Cathy Bache - Lead Practitioner

Former Drama teacher Cathy Bache, founder of The Secret Garden Outdoor Nursery, gained an ATQ in Primary Education in 2000, before stepping into the spacious world of the Early Years. A combination of ‘causes and conditions’ drew her out to the woods with preschool children in 2004: a privileged childhood roaming woodland and countryside, an eccentric grandfather that taught her to light and dance around campfires at an early age, formative parenting years living in Norway discovering the joys of doing the outdoors with her own children, a year in Newfoundland ‘daily walking in all weathers in every season’, and a wonderfully supportive group of friends and parents here in the Howe of Fife who have believed and held the dream of The Secret Garden. Cathy draws on her own practice of mindfulness to support and train the staff of the Secret Garden on how to be fully present for the creative child in the natural environment.

Roz Mullin - Assistant Lead Practitioner

I am the Assistant Lead Practitioner at the Secret Garden. I live in Kirkcaldy with my daughter Eilidh, and I have two sisters; Kirstine is a primary school teacher in Drumnadrochit, and Mhairi is a Speech and Language Therapist in Glenrothes specializing in young children. Great for bouncing ideas off one another!

After having my daughter, I chose a career in child care, as I realised I really wanted a job that I enjoyed, and was more rewarding. I studied at Elmwood College and achieved a number of qualifications relating to child development, the most recent being a Higher National Certificate in Early Education and Child Care. I fell straight into a job with the Secret Garden and I thrive on it. I also take part in external activities such as delivering education programmes in the use of outdoor play, facilitating discussions at conferences and generally supporting adults to develop their own skills.

My expertise is ensuring young children have the breadth of experience needed to develop both skills and confidence. It is remarkable how young children can develop through outdoor play, often quickly overtaking their parents’ ability to cope with the great outdoors.

Nova Pinfold - Practitioner

Nova was brought up in rural Fife and began her career as a massage and holistic therapies practitioner, having always had a keen interest in the healing powers of plants, nature and people. After the birth of her son in 1999 her love of Egyptian and African dance took over and she also became a freelance dance teacher, working with Active Schools, youth groups, nurseries and within the wider community. This led on to Nova developing and facilitating various movement and drama projects with children and founding the charity ConfiDance for Life before beginning to work with The Secret Garden in Oct ’09. Nova lives with her family near Ladybank where they enjoy the great outdoors on a daily basis.