Our staff
Our friendly and approachable staff have a wealth of experience. Their priorities are to ensure your child is safe, happy and has plenty of opportunities for learning through play.
We pride ourselves on ensuring and encouraging members of staff to take regular training courses to provide the very best care for your children within our setting.
Our staff have varied backgrounds which provide the pre-school with a range of skills and abilities. Find out more about our wonderful staff and our volunteer below. In addition we bring in skills where we feel it adds value to the children's experience such as the popular ball skills sessions run with the help of qualified coach Chris Webster and Rugbytots with the brilliant Neal Frost.
Clare Livingstone
Setting Manager
PGCE Primary (3-11 years)
Safeguarding Level 3
Paediatric First Aid
Elaine Gubb
Pre-School Leader
BTEC National Diploma Childhood Studies
Safeguarding Level 3
Paediatric First Aid
Elaina Nicholas
Pre-school Assistant
Early Years Care & Education L2 & L3
Paediatric First Aid
Safeguarding Level 2
I qualified as a Primary teacher in 1996 and have taught across the primary curriculum, while specialising in early years. I lived with my husband in Belgium for nearly 5 years, working as a supply teacher at a British school, while bringing up my own 4 children.
I joined Plymtree Pre-school in April 2010 and have been the Setting Manager since September 2012. I love the outdoors and my home life is dominated by supporting my own children’s sport as well as running, cycling and gardening myself.
I trained to become a Nursery Nurse at East Devon College after leaving school and gained my BTEC National Diploma in Childhood Studies qualification in 1997. I worked in a couple of nurseries in Devon, including Puffins of Exeter, before moving to Oxfordshire with my husband, in 2001. After working at a nursery in Oxford for two years I tried my hand at nannying, which I loved! I stayed with the same family for just over four years. In 2007 my husband and I started our own family and we decided to move back to Devon in 2010.
Once our children started school I was able to update my EYFS training and return to my childcare profession. I am experienced in working within Foundation Stage Unit as well as a pre-school. I joined Plymtree Preschool in 2015 as bank staff before taking over as Play Leader in 2016. My home life is very much family orientated; we love the outdoors so we can usually be found out on our bikes, at the beach or exploring up on the moors
I completed my level 3 in Early Years Chilcare & Education whilst working within a nursery setting. I have also had experience of working within a reception class at an Exeter school and enjoyed working in the management team at a nursery.
I moved to Cullompton in 2006 with my husband and spend any spare time being Mum to our two daughters. We love to spend time with family and friends and enjoy walks in the Devon countryside especially when we find a good cafe at the end!
Ruth Clarke
Volunteer Play Assistant
Safeguarding Level 2
Angela Rogers
Pre-School Assistant
Children & Young people's Workforce L2
Safeguarding
Peadiactric First Aid
I helped at Plymtree Playgroup when it was first started nearly 40 years ago then left to work at Payhembury School as a classroom and meal time assistant for several years. I have been back at Pre-school as a volunteer for nearly 10 years now.
I love to spend any spare time walking my dogs on our farm and doing lots of handicrafts.
I began my career working as a nanny in central London in 1991, I continued living and working there until I started my own family in 2006, I then moved to Surrey and took time out from work to raise my own two children. I spent some of this time doing volunteer work at our then local children's centre, I took on various tasks within the centre which I found very rewarding, whilst there I completed a course in parent support work and following this I was offered the role of Play Assistant. I moved to the South West in 2015 and started working at Plymtree Preschool soon after. I then qualified as a Preschool assistant and continue to enjoy working in our lovely rural setting to this day.