Meet the team

Our classrooms are named after ancient coppices in nearbyBently Woods

Sue's Manager at Farley is Helen Hurford, also a practitioner in Early Years for over 20 years with a wealth of experience which she brings to bear on a daily basis. Helen is passionate about delivering the early years curriculum outside and especially enjoys taking the opportunity to cook over an open fire in our two acre field. Helen is also the coordinator for special educational needs children.

Sarah Portman looks after the office at Farley. Sarah has worked for a number of years in the public sector doing a variety of roles in housing and community safety in South Wales.  After travelling in New Zealand and Canada for 6 months Sarah joined us as the Administrator based in Farley.  She is also a qualified personal trainer and enjoys all sorts of activities including running, cycling and generally anything outdoors.

Sarah Dawkins is the Deputy Manager and runs our baby room, called Marigold. Sarah has been a qualified practitioner for 12 years and holds a BTEC in Childcare and NVQ level 3. Sarah is the first face that the babies see when they join Farley and she loves the opportunity to work with these very special people. Being nurturing and caring in nature, Sarah is able to ensure the babies in her care are always content and she enjoys watching them grow and thrive as they move up through the Nursery.

Jess Large takes over from Sarah when the children reach about 18 months and they move into Merrygrove. Having gained her NVQ level three in 2009, Jess spent a season as a Nanny in the French Alps! The outside approach at Farley attracted Jess when she came back to the UK but didn’t know if being outside all the time would suit her. Now she says she doesn’t think she would be able to work inside!

The next stage is the move to Bee Garden where they are looked after by Jon Murphy, who has been working in the childcare sector for seven years and has recently taken up his first Room Supervisor position. He is now running “Bee Garden,” one of the busiest rooms in the nursery.
It is the sense of freedom and the positive atmosphere that John likes most about working at Farley. He certainly always has a smile on his face and has a fantastic rapport with parents and children alike. John loves his football and he brings the same enthusiasm to everything he does at Farley.

Finally, the last move is into Top Conker, where Jo Thompson helps the children prepare for their move to “big school.” Jo is an outdoors girl through and through. She trained in horticulture at Sparsholt College before entering Childcare full time. Now fully qualified, Jo brings just a touch of the whacky to Farley, which everyone loves, especially the children.