By law we are required to maintain the following staff to children ratios:
| Nursery | One staff member for every four babies |
| Toddlers | One staff member for every five toddlers |
| Preschool | One staff member for every 10 pre-schoolers |
We provide more staff, and more highly qualified staff, than required by law.
We are licensed to care for 46 children and are required to have 2 university trained early childhood teachers on staff on a full-time basis. We exceed this requirement and currently employ five Early Childhood Teachers (including our director).
Management
Our Director
Mimi Symons
Greetings, I was born in Australia but grew up in Sweden. I did my studies to become an Early Childhood Teacher in Stockholm. I am very appreciative of my Swedish training and associated history, which has a solid foundation on a strength based approac …
read moreAdministration and Accounts Manager
Jennifer Duncan
I’m Jennifer and I’m in charge of accounts and administration. My background is mostly in IT sales working for manufacturers in establishing and managing distribution channels for their products in Australia. For several years I was living in Pakistan …
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James Franklin
I was born and raised in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, just on the other side of Centennial Park from Gumnut Gardens. Growing up, the park was an integral part of my childhood playing host to countless picnics, birthday parties and even the occasional socc …
read moreEducational Consultant
Jenny Green
I joined the Gumnut Gardens team in January 2017. I am delighted to lead a team that celebrates and acknowledges children’s learning and the role of the environment to further enhance and scaffold individual children’s learning dispositions. My observa …
read moreDelegates of the Approved Provider
Chris Kimber
I grew up in Sydney’s inner south. I wanted to be a teacher. . . . . .the problem was it was the 1980s and, being good at school, it was made clear to me that I should be a doctor or lawyer. So a lawyer I dutifully became. I practised in relative bor …
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Catherine Shand
Unlike many other Gumnut Gardens folk, I am a Sydney girl, though my mother grew up on a wheat farm in Western Australia and my father was from Glasgow. In Sydney my parents fell in love with each other and with Sydney’s harbour and surrounding bushla …
read moreOur Early Childhood Teachers
Lucia Stacchiotti
Early Childhood Teacher Room Leader Boorai Room (the Toddlers) I am from Italy and I arrived in Sydney in August 2016. I am a teacher and a clinical pedagogue and I have been working as a teacher for 13 years. After achieving a BA in Early Childhood Ed …
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Charlynn Lim
I was born and raised in Malaysia and came to Sydney in 2008. I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in photography at the College of Fine Arts before finishing my Masters of Teaching in Early Childhood at the University of Sydney. I have been w …
read moreOur Early Learning Educators
Tazin Bashet
Early Childhood Educator Gootha Blossoms (Nursery) I am from Bangladesh. I have a Bachelor of Science in “Food and nutrition”. While studying “Diploma in Early Childhood Education & Care” I attended “The Kids & Traffic Early Childhood Road Safe …
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Monica Pose
Early Childhood Educator Room Leader Boorai Banksias (Toddlers) I was born and raised in Uruguay, South America and came to Australia in 1980. I speak fluent Spanish and English. I am married and I am a mum. I completed a Bachelor of Applied Science, N …
read moreOur Early Learning Trainees
Rachel Hannon
Early Childhood Trainee (Diploma) Boorai Banksias (Toddlers) I grew up in rural NSW, the Riverina district, my family comes from a long background of irrigation and dry area farming. As a child I spent much of my time riding motor bikes, climbing tree …
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Caroline Cribb
The first time I ever flew was from one side of the World to the other from the UK to Australia-I came over on a working holiday and never left. Landing in Perth and travelling across Australia on a Greyhound bus, I still remember how amazed I was at t …
read moreIndigenous Cultural Educator
Marion Simpson
Hi I would like to introduce myself, My name is Marion Simpson I’m an Indigenous Australian a proud Wiradjuri woman. I grew up in Narrandera and have 14 brothers and sisters. I’m the Indigenous Cultural Educator here at Gumnut Gardens. I have been in t …
read moreCook
Sandra Carvallho da Fonseca Reis
I’ve been the cook at Gumnut Gardens since the beginning of 2014. I plan seasonal menus that meet national nutritional guidelines. I prepare all the food myself – even the bread. When I first came to Australia I worked cleaning and cooking pastries for …
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