Meet the team
Nursery Directors – Emma & Gary Ward
Emma and Gary originally set up Chiltern Nursery in Sutton in 2002 as they were unable to find a nursery that they liked for their own son. Fast forward a few years and they are now the directors of three nurseries.
Emma and Gary are very hands on, and spend time at all the settings during the week.
Nursery Manager – Cassie Meredith
Cassie joined Chiltern Nurseries Ltd in May 2010 when she started as an apprentice in one of our Toddler rooms at our sister nursery Glaisdale. Cassie quickly worked her way through each role and became the room leader of Glaisdale’s largest Toddler room in 2015.
After 7 years of successfully running a room and leading a team, Cassie became a Room Leader Mentor in 2022, where she helped lead and train staff across the whole setting. In May 2023, Cassie progressed into a management role, taking on the leadership of Chiltern Day Nursery.
Cassie holds all the relevant childcare qualifications, as well as a Level 3 in Team Leading.
Deputy and SEND Manager – Jennifer Blane
Jen joined our Chiltern team in February 2016 as a Level 2 practitioner and quickly completed her Level 3 qualification through our in-house training.
Jen showed her determination and progressed to Room Leader of our Pre-School room in September 2019. In 2022 Jen successfully gained the position of Deputy Manager and SEND Manager of Chiltern.
Jen holds all the relevant childcare qualifications and is SEND Level 3 trained.
Nursery Cook – Mandy Meredith
Mandy is our amazing cook here at Chiltern, she provides all the food for the children which is cooked fresh every day.
Mandy started her journey at Chiltern, starting in 2005, she moved over to our sister nursery Glaisdale where she cooked for 110 children per day. Mandy returned to Chiltern after lockdown in 2020, she is thrilled to be back, cooking for 22 children per day.
Forest School Leader – Emma Randall
Emma joined the company in 2012 as an Early Years Practitioner and progressed to the role of Forest School Leader in 2018. Emma has a Forestry School qualification and is Outdoor Paediatric First Aid trained.
