Meet Our Outdoor Nursery Team

Katriona Arnold - Nursery Co-Founder

Kat brings over 15 years of experience in drama and musical theatre, having taught children of all ages in both educational and recreational settings. Her background in performance means she has a natural gift for capturing children's attention and bringing learning to life through storytelling, role play, and imaginative play.

With a strong track record of working in outdoor settings, Kat blends creativity with nature-based learning in a way that sparks curiosity and wonder. She has a unique ability to connect with children on their level, building trust and confidence through joyful, engaging sessions.

Whether she’s leading a woodland drama game or guiding a quiet moment of reflection under the trees, Kat brings energy, empathy, and enthusiasm to everything she does. She is passionate about emotional well-being, creativity, and helping every child feel seen, valued, and inspired.

Matt Arnold - Nursery Co-founder

Matt is the co-founder and Nursery Director of Hidden Valley. What began as a patch of bare woodland has transformed into the Hidden Valley many now know and love amongst the local community. Inspired by their baby son Freddie, who is a daily reminder of the preciousness of the early years and the magic of childhood adventure, the next step in the Hidden Valley journey is the start of Hidden Valley Outdoor Nursery.

Matt's approach to leading Hidden Valley is rooted in a unique and demanding professional background. For over a decade, he sailed the world in the yachting industry, a career that forged invaluable expertise in leadership, disciplined teamwork, and high-pressure risk management. These skills are now the bedrock of the nursery's ethos, ensuring children enjoy the freedom of the outdoors within a safe and structured setting.

When he's not guiding young explorers through the woods, Matt is pursuing his own deep passion for the wild. He is a dedicated outdoorsman, happiest when backcountry ski touring, climbing mountains, or wild camping. His commitment to adventure was recently tested on a five-day, self-supported trek across Iceland, one of many bucket list adventures he was happy to tick off!

Beyond his work at the nursery, he serves the local community as an on-call firefighter in Grayshott, showing commitment to teamwork, resilience, and service, values he brings to the heart of the Hidden Valley community every day.

Kaila Hamilton - Nursery Manager

Kaila has ten years of experience working with children across a variety of settings, as a nanny and at children’s parties. She is passionate about supporting children as they grow, helping them to believe in themselves and to reach their full potential. It brings her joy to empower them to ask questions, make decisions and to take on a leading role in their learning journey.

One of the things she loves most about working in a forest school is seeing how the natural World sparks children’s curiosity, imagination and resilience. Whether it’s making mud pies, building dens, or spotting bugs, the outdoors offers endless opportunities for play, learning and adventure. She feels incredibly lucky to be able to share her love for nature with the children and help them build a strong connection to the World around them

Kaila feels she has truly found her dream role – one where she can inspire children while also experiencing the calm, tranquility and sense of safety that the forest brings. It’s a place where everyone can slow down and savour each magical moment. In the forest, there’s no rush; each day unfolds at its own pace, offering something new and exciting. This environment allows Kaila to shine, planning in the moment and making the most of every opportunity that arises from the discoveries and curiosity of her little explorers.

Nicky Copeland - Nursery Practitioner

Nicky is a highly experienced childcare professional with over 25 years of hands-on expertise supporting families, young children, and those with additional needs. Her career spans private nannying, nursery education, and specialist learning support, with a particular gift for nurturing babies and toddlers through their earliest milestones.

Known for her calm presence, intuitive care, and unwavering reliability, Nicky has worked with families across the UK and New Zealand — often becoming a lifelong part of the children’s lives she’s helped shape. Her roles have included sole-charge nannying for newborns, twins, and children with complex needs, as well as supporting autistic pupils in SEN settings.

Nicky brings empathy, structure, and joy to every environment she enters. Teamed with a love of the outdoors and a childhood spent walking, fishing and swimming in the wilds of the west of Ireland, working with young children in an outdoor learning environment is the perfect combination of all her skills and passions

Joe Butler - Forest School Leader

Joe has been a qualified teacher for over 10 years, teaching classes in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Over his career he has taught in many different schools and locations but one classroom always beats the rest: The Outdoors.

After completing his Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification in 2024, Joe has been honing his bush craft skills and getting out into the woods whenever possible. He worked at the Hidden Valley Holiday and Half-Term clubs which introduced him to this incredible setting and gave him a sense of the magic that children can experience here.

Joe has a background in residential youth work and overseas volunteering, as well as a Psychology degree focusing on childhood development. Both his experiences and studies have convinced him of the importance of allowing young children to explore nature, conduct their own investigations and learn independence through risk and play. Joe enables this by having a close, watchful eye on their safety and always being ready to attend to their needs.

When he’s not working, Joe loves to take his 2 year old son out for adventures and they regularly both come home covered in mud with smiles on their faces. Joe is a keen sportsman and loves inventing new games and challenges in the forest, whether that's a new twist on hide and seek or constructing a giant marble run. Joe believes that with the right support and encouragement, all children can find their spark of joy in the woods.

Joanna Barbey - Nursery Practitioner

Joanna has over 15 years of childcare experience. Her interest in working with young children began early, when she helped her older sister care for her children. Supporting them felt natural to her, and childcare became the clear path for Joanna once she left school.

Throughout her career, she has gained extensive experience across a wide range of childcare roles. She has worked as a sole-charge nanny, babysitter, nursery nurse in nursery settings, and has provided support for children with additional needs. Her passion for early years development led her to progress into a leadership role, becoming Deputy Manager in a private school nursery. During this time, she completed both her DSL and SENCo training.

In 2020, Joanna stepped back from work to have her daughter. Due to the COVID lockdown and being pregnant, she was unable to continue in her professional role. This unexpected time at home allowed her to reconnect deeply with the outdoors, spending many hours walking in the beautiful surroundings of Grayshott where alongside her daughter found themselves grounded by nature and its benefits.

Watching Arabella’s curiosity, exploration, and pure joy outdoors was transformative for Joanna. She felt incredibly fortunate to have that unhurried time with her - exploring, getting muddy, and simply being present. It awakened memories of her own childhood and reminded her how important free, outdoor play truly is.

This experience strengthened Joanna’s belief that all children need opportunities to be outside, to explore freely, and to engage with the world through their senses. It is now a core part of her philosophy as an early years practitioner.

Primrose Waller - Nursery Practitioner/Forest School Leader

Primrose brings creativity, warmth and a bright sense of energy to every woodland session. With a background in childcare and nature‑based education, she has designed and led engaging outdoor activities that inspire curiosity, confidence and growth in children. Her journey has been shaped by a deep love of the natural world, creative collaboration and a commitment to nurturing young minds.

Her Forest School path began when she started volunteering 8 years ago and witnessed the incredible impact the woodland had on children’s imagination. Seeing their curiosity flourish, sparked her desire to be part of their journeys, crafting magical, enchanting sessions where children feel safe, calm and inspired to explore. That first experience planted the seed for her becoming a Forest School Leader, guiding children to follow their interests and discover their own capabilities.

Primrose completed her Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification in 2022, developing a strong understanding of how to create environments that support every child. She later achieved her Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification with Sussex Wildlife Trust, where she embraced the belief that curiosity is a superpower and is at the heart of every session. Her practice is playful and imaginative, often shaped by the children’s ideas, from transforming the woods into an old sea ship with rope bridges and wooden “planks,” to creating natural maps from leaves and forest-floor treasures. She loves how one magical place can become anything through the children’s imagination.

Outside of Forest School, Primrose enjoys staying active through stoolball, weightlifting, running, rock climbing, and yoga believing that a healthy mind grows from a healthy body. When she’s not moving, she can be found crafting in the workshop, tinkering with natural materials. Willow stars are a particular favourite, and she loves weaving her creative skills into the sessions she leads.

Christie Gear - Nursery Practitioner

Christie’s heart lies in working with young children. She spent 15 years teaching early years and education to adults at Sussex colleges, gaining broad experience across education and supporting new professionals entering the sector. Despite her long career teaching adults, her true joy has always been found in working directly with little ones.

Christie has experience in early years and education, where she has taught children of many different ages and backgrounds using an inclusive approach.

Alongside her early years work, Christie teaches art to both adults and children. She is known for being creative, energetic, and full of ideas, with a strong imagination and enthusiasm for creativity in teaching.

Christie is also recognised for staying calm when things get tough and being a reliable person in emergencies. She remains composed under pressure and is someone others can depend on when quick thinking is needed.

Alice St Aubyn - Nursery Advisor & Forest School Leader

With over 15 years of experience working in primary schools, Alice has always been passionate about outdoor learning and has used it as a powerful tool to engage pupils. During this time, she held roles such as PSHE Coordinator and Wellbeing Coordinator, where she focused on supporting children’s holistic development, meeting them where they are, and finding creative ways to inspire a love of learning.

For the past 5 years, Alice has worked in nurseries as both a Manager and Deputy Manager, taking on the role of SENCO in her last two settings. Inclusive education is something she feels deeply committed to, and she strives to ensure every child is supported to reach their full potential.

Two years ago, she qualified as a Level 3 Forest School Leader, which has allowed her to combine her love of nature with her teaching practice. She particularly enjoys encouraging children to take safe risks, explore their imaginations through the natural world, and develop confidence through hands-on experiences.

Alongside her love of the outdoors, Alice brings music and creativity into her practice—she sings, plays the ukulele, and makes up silly songs to engage children in learning and help them remember routines in a fun, memorable way.

Outside of work, she enjoys hiking and mountain biking with her husband and their 6-year-old, and Alice looks forward to sharing those adventures with their newest addition to the family too.