Meet the Team

Susana

Director

I am a qualified teacher and an university lecturer, training early years, primary education and secondary education teachers. I am an academic researcher and have different publications in the field of sociology of identities and sociology of education. I wanted my child to attend a democratic school but I could not find one, so I set up this project with Effie in 2013 with a strong vision and drive to push our ideas of education and to build a fully democratic, creative and Spanish bilingual setting. I am proud that we have achieved it and I can share our school with so many other children, educators and families.

Effie

Director & Safeguarding Lead

I have twenty years experience as an artist, community artist and arts consultant. I lived in Spain for ten years where I worked as an English teacher. I have an MA in Critical Theory of Arts and have lectured in art theory. I have exhibited my art widely in the UK, Ireland and Spain. In addition, I have trained for two years as a psychotherapist in transactional analysis. I have extensive experience of working with people in distress and with mental health issues. I believe that art is a privileged vehicle to learn about everything. I am proud that we have placed art at the heart of our project and to share my experiences with other artists and educators.

Charlotte

Atelierista

I am the Artist in the Kindergarten room and my role is to promote a creative environment for the children. I facilitate the learning processes by gathering, documenting, and displaying the work created by them, to work with the children by following their interests and ideas. My background is in art and I have a BA (Hons) in Textiles in Practice from MMU. I have worked with organisations like Venture Arts where I devised, delivered and displayed successful art-based workshop for children and adults. I consider myself a mixed media artist that is inspired by creative minds and has an understanding of the importance of exploration.

Karen

Deputy Manager

I have been working with children of all ages for over 30 years. I enjoy engaging with and watching them develop from one mile stone to the other. I am a qualified level 3 child care worker and also hold qualifications in Youth and Community work and Team Leadership. I have been working here at Alexandra Park Children’s Learning Community for just over 5 years and find the ethos amazing. Following Reggio Emilia allows children to develop in their own right and gives them the opportunity and space to grow. My role here has developed over time going from coordinating in Blue Rider (0-18 months) to currently coving the position of Deputy Manager.

Christina

Atelierista

Before joining the wonderful APCLC team in 2016, I taught Art & Photography and Languages at Secondary Schools. I hold a BSc in Biology, love the outdoors, making music, creating children’s illustrations and every other hands-on creative thing. I have experience of working with children of all ages, including as a children’s photographer. As Atelierista I provide support to all the nursery rooms by sharing my experience and creative ideas. It involves sourcing or creating resources we use in the centre, working with room staff to observe children and provide creative explorations. I document children’s learning journeys and help create displays and installations. I bring musical instruments and music making to all rooms and for the older children I run regular wood work and art sessions in the atelier. Another aspect of my role is to help develop all indoor and outdoor spaces in line with our ethos and the interests of the children. I think that the Reggio Emilia approach is a lovely creative way of working with young children.

Edith

General Manager and Early Years Coordinator

I am from Paraguay which is a small country in South America but since 2007 I have lived in Manchester with my husband and my daughter who attends APCLC. I have extensive experience in childcare ranging from babies to pre-school age and have worked as a nursery assistant for four years at a local nursery. I have a post-graduate certificate in Early Years Teaching and I am a qualified Spanish teacher. I recently visited Reggio Emilia in Italy with my family and really believe in the approach and that we can all learn together in a positive and creative way.

SEND Team

Special Educational Needs and Disability

Our SEND team is made up of SENCO lead Leanne Clarke, Claudia Alvarez, Corinna Machin, Emily Green, Irene Escano Aguilar and Maisie Upton who represent the team in each room of our nursery. The team work closely with children in our setting with additional needs and communicate with parents and the appropriate external agencies to best support our children.