Caroline Thomas
Bristol,Bristol
Summary
I have a very varied and eclectic background of skills and experience which I feel gives greater insight into working with families from a wide variety of backgrounds.
I have worked as a nursery nurse, playworker, a Midwife and a Charity Director, working with many different families and working collaboratively alongside other professionals.
I have had to maintain accurate and well written records and reports and have had to work to deadlines, prioritising tasks and planning my workload.
I have volunteered for a variety of different charities, working with children in the UK at holiday clubs and camps, working with street children in Brazil, setting up a midwifery clinic in Madagascar for 6 months and working with for an international NGO for 7 years in Mozambique and Madagascar caring for children in a residential children's centre alongside working with street children and families living in extreme poverty.
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
6
6
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Playwork Leader
OOSC (Out Of School Clubs)
Bristol, Avon
07.2019 - Current
- Oversee, organise and support delivery of a challenging and engaging programme of activities for 40 children aged 4 to 11 before and after school.
- Manage and oversee a team of 7 playworker staff. Ensure that staff are well trained and feel well cared for and supported.
- Ensure that children are happy, safe and cared for at a high standard.
- Teach staff how to respond appropriately and effectively to children who have SEND in order for them to feel fully included and to make reasonable adjustments
- Deal professionally with any problems or safeguarding issues that may arise, and pass on any concerns to my manager.
- Lived experience of fostering, adoption, being a parent of children with SEND and trauma. Parenting using PACE and learning so much from this experience.
Level 3 nursery nurse
Frenchay Pre School
Bristol, Avon
01.2018 - 06.2019
- Worked with children aged 2-5 years old, ensuring that they were encouraged to play, be creative and find learning opportunities in many varied play activities.
- Worked as a member of a team, supporting other team members and liaising with parents about their children's learning journey.
Madagascar Base Director
Iris Global
Antananarivo , Madagascar
05.2008 - 05.2017
- Spent 9 years working for a large NGO Iris Global. 2 years base leader training at their base in Pemba Mozambique plus time at bases in Sudan, Zimbabwe and South Africa followed by 7 years setting up from scratch, running and directing an Iris base in Antananarivo Madagascar.
- Caring for 150 abandoned or orphaned children in a Children's centre for 7 years in Madagascar. All children had suffered with multiple adverse child experiences. Many had SEND.
- Setting up various community projects such a micro projects, feeding programs and parenting courses for families living in poverty.
- Leading an intercultural team of 100 national Malagasy staff and 10 International staff from 5 different countries.
- Fundraising for the project using a variety of means such as social media posts, emails and face to face presentations to churches, schools and other events in 3 different countries (UK, America and Belgium).
Midwife
NHS Bristol
Bristol, Avon
09.2003 - 05.2008
- Delivered specialised care for pregnant women during pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal periods.
- Assisted parents during childbirth and before and after birth with clinical and emotional support.
- Committed to equal treatment of women from all backgrounds and circumstances and remained actively informed on ethical practices in cases of sensitive situations.
- worked for 18 months on a special care ward caring for women and their babies who were either pre term, were born with a disability needing extra care or babies of drug using women where the babies needed to withdraw from maternal drug use.
Education
Certificate of Higher Education - Tropical Nursing
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
London 03.2007 - 07.2007
Bachelor of Science - Midwifery
University of The West of England
Bristol 09.2000 - 07.2003
NVQ Level 3 - Nursery Nursing
City of Bristol College
Bristol 09.1996 - 07.1998
GCSEs - Various
Winterbourne Academy
Bristol 09.1995 - 07.1996
Skills
- Experience of working with children across a wide variety of settings for 28 years
- Kind and empathetic personality
- Experience leading, mentoring and developing teams
- Broad experience of lead children's programs, holiday clubs, camps and residential children's centres over the past 28 years
- Experience and understanding of caring for children, including looked after and adopted children, children with SEND and working with families living in extreme poverty
- Able to keep calm under pressure
- Experienced at working as part of an interprofessional collaborative team
Recent training courses
Paediatric First Aid -Passed February 2023
Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety for Catering -Passed May 2023
NVR (Non Violent Resistance) training -Completed March 2024
Level 3 Designated Safeguarding Lead - Completed May 2025
Challenging Behaviour Training - Completed May 2025
Timeline
Playwork Leader
OOSC (Out Of School Clubs)
07.2019 - Current
Level 3 nursery nurse
Frenchay Pre School
01.2018 - 06.2019
Madagascar Base Director
Iris Global
05.2008 - 05.2017
Certificate of Higher Education - Tropical Nursing
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
03.2007 - 07.2007
Midwife
NHS Bristol
09.2003 - 05.2008
Bachelor of Science - Midwifery
University of The West of England
09.2000 - 07.2003
NVQ Level 3 - Nursery Nursing
City of Bristol College
09.1996 - 07.1998
GCSEs - Various
Winterbourne Academy
09.1995 - 07.1996
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