Sending our daughter to Little Bears was one of the best decisions we have made as parents. She has been with Natalie for just over 3 years now and we couldn’t be more pleased with the progress she has made.

Having visited a few childminders in the local area we knew instantly Natalie was absolutely the one for us. Her professionalism, warmth, knowledge, kindness (the list is endless) shone through, not only through her but also her family.

Her setting is ideal for little ones, providing a home from home with a wealth of learning resources, toys and activities on offer. Natalie is child-led in her approach, empowering the children to voice their feelings and preferences in terms of activities, for example. This has always felt a great way to encourage the children to share their opinions but also to process and understand the thoughts and feelings of others.

Handing your young child over to someone else was very daunting to us at first, but with Natalie all that worry and anxiety went away almost instantly. We knew our daughter was in the best place possible being looked after and cared for by the best practitioner and with an approach that felt best matched to our own parenting style.

Natalie uses a brilliant app to upload milestones and achievements and also sends pictures over during the day and we love finding out what fun activities they have got up to.

Our daughter loves her home cooked meals and often asks us to make “Natalie meals” at home. She also loves Natalie’s own children dearly, who are both perfect role models, and has the most amazing time playing with them once they are home from school.

Little bears has helped our daughter in so many ways and we will miss Natalie desperately once our daughter starts school. Luckily we have signed our second born up!

Natalie has not only supported our daughter but helped guide us as new parents through some major milestones, with tips and advice whenever we’ve needed. We not only value her in a professional capacity but also cherish the friendship we have built over the past 3 years.

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• Setting
• Cleanliness
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• Communication