Latest Reviews
Here are some of the latest reviews that we have received from parents who have used childcare providers and tutors listed on Childcare.co.uk.
In the first couple of months we were very happy with Maria’s setting as per my review above, and this is my review after leaving the setting almost one year later. As the months went by more and more concerns emerged regarding her being emotionally mature enough to work with multiple children without other adults being present hence the one star review as for me safety trumps all the other good (or great) aspects of this setting.
What drew us initially were the attention to detail in the toy/activity arrangements, the garden, the food, the small number of children (there were only 2 initially), the good relation between our son and Maria’s daughter and the parenting books that Maria read.
As the months passed by warning signs started to appear but we repressed them as we did not want to overreact and we were hoping for our son to build long term relationships with his caregivers which we genuinely hoped to see as members of extended family.
One of the initial signs was quite unusual inflexibility in terms of “the right” way to raise children, which I attributed to expertise and conviction which I respected at the time.
Then we noticed a worrying lack of true empathy and ability to read and acknowledge children’s change in behaviour as a consequence of illness or other symptoms such as teething. The expectation was that children would fit her planed activities unaffected.
There were also several weeks in which Maria said our son was pushing and hitting all the children without any reason and tried to convince us to be unnecessarily restrictive with him as a correction mechanism. For a couple of months we went into an internet rabbit hole and also watched Albert carefully in all contexts with other children and we never saw anything like that outside of Maria’s setting. She also denied to provide any context of what might have started the behaviour and suggested other children were never doing anything remotely similar to our son. We shared scientific research on the topic but she dismissed everything we suggested. Eventually one morning, and unsuprisingly for toddlers, I saw another child in the setting come to push our son in front of me. This is a perfectly normal development stage for toddlers and it is addressable but the focus was more on blamins us and our son.
It was common for our childminder to react with some type of relational aggression at the slightest suggestion of improvement of care for our son and sometimes even following a simple request for information which I suspect was perceived as a criticism. As you can imagine this kind of reactivity and deep insecurity is detrimental for the emotional welbeing and development small children given the challenges of taking care of so many at the same time.
With time Maria became so antagonistic, in particular against my wife, such that my wife stopped dropping off and picking up our son and also stopped replying on the whatsapp chat to avoid triggering her. I also spent a lot of energy taking responsibility for Maria’s emotions for fear of her finding subtle and potentially even not so subtle ways to react against our son while I was not present.
We did notice some behaviours in our son which with hindsight should have triggered us to move him somewhere else earlier like shame based reactions which he could not have learned somewhere else.
Trying to find (at least a short term) solution we decided not to take our son to the setting at the contractual 8:00am start to avoid the time when we saw Maria being most triggered by the requirements to be on time for school. Instead I brought in our son later, at 9:00am, when the school run is over. Our son became much happier after this change so we asked to change the contract as well to reflect this later start time which she refused saying she did not want to lose money. As you can imagine, alongside paying for care we did not receive this was also very difficult to organize with my work commitments as I would have preferd an 8:00am start if I could trust Maria to be kind with Albert during stressful times.
One morning my boss asked me last minute to come in early so at 7:40am I wrote to Maria as a courtesy that I would be bringing Albert at 8am. She replied that I cannot let her know like this and that she expects us to come at 9:00am and that I need to provide 24h notice. I replied that as per the contractual we pay for 8am even when we don’t get the care at which point she left our common chat. When I arrived at 8:05am I told Maria that I understand she could use more notice for breakfast preparation but I had been called to work early on short notice. She said that this is not her problem and that she has been disrespected so she is giving her notice of termination to us effectively immediately. I was in shock as I realised that all along I had ignored the warning signs and I had left my child alone which a person which is not emotionally fit enough to take care of children woth a poor grasp of reality when triggered. I felt it unsafe to leave our son with her so I took him home with me immediately never to return.
And so we were left with no childcare during an extremely busy time at work and we will be using our annual leave looking for childcare. But ultimately relieved for this to be over and very upset that me and my wife have not listened to our guts earlier.
Claris is absolutely wonderful. From the initial hello, I knew it would be hard to say goodbye. We needed a childminder as an interim before our daughter went to nursery, and I absolutely wish I found Claris before I paid the nursery registration fees etc. Claris really caters to both the academic and personal development of children with genuine care. Safe hands, kind heart and the warmest smile, made it easy for our daughter to settle, which put me at ease when returning to work full time. A true professional and we will be forever grateful.
I highly recommend Vida! She has looked after my child in the past, and I couldn't be more pleased with the care and attention she provided. My child was always happy and well taken care of, and I felt completely at ease knowing they were in such capable hands. I am truly grateful for the positive impact Vida has had, and I would not hesitate to trust her with my child again in the future!
Joe
We have been sending both of our children to Charlie for over a decade and she's been absolutely fantastic. She has looked after our son since he was 9 months and he still enjoys his time at Charlie's eight years later.
Charlie is kind, professional and very trustworthy.
Kind, caring & supportive.
Our 2 boys have been going since 10months and 7 months 2 days a week. Angela has been so supportive of both of them. One with asthma that needs regular medications and Angela is great at keeping us updated and reassuring me how he is. Our eldest has come on so much and she is now supporting us in getting him school ready. They both love all the activities that they get to do. I love waiting for the daily updates and seeing the smiles on their faces. Angela also helps the children to celebrate key events like the coronation and other celebrations like Chinese new year.
Mary is exceptional. My daughter bonded with her immediately , she’s very attentive and caring and it shows.
Using her service is like sending my daughter to a family member. She pays close attention to my daughter’s needs and also guides me in an utmost professional way. I feel at peace leaving my daughter with her . She’s also great at communicating , approachable and reassuring.
I genuinely recommend next step for childcare , Mary is God sent.
Charlie is an amazing childminder who has cared for my children for many years.
She takes so much interest in the children and cares deeply about their needs, always ensuring the best for them. She places a real emphasis on ensuring they learn, make memories and socialise. She keeps them active and engaged - there's absolutely no sitting round staring at screens!
She also accommodates my youngest's dietary needs perfectly - nothing is a hassle.
I don't know what we'd do without her.
Charlie is an excellent childminder who provides care for my 2 children since 2021. She is very caring with the kids and she always go extra mille with them. My youngest one has learnt lots of skills and she is very educational as she teaches the children how to write, read, numbers etc. She is also very focus on providing the best fun for them, she spend time outside in the nature.
Araceli
Rosie has been looking after my 3 yr old son for a while now. His development has come on leaps and bounds. Her incredibly kind and caring nurture really shows. Rosie is so supportive to me as a parent too. Supporting with potty training and helping to teach life skills such as dressing, talking etc. The potty training for sure, I'd of struggled to do without her help and support and my son cracked it super quickly. So thank you!
Rosie provides nutritious breakfasts and snacks throughout the day and always has lovely activities set for the children. My son is always happy to go and can't wait to tell me about the things he did.
I am so so grateful for Rosie. And will be very sad when the time comes for my son to move up on his next journey.
Highly recommend!
I would like to express my gratitude to Viola for taking care of Antonio as if he were her own family member.
She is responsible, genuine, sensitive, flexible, and loving.
My son is thriving in her care, playing with other children and enjoying outdoor activities.
Although the distance makes it challenging to have her as a regular childminder, we will contact her whenever we need a babysitter.
Natalia
We came to Liverpool for the weekend and Tracey helped us out three times looking after our 5-month old baby at our hotel room while we were out. She was very easy to communicate with, punctual, friendly, and clearly loves babies. We were so grateful to Tracey for her help, which enabled us to have a wonderful weekend together!
Gina_H
We were incredibly lucky to have Raquel as our childminder for our son. When we first moved to Scotland, our son Casper was 5 years old and started attending P1. Raquel provided after-school care for him from P1 until the beginning of S6. Casper settled immediately with no difficulties, and from the very start, Raquel made him feel comfortable and at ease.
Raquel was always very reliable, picking Casper up from school, taking him home, and ensuring he was well taken care of with meals and snacks. She created a warm and welcoming environment for him and the other children in her care. He had the chance to play with other kids, enjoy outdoor activities, and even visit the playground when the weather was nice. Her games and activities were always engaging and child-friendly, and her home was full of fun, safe, and creative things to do.
Communication was excellent; we became good friends over time, and her oldest son and Casper even became close friends, which was wonderful to see.
We are truly grateful for everything Raquel did for Casper during those years. She made him feel safe, happy, and cared for, and we would highly recommend her to anyone seeking an outstanding childminder.
Amelie
Both our daughter and son attended Rachel’s setting, one after the other and both children have thoroughly enjoyed their time with her.
They are always taken out and about whether that is local to her lovely home environment or further afield to a local attraction.
It is clear that Rachel cares deeply about each of the children she looks after and she treats them like one of her own children.
My son will really miss attending her setting.
Cannot recommend highly enough!
We got in touch with Reena a month before our little boy was born at the start of 2024 and after a quick visit to meet her, immediately knew she was the perfect choice to look after him. She has a beautiful home and fantastic facilities for the children and it was such a relief to know we had everything in place even before he was here. As we are teachers, we had a couple of settling in days over the summer holidays when he was 5-6 months before he started 3 days a week in September after just turning 6 months old. Reena made the whole process so easy which was such a weight off our minds as we are both very busy (and inflexible) in our jobs.
He is such a happy boy who is thriving and Reena makes him feel like family!
My mother, Lisa, has provided invaluable support to our family since the birth of our two children….I’m so glad I’ve had her by my side for the past 6 months. I dread to think how tough it would’ve been without her! I trust her implicitly and the love and care she gives my girls makes my heart full. She brings warmth, humour and enthusiasm to our children and I’d happily recommend our Granny Nanny to others (so long as we get to keep her for our family’s needs 😉!).
Kirsty has looked after both of my children from when they were 1, right up towhen they started school. From their very first settling in days they have been so happy and secure to go off and have their daily adventures with Kirsty. She provides a safe, fun, engaging and warm environment full of diverse and creative activities to keep them busy and interested. I love receiving updates from Kirsty throughout the week about what they’ve been up to, particularly around seasonal events like Christmas and Easter which the kids always love.
Kirsty feels like family to us, we trust her implicitly and are so grateful to have had her in our children’s lives.
We feel very lucky to have found Pav. Our daughter took to Pav straight away, and settled in without any problems. When I drop her off she runs through the front door and barely looks back. They do really wholesome, interesting activities, lots of things with nature and arts and crafts. Her house is lovely and there is lots of space for the kids to play, including in the garden. The kids are clearly very fond of her and always seem to be having a great time. Pav joins up regularly with another local childminder so the kids get a broad social circle. Pav serves very nutritious homecooked food and keeps us updated with pictures each day. We couldn't be happier.
My daughter has been going to Angela's a year now, and my daughter has improved so much. She is not the same person she was a year ago. Angela supports each child's needs. Angela is so welcoming and everyone loves her. I honestly don't know what I would do without her. She's part of the family.
Tasha
Angela is absolutely amazing! She looks after my twins aged 2 nearly 3. They have been going to Angela's for a year now and I've got to say I was very nervous about sending them to a childminder and not a nursery but I'm so glad I made the decision to look for a child minder. Angela really goes above and beyond for the kids there, every occasion is celebrated and everyday they have so much fun. They are learning constantly and improving in every aspect of their social skills. I could not recommend Angela enough. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do. Your amazing!
Rose
