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We are offering the 30 hours free childcare!

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Spring Newsletter 2026

- Monday 11 May, 2026



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- Sunday 10 May, 2026



Autumn Newsletter 2025

- Sunday 10 May, 2026

Management and Staff

The St John’s Nursery Playgroup Board has responsibility for the Playgroups on behalf of the St John’s Methodist Church Council, guided by the chair, Davbid Rhodes. The Senior Manager, Nikki Haylock has day to day responsibility for the playgroup. At St John’s Wayside, Keely Brand is the Manager. They are supported by the Deputies at both settings. The manager and leadership team work closely with all staff and attend regular meetings to ensure the smooth running of the settings. The Annual Stakeholders Meeting is open to the parents/legal guardian of the children who attend the playgroups and to all staff. It is a forum for looking back over the previous year's activities and hearing about the coming year's activities.

Continuing Professional Development for Staff


At St John's we far exceed the minimum statutory requirement for qualifications. Over 90% of current staff hold at least an NVQ 3. We actively encourage all staff to undertake relevant qualification and training; our aim being to encourage all staff to have at least a NVQ Level 3 in early years care and education.

The playgroup staff participate in regular training courses to help keep them up-to-date with the latest thinking and best practice in early years care and education. All staff undertake regular First Aid and Safeguarding training and all staff have been, and any future staff and regular volunteers will have an enhanced DSB check. St John's subscribe to early years publications as well as making use of the wealth of relevant information available on the internet. We have support from Herts for Learning and we are members of Early Years Alliance and access training through both organisations.

The staff who work at St John's Nursery Playgroup Baker Street are:

David Rhodes Chairperson/Volunteer/DSL
Nikki Haylock Senior Manager/Senco Support/DSL Ba Hons (Early Childhood Studies), Level 3 CCLD, Primary PGCE, SENCO Level 3
Jayne Stone Deputy Manager/DSL Level 3
Ahdieh Khosravizad Third in Charge/Senco/DSLLevel 6 BA Early Years, SENCO Level 3
Anna-Maria Turner Senior Practitioner Level 3, Joint SENCO
Rebecca Cooke Senior Practitioner Level 3
Tazmeen Khan Senior Practitioner BA (Education Studies)
Sheetal Odedra Practitioner Level 5 EYLP (In progess)
Jolanta Georgiou Practitioner EYFD Level 5 Early Years
Siobhain O'Sullivan Practitioner Working towards EYE Level 3/td>
Nicola Ledesma Practitioner Level 3
Aprentice Working towards Level 3
Anne Phillips (Bank Staff) Registered Nurse Level 1
Ann Conyers (Bank Staff) Senior Practitioner Level 3

The staff who work at St John's Nursery Playgroup Wayside Jubilee Centre are:

David Rhodes Chairperson/Volunteer/DSL
Keely Brand Manager Early Years Foundation Degree (EYFD), Designated Safeguarding Children Officer, SENCO
Sophie Smith Senior Deputy Level 3, SENCO
Mushfika Ameer Senior Practitioner BA (Early Childhood Studies)
Becky Dagsland Senior Practitioner Level 3
Frankie Hurst Practitioner NVQ Level 3
Barbara Jurasz Practitioner NVQ Level 3
Despo Katsantonis Practitioner NVQ Level 3
Lisa Begueira Practitioner BA (Early Childhood Studies)


Registered Charity Number: 1130633