Management Team
Penny Seward, Managing Director
Penny & her husband Lee felt called to Kent just after they married 20 years ago, however they didn’t make the journey until 2007. They set up Graceworks Ministries in 2015 which would be the main not for profit vehicle for birthing projects to help families in the local and wider community of Dover, the first one being Kingdom Preschool which would see them putting together a facility that provided affordable, quality and flexible childcare for everyone to access.
Penny has a big heart for people and is passionate about staff development and family provision, knowing that looking after both equals happy children! Penny has a business background grown from sales & marketing, after completing a foundation degree in Education, she is currently studying her BA Hons in Early Childhood Studies.
Laura Rigden, Setting Manager
Laura is one of early years biggest advocates after being in the sector for 15 years. She started off as an apprentice and worked her way up to management whilst studying for her BA Hons in Early Years Leadership. She has been instrumental in her previous company’s staff development programmes and lead one of her settings to achieve Ofsted Outstanding. With a passion for creating amazing and inspiring opportunities that bring awe and wonder to children, she believes very much in child centred, play based learning.
Jenny Jarman, Business Manager
Jenny joined the Kingdom family in 2018 after 20 years of owning and running a business. Her responsibilities include all aspects of funding, invoicing, book keeping and buying all manner of items for the nursery.
Having a background in catering she loves all things food, cooking and eating and has instilled this love into her 2 daughters.
Rebecca Dunmore, Deputy manager
Becca is Deputy Manager of Kingdom, although she has been in the hotseat of many other roles during her career. Becca prefers to be more hands on with the children and is an excellent qualified forest school leader also. She is a full time out of ratio deputy who supports Laura by overseeing the operational and everyday performance of the staff teams. Becca lives in Dover with her husband and 2 children, she has been with Kingdom for 7 years but took a break after 5 years to explore further education and special needs. She couldn’t keep away, however, and felt her heart really sat with early years children.
Lion Leaders
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Jack Gibbs
Lions Deputy Room SupervisorKingdom Pre-School
NVQ Level 4, First Aid Trained
Debbie Reardon
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Melissa Hall
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Olena Kupchevskaya
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Lion Cubs
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Dawn Foster
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Sydney Jefferiss
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Level 3 Apprenticeship, First Aid Trained
Kelly Dowle
ApprenticeKingdom Pre-School
Little Lambs
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Georgia Budge
SupervisorKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Kim Jennings
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Level 3 Diploma, First Aid Trained
Missy McCartney
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Sophie Curling
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Level 3 Apprenticeship, First Aid Trained
Bradley Wilkinson
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Elle Tressler
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Apprentice
Layla Oak
ApprenticeKingdom Pre-School
Lambs
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Vicky Amos
SupervisorKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Summer Carrington
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Sarah Beach
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Imogen Tyler
ApprenticeKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Gemma Letchford
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Emma Copeland
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Fawns
CACHE Level 3 Diploma in childcare and education, First Aid Trained
Millie Snow
Fawns SupervisorKingdom Pre-School
NVQ Level 3 Childcare and Education: Special needs, First Aid Trained
Julie Williams
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Katy Allison
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Jennifer Smitherman
Nursery AssistantKingdom Pre-School
Doves
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Suzanne Chapman
Baby Room SupervisorKingdom Pre-School
Qualified Teacher Status, First Aid Trained
Ellie Jordan
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Skye Baranow
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Kirsty Freeman
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Level 3 Educator, First Aid Trained
Christine Christian
PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Level 3 Apprenticeship, First Aid Trained
Mia-Shay Spencer
ApprenticeKingdom Pre-School
Joanne Bird
Nursery Assistant, First Aid TrainedKingdom Pre-School
The Ark
BA (Hons) Early Years Childhood Studies & Level 3 SENCO, First Aid Trained
Danika Mote
SENCOKingdom Pre-School
Early Years Childhood Studies with SEN specialism, First Aid Trained
Rhiannon Woodhams
SEN PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
Forest School
NVQ Level 4, First Aid Trained
Lulu Truss
Forest School LeadKingdom Pre-School
EYITT, First Aid Trained
Laura Vrabie
Forest School LeadKingdom Pre-School
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Francis Thompson
Forest School PractitionerKingdom Pre-School
NVQ Level 3, First Aid Trained
Paul O’Hare
Forest School AssistantKingdom Pre-School
Support Team
First Aid Trained
Rochelle
Lunchtime AssistantKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Aisha
Lunchtime AssistantKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Peter Abbit
Maintenance ManagerKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Archie Seward
MaintenanceKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Denise Stansfield
ChefKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Ian Burford
ChefKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Laura Carter
AdministratorKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Gail Kennett
AdministratorKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Hannah Wood
Nursery AssistantKingdom Pre-School
First Aid Trained
Tilly Seward
Administrator ApprenticeKingdom Pre-School