Herne Hill Team
Annelie - Manager (maternity leave)
Annelie has a German degree in “Applied Childhood Studies” and worked in a bilingual (German / English) Kindergarten in Berlin for the last 3 years. In working with children it is important for her to create a safe and loving environment to support each child in their individual development and growth. To help children develop their communication and language skills, Annelie likes to read books and create stories using Kamishibai.
Sandra
Sandra is a nursery school teacher from Germany. For the past ten year she has been working with toddlers in Berlin. She is also an Anti-bias educator and a yoga instructor for children. Sandra especially enjoys supporting children in their social and emotional development by engaging them in mindfulness activities such as yoga, offering fun story times or just engaging them in meaningful conversations.
MiliCA - DEPUTY MANAGER
Milica (Mili) trained as a nursery teacher in Germany and after completion worked in a bilingual nursery school in Frankfurt. She enjoys creating an environment where every child can feel safe and and can grow to be confident individuals. Mili brings stories to life and loves singing with children as well as helping them develop their communication and language skills.
ANJA
Anja is the Finance and Administration Officer for all settings of the German Kindergarten. She has worked in banking and lived in five different countries on two continents before settling in London. She has gained experience in the field with previous employers including the German Embassy, ARD Studio Singapore and the German-Swiss International School Hong Kong.
Marie
Marie grew up in a village near Hildesheim in Germany. In 2019 she finished my nursery schoolteacher training and started working in a catholic nursery. She enjoys singing and reading with the children and laughing together. She creates a safe and supporting environment for the children where they feel encouraged to try new things and explore their own abilities.
Maike Manager (maternity cover)
Maike is a nursery school teacher from Germany. She grew up and lived near the border to the Netherlands and worked with toddlers the last 5 years in a big nursery. She met many different children and parents and enjoyed the work with so many different families. She is a certified “Elternbegleiterin” since 2021, which helps her to better understand all the individual families with their cultures, members and structures. Maike loves to see how the children grow up so individual and to accompany them on their way to school. She’s a big fan of free play, to see how the children develop their creativity and individuality and how they’re making new friends and relationships
VERA
Vera is from Munich and started her early years teacher training in 2015 after studying cultural studies and working for a German magazine for about 3 years.
In the past 8 years she worked with children aged 1-6 years old. It’s important to her to encourage the children’s independence and she loves to see them taking new development steps. And she really likes to celebrate the seasonal events.
MATTEA
Mattea grew up in Nuremberg, where she attended a Waldorf school. Afterwards she moved to Heidelberg to complete her studies as a speech and language therapist at the University Hospital. In addition to studying interprofessional healthcare, she worked in a speech therapy centre for over four years. There she specialised in the area of children's language and enjoys developing language through play.
She attaches great importance to promoting communication and interaction through language support during free play, reading books, storytelling and singing songs together.
To promote the children's individual development, Mattea believes it is important to provide an appreciative and loving environment that takes the children's needs into account.
DAVIA
Davia is from Switzerland. She studied “special education and social pedagogy”. After she got her diploma in 2019, she travelled through Asia and Central America for some months. She then worked as a social education worker in a foster care home for children aged 3-6 years old. Davia enjoys having fun with the children, singing and play songs on the guitar for them. It is important to her, that the children feel confident in Kindi and have a safe space especially for their further emotional and social development.
MERLE
Merle is a nursery teacher from the north of Germany. She has worked in different childcare settings: Waldorfkindergarten, with Pikler and Fröbel pedagogy, as an au-pair and nanny and with deaf children in Germany and the UK.
She is a huge supporter of free play and naturally paced motor development.
This approach, combined with close observation of every child, gives her the chance to offer useful toys or materials and create stimulating activities to foster their learning.
Her favourite part of childcare are the moments when children discover a new aspect of the world, themselves or new skills and she gets to share their sense of wonder and excitement.
Sarah
Sarah grew up in a village near Frankfurt in Germany. In 2023 she finished her degree in educational science and also worked in an evangelican nursery with children aged 3-6 years. She enjoys reading with the children and doing arts and crafts with the children. It is important to her to create an environment where the children can be themselves and can develop at their own pace.