Meet Sally
CONSULTANT AND EARLY YEARS
CHARITY EXPERT
Dinky Ones was born on a sleepless night in late 2014 in one of those lightbulb moments that strike when we least expect them but instantly fill us with feelings of joy and excitement.
Until that point I'd never considered becoming a consultant and my own boss, but that night was the beginning of a new journey and one which I still love every minute of.
Eight years on and Dinky Ones has changed and evolved over the years and now sees me working where my real passion lies....
And that's with you, the charity managed sector.
My background......
I've been working within the Early Years sector since I first qualified as an N.N.E.B Nursery Nurse in 1992 with roles including private nanny, pre-school committee chairperson, pre-school manager, advisor for the then Pre=school Learning Alliance (now the Early Years Alliance) and Kent County Council and owner of a nursery.
It was my own setting that was the real starting point of my Dinky Ones story. I had always dreamed of having my own nursery so when the opportunity arose in 2012 to take over an existing pre-school I left the local authority and jumped in with both feet. Without going into detail this transpired to be the biggest mistake I ever made, certainly professionally but personally too, and a year later I walked away, a broken and unwell woman.
When you hit rock bottom the only way is up but it wasn't easy. I found myself questioning my ability, feeling like a failure and totally confused as to what to do next. It was at this point that I knew I could use my knowledge and experiences to help others so that no-one else had to go through what I had.
Eight years on and Dinky Ones is a very different business to the one that was written on flip charts that night in 2014 but although the model has changed my ethos and mission remains the same.......
I believe that everyone who works in Early Years deserves the best advice, guidance and resources to support them with managing and getting the best from themselves and their business, whenever they need it, for as long as they need it.
I totally understand that YOU are the most important person in your early years setting, the one that everyone relies on, the glue that holds it all together and the one who stops the wheels falling off.
You're amazing at what you do but sometimes it all gets a little too much.
This needs doing, that needs sorting, Jane needs to rearrange her supervision, Mrs Jones needs to be chased for outstanding fees, you need to put the budgets together, not to mention the policy and procedure review that you were planning to do 2 months ago and now you have to rearrange the AGM as none of the parents turned up!!
Is juggling 15 balls simultaneously an essential or desirable criteria in your job description?!?!
And then you have trustees to consider and we all know how hard it is to recruit them, keep them and ensure they know exactly what they are responsible for and why.
This is why I want to help, by Bringing CLARITY to your CHARITY.
Whether you need ad hoc support with issues or ongoing 1:1 mentoring I'm sure you'll find a service to help you find your feet.
Sally x
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Why work with me....
I have seen first hand the very real struggles you face in trying to run a charity managed pre-school and having been both a trustee and a manager of several I really get how hard it is.
Here's what David, a nursery owner, had to say about working with me ........
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