We have been fortunate to have known Katie as our childminder for nearly 4 years, with our younger son spending three days per week with her since he was one. It is honestly the best decision we have made as parents. Our older song attended nursery and preschool locally, but we wish we had known more about childminding (and Katie!) sooner.
Our son started with Katie in August 2020, with all of the complexities of Covid times. Despite this, our son settled in quickly to the setting, and it fast became considered a second home by him. Katie was also very supportive of us using cloth nappies and was happy to accommodate this for us. She also uses cloth wipes for all children around mealtimes.
Katie provides a clean, welcoming and well-equipped home, with an excellent range of quality toys that she varies regularly depending on the children's own interests and changing development, as well as different seasonal topics. She puts a great amount of time and effort into providing a range of activities to keep the children engaged across different age ranges, and shows a personal understanding of all the children in her care. Katie also prepares a great range of high quality and healthy meals for the children. She is very kind and caring with the children, and somehow always seems to be calm and cheerful despite the chaos of children! She clearly enjoys her job.
Katie encourages the children to spend time outdoors regularly, and takes them out on adventures most days, either visiting her allotment, the local park, using public transport to nearby towns, or going off for a walk across the fields to spot insects and wave at the trains. Our son is always happiest out and about exploring, and we think Katie's influence has played a big part in this. She also has a garden that the children spend plenty of time engaging in messy and physical play together.
Katie provides daily updates of what the children have been up to, and is always happy to provide personal updates when collecting our son at the end of the day. She has also been very supportive of us with any concerns or questions over the years, and is very knowledgeable of other local supports/ services to signpost us to. She is also aware of how her setting fits in with the wider context of child/ health care and liaises with any other settings your child may be at or moving to.
We are not looking forward to losing Katie as part of our life, but are very grateful for the love and support she has given to our child over the years, and the peace of mind for us as parents that he is happy and cared for.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication