Helens Happy Home's Reviews

Happy Happy Happy

We’ve been working with Helen for over a year now and we are thrilled with the care our son has received (from 10ths old) and adventures he has been on.

Helen is thoroughly organised, communicative and thoughtful. Our son enjoys a wide variety of excursions (indoor and outdoor) in Shoreham and beyond. At home, Helen’s space is perfect for our boy and his pals to learn through play, dancing, singing, role play…

We know that we have struck gold with Helen’s Happy Home and we would not hesitate to recommend!

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by Sally about Helens Happy Home on 17/09/2024

Truly amazing child minder

Elwen started going to Helens Happy Home in January 2015 at the age of 12 months and it was definitely a big step for me, leaving her with someone other than immediate family. I didn't feel ready to put her in a nursery and HHH seemed closer to her home environment and seemed less daunting somehow. After meeting Helen, I knew straight away that Elwen would be happy there. She started going once a week, and quickly went up to 2 days in and she loves her time there. Elwen settled in very quickly and now runs in, often not looking back. She has made great progress and has learnt so many things with Helen and her development has been incredible. Helen provides a great variety of activities, including plenty of outdoor exercise as well as time in her lovely home. There are lots of fun outings to play parks, museums and play groups as well as downtime at her home. She has a great range of toys available and encourages messy play. There is also a lot of imaginative role play, from making dens to dressing up, which we always encourage at home too. Living in a city, its important for us that Elwen also explores the outdoors and wildlife around her and this is something Helen certainly introduces into their daily routine. They might go walking through leaves in the park, or talk about the weather outside or collect specimens like twigs and mint for their nature bag to examine back at Helens home. I really like Helens creative approach to learning. It may be counting through number pebbles or leaves for example. She encourages child led play and to be independent whilst always maintaining a happy and safe environment. I could not believe it when Elwen could put her coat on by herself. Helen had taught them how to do this along with counting to 10, repeating days of the week. It is brilliant. Helen encourages good behaviour, sharing and kindness to others which are important values to us at home as well. I love going onto the Baby Day site after Elwen has been there to see all the fun activities they have been up to and the photos that Helen has taken of their adventures. I get a complete picture, including how long she has slept and eaten. This helps me to feel involved with her care and something I can talk to Elwen about when she gets home and throughout the week. She gets so excited about her next visit and playing with her little friends there, including Helens daughter Ionie, who Elwen loves. She chats so much when I pick her up in the evening and I often have to sing all their names for her to fall asleep at night. Helen is kind, patient and conscientious, as well as being understanding of every childs needs and I love her fun and creative approach. I would highly recommend her to anyone as a great and reliable childminder. Sending Elwen to Helens Happy Home has been one of the best choices I have made.

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by tonwen about Helens Happy Home on 26/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 27/03/2023:

Thanks so much for your lovely review Ton x

Amazing childminder

My daughter Elektra, who is now four years old, has been looked after by Helen for almost two years. Helen has been simply amazing and a joy to work with. She is nurturing and caring whilst allowing kids to take (reasonable) risks. She is a natural teacher with a knack for communication. She is considerate and thoughtful, and able to work with each of her childrens' sensibilities. I have learned so much from her on how to deal with tantrums, fussy eating etc.
Many thanks, Helen.

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by Evb about Helens Happy Home on 20/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 21/03/2023:

Thank you so much Evangelia x

Happy times with Helen

Everyone in our family looks forward to Thursdays, when Cleo spends a day at Helens Happy Home and us parents get some time to ourselves.. Cleo loves Helen and her daughter, and gets to do lots of activities that we probably don‘t do at home. She loves playing with Helen‘s daughter and the variety of children at different ages and selection of activities means that Cleo gets a really interesting day in a place where she feels very at home and secure. When your child talks about and looks forward to seeing their childminder you know you are on the right track.
Alix, Newtimber

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by Alix about Helens Happy Home on 20/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 20/03/2023:

Thanks Alix, lovely review x

Fantastic care for my children.

Helen and her very Happy Home were absolutely brilliant in looking after our rather shy 2 year old.
We were very apprehensive as to how he would behave but we needn't have worried at all. Helen was brilliant at getting him settled in and interacting with the other children straight away. The activities and day trips Helen organises are fantastic.
Thank you for everything!

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by Charlott about Helens Happy Home on 19/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 20/03/2023:

Thanks for your lovely Review x

Incredible childminder

We feel so lucky to have Zeb at Helen's Happy Home 3 days a week when we are at work. It was so easy to go back to work because Zeb loves it there and I totally trust Helen to care for Zeb brilliantly. Helen provides so many opportunities for playing and learning. From day trips we could never go on because we don't have a car, to trying new toys from the library, to art and crafts to getting involved in everyday activities like cooking. There is so much variety to what they do in a day. Getting updates on Baby Days is an exciting. Especially the photos- Helen manages to capture activities and moments which is heartwarming and reassuring. I think the best thing about Helen's happy home is that it is just that: a happy home environment. I'm impressed with how Helen handles conflict between children and I've learnt a lot from her. For example, Zeb went through a phase of hitting and kicking (like all toddlers). I was horrified, but Helen reassured me that it was normal and said we should just take him to a quiet place to explain that hitting and kicking hurts and it's not nice, and let him think about it. The behaviour soon resolved. Zeb has built excellent relationships with the other children, talking about them when he is at home and looking forward to seeing them. Zeb never had any trouble napping at Helen's- she incorporated Zeb's daily routine into the days he attends. He feels at home there. Helen goes out of her way to cater to special diets and provide nutritious food at meal times. For example, when Zeb was quite new I saw on babydays that they'd made pizzas, and I reminded Helen that Zeb doesn't eat dairy. Helen said she had got vegan cheese in especially.

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by TanyaA about Helens Happy Home on 19/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 19/03/2023:

Thanks so much for your lovely review! Lovely family to work with 💜

Simply the best

I cannot recommend Helens Happy Home enough. Theo thrived with Helen from 18 months until 5. She has been supportive and understanding every time Theo struggled to part from me, and through dedication and a deep care she has given him the foundations become the independent child he is today and provided a home from home environment that Theo felt secure, content and fulfilled in. I am eternally grateful for all the magical levels of hard work and patience Helen achieves. Thanks :)

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by Liz about Helens Happy Home on 18/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 18/03/2023:

Ah thank you Liz x

Outstanding childcare

We have been delighted at how quickly and happily Angus settled in to Helen’s Happy Home, after two and a half years of sole care. Helen has helped him to develop the social skills to enjoy sharing time with other children, while spending time maintaining and developing his own interests so that he has remained secure, happy and very stimulated. And now has a great little group of friends. From the start, he’s been excited to arrive each day. We value the fact that he has a rich and varied itinerary so that he is visiting a variety of places from parks to museums and toy libraries, and then spending time back at Helen’s exploring what he has seen and learnt in games and activities. Helen’s updates are very helpful in enabling us to join up what he has been seeing and hearing back home. We could not recommend Helen more highly.

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by Rachael about Helens Happy Home on 17/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 17/03/2023:

Thanks so much Rachael!

Just wonderful, a home from home.

Arthur from June 2012 (Two and a half days per week).

I spent a long time deciding what sort of childcare I wanted for Arthur. I looked at several day nurseries and felt uncomfortable with the rather confined nature of the care there. I knew I wanted a more home-like experience for him and felt his care should represent as close to that provided by myself and my husband as possible. I spoke to several childminders but as soon as I chatted with Helen over the phone I knew I that I wanted to meet her and that we were on the same wavelength. I couldnt be happier with the care that Helen provides. Arthur enjoys his days with her, Ionie and the other children immensely. She provides a wide range of activities including plenty of outdoor play. I know that Arthur has recently enjoyed sand and water play, feeding the squirrels in the park, drawing and sticking, reading and puzzles, den building and trips to the seafront play park. Helen provides a lovely, safe and child-friendly environment in her home with plenty of space for the children to explore. The garden even includes a muddy play area and sensory space where the children bring and examine further things they have collected on their outings (Arthur loves seashells!). Helen is an excellent communicator and had no trouble gaining Arthurs confidence. I know he feels safe in her care and when he is hurt or feeling under the weather I know that he is happy to be comforted by her. I am confident that she can administer either first aid or medication following all the correct procedures and completing the necessary records to ensure his health and safety. Helen provides Arthur with all of his meals. She offers great variety and always with an emphasis on healthy eating. The children are allowed to explore the various ingredients that go into making their food and sometimes they even manage to cook together. These are values which are important to us at home and I am particularly grateful for the effort that goes into encouraging these interests whilst Arthur is in her care. Helen completes a diary detailing what Arthur has been up to each day. From this I have a complete picture of his whole day including what he has eaten, when he has slept and all his activities. This helps me to feel involved with his care and I can talk to him about his day. As the diary is based on an easily accessible website it also offers the opportunity for me to add comments and advise on areas of development which we may be working on at home. It makes things much easier to work as a team to make sure Arthur gets the best care possible. I also love the photograph gallery which enables us to actually see what our little boy has been up to in the day. All in all I am extremely happy with the level of care and personal attention that Arthur receives. I couldnt be more pleased with our decision to entrust Arthur to Helens care. Sometimes I think he enjoys it more at Helens Happy Home than he does at his own one!!
Thank you Helen.
Siân, Brighton

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by Sian1234 about Helens Happy Home on 17/03/2023

Response by Helens Happy Home on 17/03/2023:

Thank you Sian, so lovely to catch up today 💜

Brilliant and enthusiastic child minder

I strongly recommend Helen's Happy Home.

My daughter has been going for the past 18 months. She loves going to Helen's and enjoys playing with Helen's daughter and the other children.

The food Helen provides is excellent healthy and reasonably priced, the space, garden and house are great for kids and Helen is proactive in her communication with parents.

My daughter also attends a nursery 2 days per week, but I feel much more comfortable leaving my daughter with Helen, the feedback I receive is much better and I think Emily gets more 1:1 attention than at the nursery.

Helen takes the kids out most days, to play groups, to the park and to farms, etc and always has a range of new toys and ideas for games.

I can't recommend Helen's Happy Home strongly enough.

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by Alice about Helens Happy Home on 17/05/2013

Response by Helens Happy Home on 17/05/2013:

Oh thank you Alice - that's a lovely review x