Wendy looked after our son, S, for 20 months from September 2017 until May 2019. He was 11 months old when he first went into her care. She looked after him for 2 days each week and her Outstanding Ofsted rating could not be more fitting.

There are not enough superlatives to describe how happy we have been with her amazing care of our son. Wendy's home was always welcoming, clean and well organised and S had great fun playing with all the toys available. We loved that Wendy only had one other child in her care and so the attention she was able to give them both was so special but she would spend most mornings in the company of another childminder (or at a group) so he was also able to play with a wider group of children both younger and older than himself. Beyond all this though, it is Wendy’s overall warm, friendly and child centred approach which is what we were so grateful for.

Wendy always provided a wide, fun range of activities including plenty of outdoor exercise. She was able to tailor activities to ones which she knew our son enjoyed (typically trains and Thomas the Tank Engine!) but also to offer new toys/activities to broaden his interests. Wendy is an excellent communicator and really pays attention to the experience and emotions that a child might be feeling. Therefore this encourages good behaviour and kindness and compassion to others, both skills which are important to us at home. When S stepped outside his boundaries, we knew she was able to remain calm and firm (and would take them out of the house if they were being really loud and boisterous!) She would also use a timer for example to support him and the other child in their sharing and turn taking which worked really well and we use at home too.

When he was hurt or feeling under the weather we knew that he feels happy to be comforted by her and we were confident that she could administer either first aid or medication following all the correct procedures and completing the necessary records to ensure his health and safety.

We always looked forward to reading her reports on Tapestry (an electronic recording system you can access through an App). From this we had a complete picture of his whole day including what he has eaten, how long he has slept and all his activities. This helped us to feel involved with his care and we could use it to speak to him about his day. Now that he has left her care we have a downloaded record of his entire time with her, including photos and Wendy also made up a book of photos for S with highlights of his time in her care.

Everyone comments positively on our son's language skills and we have no doubt that as well as our chatty genes, Wendy's attention to detail and commentary on their daily activities (from pointing out the phases of the moon to the insects or vehicles they would see on their walks) has supported this.

Wendy provided healthy snacks and extras as needed and our only wish would have been that she could have provided all food but we understand that this requires additional certification. Wendy would always update us when any form of illness was reported in the drop-ins she attended and would then stay home as appropriate which meant our son stayed very well except for the occasional mild cold and never caught hand, foot and mouth or any sickness bugs.

We were very sad when it was time for S to leave Wendy's care and we realised how lucky we had been to be able to go off to work each day not only not having to worry about him but knowing he was in the very best of hands. If Wendy has availability, then book a place immediately as there is no one better!

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Communication