Meet our team
Our highly qualified and friendly team all bring their own valuable specialisms to the Acorns, be that forest - school skills, arts and crafts, music or sports.
What unifies all our carefully selected staff is their commitment to our vision and values of dedication, enthusiasm and individual care.
All our staff at The Acorns Nursery and Forest School meet the guidleines set by Ofsted, and are constantly upgrading their qualifications.
Janet Irwin and Christina Franks are also trained SENCO's (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators)
and have extensive experience in supporting children with a variety of needs.
"Staff use their exemplary quality of teaching to build on children's interests and extend their learning continuously. For example, as children enthusiastically explore three - dimensional shapes, they notice that they are looking different to 'normal' shapes, comparing a cuboid to dice they use in games. Staff extend this even further introducing complex shape names such as rectangular prisms which children then use independently in their play."
Ofsted 2019 - 59 Denmans Lane.
Janet Irwin - Headteacher and Founder
Janet qualified as a teacher at Homerton College, Cambridge, studied psychology at London University and has been teaching, and offering support and advice to parents ever since. Janet opened The Acorns in 1985 and still enjoys a hands-on role. She was awarded her Early Years Professional Status and MA in education from Brighton University.
Janet has a TEFL Certificate, a qualification for teaching English as a foreign language. She also holds certificates for Paediatric First Aid and Food and Hygiene. She has recently gained a Level 3 qualification in Forest School Leadership.
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Janet has a passion for teaching and also for languages. Speaking fluent French, Janet is working on a language project for children. She is the author of the 'At home with French' and 'At Home with Spanish' activity books for children published by Oxford University Press and also the 'Minilingo' range of audio products.
Christina Franks - Deputy Head and Manager
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Christina Franks is in charge of our Lindfield nursery. She has a Higher National Certificate in Childcare and Early Years Education alongside an NNEB qualification. She also has a diploma in leadership and management.
Christina has a natural empathy with young children, and has worked at the Acorns for almost 10 years and continues to establish positive relationships with all our parents.
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Tracy Voller
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Tracy joined our team in 2019 and has worked in both of our settings.
She is a very experienced practitioner with a level 3 qualification in childcare.
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Tracy enjoys small world play, outdoor play and crafting experiences with the children.