Michelle
Childminder in Walton-on-thames
Usually responds within 3 hours
Female Member since Jun 2009 Last Updated Jun 2024 Last Login 21 Oct 2024
My Summary
Quality Assured Childminder
About Me
I am a Quality Assured Network Childminder, registered with Ofsted since 2002. In my last three Ofsted Inspections I was awarded an overall Outstanding grade for my practice (last inspection March 2020). I have all the necessary DBS Checks, Business Insurance, Safeguarding Children and First Aid in place and they are updated regularly. I hold a current clean driving licence.
I have gained valuable experience in my role as a childminder and as a mother in raising my own two children (28 and 24). I have also gone through the experience of choosing a suitable childminder for my son when I returned to work, so I completely understand how important and emotional the process is.
We have a strict non smoking household and I have no pets.
I have a separate playroom/kitchen which leads out into the garden for children to use. I have an extensive toy/equipment range and regulary replace and update resources.
My typical daily routine is to go out in the morning for woodland walks, royal parks, river walks and to meet with other childminders in their garden or homes. We come home for lunch and those that need to, go to bed. Inside/outside play in the garden in the afternoon before tea and collection. The mix of inside/outside play, my toy provision, and outings we go on ensures that children have access to a wide variety resources and activities and helps the children meet the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) learning goals.
I do not do any nursery or school pickups or drop offs and this enables me to concentrate on the early years children I have.
My aim is to provide a home from home environment for the children at their most formative years and for them to learn through play with both adult and child led activities.
I write a comprehensive daily diary for each child and add photographs weekly. I work on the basis of on-going observation and note development milestones and next steps in their diary as they occur.
Parents are key to their child's development and they are involved in all aspects of their care and learning goals. It is extremely important to form good parental partnerships and to share information about your child through regular discussion, daily diary entries, suggestions for your child's next steps planning and monthly home learning updates.
My Experience
I am committed to continuous professional development as this enhances the childminding services that I can provide both to the children and to you as parents. I am a member of PACEY and regularly attend training provided by them and information webinars through childcare.co.uk.
I have been a Support Childminder for new childminders coming into the profession and I acted as their mentor for their first year. This enabled me to access additional training and to recap on all areas.
I have completed a Quality Assurance Scheme and a Wonder Years Programme which was specifically about babies to two year olds for which I completed a child study.
I have some experience in Downs Syndrome, delayed and fine motor skills and delayed speech for which I used some Makaton sign language. I have worked with various agencies (speech and feeding therapists, portage etc) as a result.
As well as my own children, I’ve had newborn experience with twins from three months onwards.
My Qualifications
I hold an NVQ Level 3 in Children's Care, Learning and Development.
I am a Quality Assured Childminder.
I have been on the Introduction to Childminding course, first aid (every 3 years), safeguarding children (every 3 years), food and hygiene and a host of other courses to enhance my professional development.
I have completed a Quality Improvement Award through the Network, which is made up of 5 modules and this has given me the opportunity to reflect on the whole of my practice and make changes to improve my provision and setting.
I have completed a course entitled 'The Wonder Years'; which is aimed specifically at the under 2s. This was a series of workshops over three terms in which we researched theorists, covered brain development, emotional attachment and psychology for this age group. I had three mentor visits over these three terms to assess my setting, to complete observations and to monitor the child study we completed as part of the course.
My Availability
I currently have no vacancies.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
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| Before School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Morning | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Afternoon | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| After School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 30/10/2024 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £7.50 per hour
My hourly rate includes for any toddler groups and most daily outings. More expensive day trips like farms or soft play may incur an additional fee.
My hourly rate is subject to hours worked and my terms and conditions.
My Local Schools
This childminder has not yet informed us whether or not they provide any drop off or pick up services at local schools.
My Ofsted Inspections
The inspection grades below have been obtained from the Ofsted website based upon the registration number the childminder has provided to us. You should verify this information yourself prior to using the childminder.
My Documents
- UK Driving Licence (added 17/02/2023)
Reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Michelle. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk users and not of Childcare.co.uk. Parents must carry out their own checks and references on childcare providers to ensure that they are completely happy before enaging in the use of their services.
Our daughter was with Michelle from when she was 11 months until 2.5 years old. Michelle's friendly manner helped our daughter to settle in and she was very patient and calm when our daughter had tricky days. There was always a good routine, and this really helped our daughter to become more consistent with her naps when she started. Michelle's communication is excellent and we always received good detail of how our daughter had been that day and what activities she had done. Michelle would meet up with a small close group of other childminders regularly, giving out daughter a wider range of social opportunities and different environments to explore. Our daughter really enjoyed all the outdoor activities (local walks, Hurst park, Bushey park etc) which they they went on regularly. It was lovely to see our daughter develop and learn at Michelle's and we would have no hesitation in recommending her to other families.
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Michelle looked after my son Ted from the age of eight months until earlier in 2018 when he was nearly three and a half (at which time we moved away from Surrey). I cannot recommend her highly enough to anyone considering a childminder. She was loving, supportive and nurturing with Ted while maintaining the same standards with regards to manners etc. that I expected at home. She provided an excellent standard of early years teaching too - which is why she's been rated outstanding by Ofsted for years!
She was always honest in her feedback and was an excellent support to me as a mum returning to work. She provided a very detailed diary entry every day to let me know what Ted had been doing, eating, etc. One of my pet peeves these days is that the nursery my second eight month old goes to always tells me he's had "a lovely day" no matter what - even when I later read in his diary that he hasn't eaten anything all day and only slept for 20 minutes. That never happened with Michelle - she always said if settling in was taking a while or if Ted had had a bad day so that we could work on it together. I really appreciated that.
Michelle's home was always immaculate (how does she do that with small children around?) and she upgraded and added to her collection of toys and learning resources on a regular basis. She took the children on interesting outings and to groups where they could socialise in larger settings. She was always going on courses to keep herself up to date and I never had any doubts about Ted's safety while he was with her. She really paid attention to the little things in the same way that I did as Ted's mum - he never came home caked in mud/snot/dried food (another nursery bugbear...) He adored her and still thinks of her (and her lovely husband and children) as extended family. He has also made friends with the other small group of children that Michelle cared for and I have done the same with their lovely mums.
I honestly can't thank Michelle enough for the care she gave to Ted, and the support she gave to me, during such an important time in our lives. As the title says, she's one in a million.
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This profile has been produced from information provided to us by the user. We have not verified or confirmed the accuracy of any of the information and members should undertake their own vigorous checks and references. Please ensure you read our Safety Advice and information on how to Check Childcare Provider Documents.
