Staff Profile

My name is Lorraine Caswell I have lived in Skipton all my life starting my educational journey at Brougham St Nursery school at the age of three, then continuing onto Parish Church School, so I really felt I had gone back to my roots when I joined this nursery nine years ago.

I have two grown up children Tim and Gemma who I am extremely proud of.

I trained at Keighley Technical College to become a Nursery Nurse completing the NNEB course in 1982 then going onto to nanny for a professional family who lived locally, whose children I am still in weekly contact with. After nannying for another family, I then got married and set up my own childminding business, which I continued while having my own son Tim, who considered the boys who I child minded to be his big brothers.

In1990 I was offered a post at Craven College Nursery where I worked for 21 years as a nursery practitioner and deputy manager and only left there as Government cuts led to its closure which was a very sad time indeed. Fortunately I began working for Brougham St Community Nursery School that summer, working in the toddler room for 7 years before transferring into nursery school in September 2018, where I am now.

I am very passionate about creating an exciting environment where children engage themselves and learn without even realising it. My biggest passion is children’s books, I have a huge collection and can nearly always find one relating to any topic that pops up in nursery to follow and enhance a child’s learning. As much as you can use Google to find most things, I feel that it's important to show children how useful books still are.

I am fully trained in Paediatric First Aid, Safeguarding, Food Handling, dietary needs and also have done training called 'Every child a talker' to help children to develop their language skills and provide opportunities and activities to help children who having difficulties in this area.

I have run an active Brownie pack in Skipton for nearly 40 years and spend a lot of my spare time involved in this, taking girls away on pack holiday and organising weekly activities for them.

I also have a static caravan where I retreat to for most of the summer season to enjoy the outdoors walking and spending time knitting and sewing lots of things for use in nursery.

I love being part of the  Brougham Street Community Nursery School family where I am the Key Person for Blue Group. I am very proud to say I work at such a fantastic, vibrant, inclusive community nursery.