The New Year has started so productively that the coming term at Children First feels full of promise. We are all delighted that all our efforts last term to restructure the team have resulted in four new part-time members of staff who are now in post.

New Staff:

  • Whitney Bushnell

Whitney is a qualified Montessori teacher and guide for both 0 – 3 and 3 – 6 age groups who has led infant and toddler groups in Seattle, Prague, Shanghai and also has worked in two Montessori nursery schools in Switzerland. She has 15 years post-qualifying experience and will work as a 0 – 3 group leader as Children First grows this year. Well done Whitney!

 

  • Linda Atonji

Linda is returning to Children First after working at our first location until 2011. She has extensive experience as a nanny and in group care and preschool education, has worked in Zurich with children for ten years and holds a level 4 certificate from the Open University in Early Years Practice. I am delighted to work with Linda again.

 

  • Shannon Bracken

Shannon has worked in preschools and kindergartens in Zurich since 2008 and brings to her new appointment as Juliet’s assistant her experience of bilingual education and individual classroom support. She has worked in our building at Freiestrasse 175 previously which gives her a head start in our induction process. Many thanks to Shannon who was already interviewing with us for another role, but appointed at very short notice due to the first appointee’s inability to start work as planned.

 

  • Angela Weinberger

 

Angela is an experienced Human Resources Manager. She joins our team as Schoolhouse Manager (40%) and will run the operational aspects of our work going forward. Angela used to work in large international corporations and started her own business in 2012. Angela is also an experienced Intercultural Coach and a founding Board member of SIETAR in Switzerland You may know her name from the Powerhouse Collective in Zurich. She is originally German and has lived in the UK, Australia, India and Germany.

 

 

The children’s work in our first and second floor groups is well underway already, with age-specific curriculum and mixed-age group activities across the theme which you will read about in our upcoming ‘Light and Dark’ newsletter.

 

 

With best wishes, Monica and the Children First team.