Our Directors

Zoe spent 20 years as a PE teacher in secondary schools in both England and Scotland, so one way or another she has managed to have some form of play at the centre of her working life. In addition to the mainstream curriculum, Zoe had a passion for outdoor activities, and sought to implement outdoor adventure elements into the curriculum in the city schools she taught in, bringing team building challenges with loose parts and programmes of orienteering into urban playgrounds, and taking groups of city children on adventures outside of the school gates - hill walking, horse riding, camping, watersports, climbing and just freedom to ‘be’ in the outdoors. Moving into pastoral leadership, Zoe enjoyed a few years as a middle leader before a Guidance role meant moving away from teaching PE. Having to wear ‘proper clothes’ to work and not be outside for most of the day made Zoe realise just how much she appreciated and needed the outdoors as part of her daily life. Having a then-2-year-old who she wanted to send to the local outdoor nursery made it a no-brainer when the opportunity to take up the position of manager arose. A part-time setting based out of the local village hall grew under Zoe’s management to a full-time Forest School nursery in the woodland, offering up to 40 places for 2-5 year-olds, and eventually provision for school-age children as well as wrap-around care. A second setting was opened (albeit briefly) at the start of 2020, before the original setting became a base for a childcare hub for children of key workers during COVID, opening to brand new children for longer hours and with more staff (and volunteers) than ever. During this time Zoe was also one of a team of nursery managers who were working to bring guidance on operating an outdoor setting to others, working with Thrive Outdoors on the beginning of their ’Top Tips’ series, as well as consulting on Scottish Government Guidance. After 5 years as Nursery Manager, Zoe left to begin her own freelance Forest School business, and was invited to co-manage a specialist Early Years provision for children with significant additional support needs for a fixed term. She remains on their board, as well as that of another early years setting and Third Sector Interface Moray, to whom she is very grateful for the opportunity to learn about Board operations and the incredible work of the wider third sector. Zoe now runs Jackdaw Forest School, delivering training and facilitating outdoor play and learning for all ages and also works with Play Scotland and OPAL as a Play Mentor. She is passionate about play and learning, and volunteered at the IPA conference in Glasgow in 2023. She is in the final stages of co-authoring a book on ‘risky play’, in the early years. Unsurprisingly, Zoe can frequently be found out in woodlands and playgrounds, occasionally roaming the Cairngorms as a volunteer reindeer herder and often by the sea as a Shorewatch volunteer, as whales and dolphins are another passion! She works closely with Outdoor Woodland Learning Scotland as secretary of the Moray OWL Group and is beyond excited to be joining SOLA as Play Director.