Catherine
Childminder in London: Islington (also available for babysitting)
Usually responds within 12 hours
Female Member since Nov 2021 Last Updated Jun 2025 Last Login 07 Jun 2025
My Summary
Bright Minds Childcare
About Me
Welcome to Bright Minds Childminding where Halima and Catherine Andersson-Gylden look forward to welcoming your family into ours, filling your child’s days with fun and inspiring learning experiences.
About us
At Bright Minds Childminding we are passionate about child development. Each child will receive the highest quality childcare and is encouraged and nurtured to develop at their own pace, which instils a love of learning and brings joy to their lives. Our mission is to support your children in becoming strong, confident and independent individuals. Between us we have more than 30 years of experience in childcare, are qualified up to level 3 and hold a first-class degree in Psychology. This combined experience and knowledge will be used to bring out each child’s unique abilities, build on their naturally inquisitive minds and encourage them to question, explore and seek out challenge. Your children will be inspired to build upon their individual strengths and passions through a variety of rich learning experiences.
Our space
Our home is bright and full of enriching resources to stimulate the children’s early years development. Young children learn through play and are encouraged to make their own decisions, explore and express themselves freely. Your child will learn to get creative with water, sand, paint and crafts, collaborate with others solving construction problems, start to read with our large selection of books, sing, dance and play with various instruments.
Garden and outings
We are very lucky to have our own outside space, which backs onto a park/greenery. We try to spend as much time as possible outside and ensure that children have the opportunity to run freely and play outside daily. We strive for children to experience as much as possible of the world whilst in our care. This is why we regularly take children on outings to discover local gems such as the farm, the zoo, playgrounds, libraries, markets, and life along the canal. This will offer children a deeper understanding of our world and inspire them to explore more of it.
Music
We believe that young children respond in an extraordinary way to music and movement and this is why we include daily music sessions in our planning. We incorporate a mixture of styles and genres of music and inspire children to engage creatively with it, using movement, props and their imagination.
Food
We believe that only the best quality, sustainable food is good enough for our children, this is why we order fresh, organic and seasonal ingredients delivered by Riverford Organic Farmers. We are experienced cooks with a keen interest in health and will provide high quality, balanced and tasty meals prepared from scratch, which are included in our fees. We get children involved in cooking to encourage them to experiment with new flavours, explore their senses and make healthy choices. We also believe that it will help them to foster their creativity and collaborative spirit.
Partnership with parents
Children benefit the most from early years education when the practitioner and parents work in partnership. You are encouraged to get as involved as you wish. We may even ask you for your contribution to the planning of the curriculum based on what your child is interested in or what you feel their strengths and weaknesses are. We will always keep you posted on how your child is progressing in a way that suits you.
Additional Learning Needs
Some children may require additional support due to particular learning needs. At Bright Minds Childminding we tailor our approach to the individual child (setting achievable, reachable goals/ targets) appreciating that every child is unique, to ensure that each child achieves their best possible outcomes. We will work with parents (and sometimes other relevant professionals) to enable the child to meet the goals we have in place.
My Experience
Experience of working within schools as a teaching assistant. Experience of working with children with special educational needs. I also have my own son of 2 years.
My Qualifications
First class BSc in psychology
Qualified in childcare (level 3)
My Availability
5 vacancies available for all ages. Flexible hours.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Morning | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Afternoon | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| After School | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Evening | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 03/06/2025 | |||||||
My Fees
- Babysitting from £16.00 per hour
- Childminding from £10.00 per hour
£10 per hour. Monday - Thursday 8am-7pm -£90 daily fee (8-6). Detailed fee policy can be requested. Find us on Face at Bright Minds Childcare
My Local Schools
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at St Mark's CofE Primary School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Duncombe Primary School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Yerbury Primary School
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
- Ofsted Certificate (added 18/11/2022)
- UK Passport (added 18/11/2022)
Reviews
5 out of 5
Latest reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Catherine. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk members 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 2 year old son has been with Cathy, Halima and Alex for over a year now. He loves spending time with them and I can see they genuinely care about him. I never worry when I leave him and go to work. They always have plenty of opportunities for playing outdoors and there have even been a few day trips to the zoo and museums. In the summer they were always out at splash pools or at the water fountains in Granary square.
Our son has made friends with the other children and likes to talk about them over breakfast, before dropping him off. They all get on well, it's super cute. Cathy makes homemade meals that are tasty and healthy which is a big plus for us.
We have never had any issues, they are a warm, reliable, friendly, fun and caring team.
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Victoria
on 09/10/2024
Cathy has been looking after my son for almost two years now, from the time he turned 1. He has spent more than half his life with her and the wonderful family they have. Cathy, Halima and Alex have created such a loving, warm, safe, and encouraging environment for all the little ones in their care. My son requests every day without fail, 'Want to see Aunty Cathy, Alex, Aunty Halima' and all of his little friends.
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Tatianna
on 07/10/2024
We are so happy to have found the Bright Minds. Catherine, Alex and the team are fantastic, very kind, reliable and professional and the whole environment is stimulating and fun. Children have to opportunity to spend a lot of time playing outside which is something I highly rate, they also play with music and do fun and creative activities. Our 4 years old son has been with them for 1 year now, Catherine or Alex would pick him up from nursery and now reception a couple of days a week, and they help us during half term or with last minutes requests (they are always very flexible). Our son loves being with them and always comes home with something new to tell us, a new song or a new activity (most of the times he doesn't even want to come back home, as he is having so much fun with them!!). We very highly recommend the Bright minds. Fantastic team!!
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Giorgia
on 07/10/2024
My son, Kai, has been with Catherine for almost a year. She would pick him up from the reception on Tuesdays & Thursdays and these were his favourite days of the school week. If you are looking for a trustworthy, reliable, kind, professional and simply lovely person, I highly recommend Catherine! Her home environment is safe, creative and fun for kids.
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Vija
on 07/10/2024
Cathy, Alex and Halima are an incredible team and provided the most exceptional childcare experience for my daughter. She got to spent so much time outdoors and her social and communication skills came on leaps and bounds after starting at Bright minds. She would come home everyday very happy, with a full belly and jabbering to me about all the fun she had.
I found Cathy and her team so dependable and flexible add they really became an extension of our family.
Deciding on childcare for your little one is daunting but I know I made the right decision with this one and truly support their vision. My daughter started at around 9 months of age but we moved abroad at 18 months, honestly the saddest thing about leaving London was leaving these guys and I haven’t found anything that has matched it yet.
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Sophue
on 07/10/2024
We adore Bright Minds! Cathy, Alex and Halima deliver an incredible childcare service that is heartfelt, homey, full of adventure and play. My son started when he was 1 yo and we slowly built up to four days a week - we have been with them for over a year and still going. I love how physical their days are which I feel is important for a little boy. In the summer they spend long days in the park/lido/woods. The mix of ages has been important for his development and has helped our son become a very talkative, very physical, polite and kind little man. We love that Alex plays such a big role in the childcare - a nice change in a very female dominated care system. We’re also grateful that Cathy makes freshly made food and respects our decision not to let our son have sugar. For his birthday she carved a cake out of watermelon and covered in berries and candles. He was delighted! It’s a home away from home!
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Flora
on 07/10/2024
I highly recommend Catherine and the Bright Minds Childminding team! Catherine is caring, reliable, and consistently provides a fun, safe environment for the children. My child loves spending time there, and I have complete peace of mind knowing they’re in good hands. After using their service for two years, they've been an invaluable help, truly embracing the outdoor learning approach.
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Sara
on 07/10/2024
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