiltshire where she previously led children's tours and activities in museums and taught as a Primary School teacher. Kathryn holds a Post Grad Certificate in Primary Education with Qualified Teacher Status. She is married with one child and in her spare time enjoys walking, singing, reading and getting messy with arts and crafts.

Tracey Westall

Level 3 Early Years Practitioner

Tracey joined us in 2022 having retired from teaching in primary schools for 23 years (she isn't as old as she looks). Tracey wanted to work with Little Birds because she enjoyed working with younger children, she finds the imagination of younger children fascinating so where better to be than with Little Birds. Tracey holds a pre 2014 Diploma in Pre-School practice, Preschool Learning Alliance. Tracey has lived in Swanage for a long time and loves where she lives when not at the pre school you will see her out cycling, sea kayaking and reading.

Abi Notley

Finance and Office Administrator

Abi is our Preschool administrator, she is there to look after all things funding and Admin related. Abi's youngest son attends Little Birds so when the opportunity for a position came up she jumped at the chance to work with our lovely team. Abi lives with her husband, three children and lots of pets. When not at Little Birds you will catch Abi out walking her dog and spending lots of time with friends and family.

Helen Dowdell

Level 3 Early Years Practitioner

Helen holds a pre 2014 BTEC higher national diploma in early childhood studies and has many years experience working in early years. Having recently moved to Swanage Helen with her husband are working on renovating a lovely family home for her grown up children to come and visit.

Julie-Ann Redout

Early Years Practitioner

Julie-Ann joined us in September 2023, she is currently completing her Level 3 NVQ. She is passionate about providing a nurturing and caring environment for children so when the opportunity came up to work at Little Birds there was no one better suited to us! When not at the preschool Julie-Ann has a very busy time looking after her two lovely boys and is mostly stood pitch side cheering them on. Julie-Ann is very passionat about netball and regularly competes in a local league.

Kadia Wilson

Level 3 Early Years Practitioner

Kadia pemanently joined our team in September 2024 having been on our bank staff for a little while. Kadia has 3 boys one of which attended Little Birds, you will mostly find her at the side of a football pitch most weekends but when she isn't a football Mum you may also see her at the skate park!

Weekly Yoga

Each week at Little Birds our fully qualified Yoga Teacher, Johanna from JOYoga takes the Little Birds for a wonderful mini yogi adventure. Mindfulness and wellbeing is such an important part of holistically supporting our children and families and regular yoga sessions aid this. We bend so we don’t break.

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Our Allotment bed

We love nature! A local family very kindly have built us a raised bed in their local allotment plot, and we are growing lots of fruit and vegetables. Walking to the allotment allows us to get out and about in our local community as well as become more self-sustainable. We use what we grow in our Little Birds snack café!

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Chickens and a Tortoise on site!

We are very lucky that our purpose-built Pre-school is located within the beautiful St. Mary’s Primary School site. The school kindly let us have access to the school grounds. We regularly make use of the obstacle courses, pirate ship and the playing fields. We also visit the School Chickens, they are a firm favorite with the children. Exciting things are happening at Little Birds Pre-school, and in the next few weeks we will be getting our own Tortoise. We are sure he will become a well-loved member of our Pre-school family!

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Gallery

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