About us

Meet the Manager and Owner of Kirkgate Childcare

My name is Dawn, I am married with two children Harry and Ruby. I love to walk with my Labrador, play and coach netball and enjoy spending time with family and friends.

I decided at a very young age that I wanted to pursue a career in Early Years. I studied my Nursery Nursing Education Diploma after leaving school and then moved onto working in a Private Day Nursery. I then chose to work in a Primary School and in 2001 I was successful in gaining an Early Years Practitioners Post within a Local Authority Centre of Excellence, it was there I realised the importance of working with the whole family to ensure better outcomes for the child. During the 16 years working for the LA I progressed into management and achieved my BA Honours Degree in Childhood Studies at Leeds University.

I have lived in Sherburn in Elmet for many years and always felt there was not enough choice for families requiring childcare. In 2017 I left the Local Authority and the journey of Kirkgate Childcare began.

I believe one of my most important investments is my team, it is important that they are nurtured, supported and challenged to grow. If they are happy and share my vision of creating foundations for life for our next generation then we will continue to achieve our mission, which is to provide a happy, safe and stimulating environment to enable all children to become confident, independent and respectful learners whilst working in partnership with parents.

“The dedicated and ambitious manager works closely with staff to monitor children’s progress and review and evaluate practice. She uses information obtained from group tracking systems to plan interventions and successfully close any gaps in children’s learning”

Ofsted, November 2019

My name is Kate Johnson, I have been married to Les for 38 years and we have 3 grown up daughters – Jessica, Amy and Lucy, we also have 7 beautiful grandchildren.

I have been working with children for over 30 years, I completed my B-Tec National Diploma in Childcare and initially worked as a nursery practitioner within several local authority nurseries. Prior to working here at Kirkgate Childcare, I worked for 17 years at one of Leeds Sure Start Children’s Centres, initially as Senior Nursery Officer, later becoming the Deputy Manager between 2003 and 2011 and then Day Care Manager between 2011 and 2017. During this time, I attended The University of Leeds where I gained a Foundation Degree in Family Support. In 2017 I was able to take early retirement and was lucky enough to be able to take a part time position at Kirkgate Childcare and return to one of my favourite roles as a Key Person.

Safeguarding children has been a very important aspect within my previous management roles and will be something I continue to prioritise and embed at Kirkgate Childcare.

I strongly value Play as a very important part of children’s development and I thoroughly believe that following children’s interests fully promotes their learning and development. I strive to always create a caring and stimulating environment where children’s well-being and involvement are at the heart of everything we do which will enable children to reach their full potential.

My name is Kim, I have worked in different roles in the childcare sector  for over 15 years with a wide range of age groups. My passion has always been to work with children and I pursued my training in childcare at the age of 16 at Park Lane College where I gained a level 3 CACHE Diploma in childhood studies.

My previous roles include private nanny, after school club manager,  room leader and most recently deputy manager of a busy private day nursery where i was responsible for implementing the curiosity approach and outdoor play lead.

Early education is something I am very passionate about, it is the most wonderful stage in a child’s life and the most important years in terms of learning and development. I am delighted to be part of Kirkgate Childcare because Dawn and her team are 100% commited to getting it right. My approach is very much child led and teaching children to find the answers together through questions rather than being told why or how something works .

I am an advocate for outdoor play, loose parts play and providing educationally stimulating environments for children

In June 2019 I completed my level 4 in advanced childcare practice and management, in August 2019 I will be continuing my studies when I begin level 5 diploma in leadership for children and young peoples services. Previous to this I completed my A1 Assessors award which allows me to assess apprentices competence in the workplace as they work towards their qualifications. I spend a lot of time researching new approaches in terms of childcare and have visited settings as far as Northampton to see the benefits of these alternative approaches for myself.

Outside of work I enjoy camping, i am a coffee addict, i love cooking, being outdoors and spending  lots of time with my wonderful family! My Sundays are usually spent going on long walks with my miniature poodle Boris. I have a son Jack age 4 who is my world, so I know the struggles families can face when juggling work and childcare.

I am extremely passionate about what I do so I hope this shines through. I look forward to meeting lots of new families and I am confident that i will bring something special to your child’s learning journey at Kirkgate Childcare. I am excited to be part of creating something unique and outstanding together.

My name is Lucy Bingham, I’m the Level 3 Early Years Practitioner at Kirkgate childcare after completing my Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Children and Young Peoples Workforce

I am the eldest of four,so I’ve spent my life around children.

Since a young age I always wanted to work with children and I began volunteering at the local Brownie group.

I started at Kirkgate in September 2018, before that I was in another setting for a year. Since coming to Kirkgate Childcare I have learnt so much from the rest of the team.

The children are the centre of my work and I always aim to give them the best. Every one of them is unique and have a lot of potential which we as a team aim to get out of them. At Kirkgate Childcare, we treat ever child as an individual and adapt any planning to their individual needs. We follow our children’s interests to allow the most learning to be done to allow our children to reach their full potentially

I will be commencing my Foundation Degree in Early Childhood Studies at university from September 2019 which I am very much looking forward to.

I have a 10 year old son called Jake and being a mum is the best job in the world. We have just welcomed a puppy into our family called Buddy.

My passion has always been to work with children. Throughout my childhood and early education, I always chose childcare to support my learning and development for my future career, from work experience to going on to college to complete my Btec National Diploma in Early Years. I have worked in many roles throughout my career, becoming a room leader at a young age, I knew I was capable of more challenges. I pursued this and went on to work for a local authority for 11 years.

During my time there I accessed an extensive amount of training and my knowledge and experience flourished. I found myself wanting to learn more about special educational needs and disabilities and had a passion and a belief that every child has the right to succeed and thrive.

I have funded many online courses to support my understanding of children with various needs and to date I continue to do lots of research and attend relevant training to further my knowledge and understanding in my present role.

I am passionate about furthering my career and personal development and hope in the not too distant future to go to university and complete a BA Honours in child and family studies

I am currently a key person, I feel meeting new children and families is a wonderful experience and when families choose Kirkgate childcare it fills me with pride. To share that journey of their children’s very first steps in to nursery life and being that safe, consistent and caring person for their child who they can turn to for reassurance, a cuddle or to just ‘check in’ is the best feeling of all. Sharing all milestones however big or small with parents/carers is such a joy to be a part of.

Early Years is my passion as these are the most important times of a child’s life. Sparking that initial developmental curiosity, awe, wonder and excitement in children that will lead them to a positive and successful attitude towards learning for the rest of their lives. I have pride in knowing that I have the opportunity to be part of something like that every day with Kirkgate Childcare.

My name is Holly and I am the Early Years Apprentice. I joined Kirkgate Childcare in April 2019 and I am excited to learn as much as possible from the existing, very experienced team.

I have always enjoyed interacting with children and spending time with my young cousins and the various children that I have cared for in several babysitting jobs during my teens. In 2018, I volunteered as an English Teacher in rural areas in Sri Lanka and Cambodia for 6 months, where I planned and taught a variety of lessons from grammar practice to volcano experiments! I found the whole experience both extremely rewarding and enjoyable and it became clear to me that I wanted to pursue a career in childcare.

Childcare is something I am very passionate about as it directly affects our future generations. I look forward to getting to know each child’s unique personality and feel privileged to be able to help guide their development through the early years foundation stage.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending lots of time with family and friends. I have a keen interest in travel and exploring other cultures. I regularly attend a boxercise class and like to keep fit so I have lots of energy when playing with the children!

I am currently working towards my Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Children and Young Peoples Workforce.