Vikki
Childminder in Hoylake
Usually responds within 24 hours
Female Member since Aug 2016 Last Updated Nov 2024 Last Login 22 Nov 2024
My Summary
About Me
**Vikki's little Vikings**
West Kirby, Wirral
Hi, I'm Vikki Ruddick, I'm 44 years old and live in the Newton area of West Kirby with my husband and our two son's (aged 16 & 13), they both attend Hilbre High School. We also live with our beautiful senior dog, a 11 year old Miniature Schnauzer called Toby and our very cheeky Tortoise, Rocco, who we rehomed from a Tortoise sanctuary, we think he is about 15 years old!!!
I left my job at St Peters C of E Preschool in Lower Heswall at Christmas 2016, where I had worked for over 3 years, to start Vikki's little Vikings on a full time basis from January 2017.
In February 2017, Gemma joined me as my assistant, she had also worked at St Peters C of E Preschool for over 3 years and in various Nursery settings for the previous 10 years.
In October 2017, Claire joined us, so this means that there are always at least two qualified members of staff looking after your little VIP!
We all hold a NVQ level 3 in Childcare, are all DBS checked, and are all up to date with our Paediatric First Aid, Safeguarding and Food Hygiene courses.
We incorporate Makaton as much as we can into our daily routine, for example, during our Nursery Rhyme session and at mealtimes. Gemma has completed her Makaton Level 1 & Level 2 courses, and myself and Claire have both completed Level 1 so far.
We have all done a little Montessori training, so again we try to incorporate some elements of Montessori into our daily activities.
We enjoy being outdoors, so have enjoyed trips to New Brighton and Liverpool, and we regularly take the children for local walks along West Kirby marine lake, to the local parks, to the beach, etc. We have artificial grass in our private garden, which means our outdoor space is accessible all year round now no matter the weather!
We schedule specific time into our day for music time, funky feet physical development, yoga, jolly phonics, crafts, story time, etc, alongside child initiated free play.
Each child has their own Learning Journal set up from day one, so we can document observations and photos, this will be readily available for their parents to see. This is a tool to chart the child's development and also going forward, to ensure a preschool aged child is "school ready".
In June 2019, we had our first Ofsted inspection and we achieved a "Good" rating, we are extremely proud of all of the positive comments that are contained in our report.
My Experience
The Vikki’s little Vikings team comprises of Vikki, Gemma & Claire. We are a trio of very busy mums, who all thoroughly enjoy working together as a team and having fun with the children we are very privileged to look after!
My Qualifications
We all hold a NVQ level 3 in Childcare Learning and Development, and are up to date with our Paediatric first aid, Safeguarding Children and Food Hygiene certificates.
*As of 1st July 2021, we have our very own Defibrillator for our setting after our families generously helped us raise funds through sponsoring their children to complete an obstacle course.*
My Availability
We are open 44 weeks per year (minus staff holidays and bank holidays, which you are not charged for), and our opening hours are 730am - 530pm Monday to Thursday. We charge £2.50 per day for pick ups between 530-545pm. (We are closed on Friday's)
*We plan our staff holidays over a year in advance to ensure we give our families enough notice for them to book their own annual leave. We do not charge you for dates that we are closed (Staff holidays) or for any Bank holidays.
*We can accept all Government childcare funding including the new 9 month plus funding.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Morning | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Afternoon | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| After School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 17/11/2024 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £5.00 per hour
£46 - Full day care
*All meals and snacks are included in the above prices*
**We are completely full until August 2026, when a few children will leave us to move to Preschool**
My Local Schools
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Black Horse Hill Infant School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Black Horse Hill Junior 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 16/09/2017)
Reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Vikki. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk users 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 little boy Rory started at Vikki's Little Vikings in September when he was 18 months old. My good friends little boy also attends, which is how we knew all about it as it was so highly recommended!
Rory was a little unsure about being away from me at first but Vikki and the team came up with a brilliant settling in plan that worked perfectly! He absolutely loves going and has so much fun. He is so well looked after and Vikki and her team are just so loving and caring and everything is run like clockwork.
I love that he is looked after in such a homely setting. With gorgeous home cooked meals every day, he eats like a king!
I can't recommend Vikkis little Vikings enough and we are just so happy with our choice to send Rory here!
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My little boy started with Vikki in April 24 and I have had such a positive experience, I would definitely recommend vikkis little Vikings to anyone.
My little boy started just after his first birthday and had never been left with anyone else, which meant he took a while to get used to others caring for him and to settle in, he was initially really upset every time he was dropped off (which would have been the case wherever he went). Vikki could not have managed this better and was happy to extend his settling in sessions. I felt everything was done within my son's timeframe and communication around this was brilliant. I feel they all put in so much effort to reassure him (and me!).
My little boy is now so happy to go in and really excited to get in and play, waving me off most mornings. Since he has started he has made massive progress and I think being around the older children has really bought him on. There are really good daily updates around what he has eaten, when he has napped and I know if there is anything I need to know, I can just message Vikki who always replies quickly.
I am so pleased I chose Vikkis little Vikings and feel reassured my son is in good hands!
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I am so happy to send my little girl to Vikki’s. She settled in straight away and is desperate to get in and get playing as soon as we reach her front door. The days are varied with lots of different activities, circle time, toy rotations, singing, dancing, crafts and outside time which my little girl adores. Vikki provides beautiful home made meals and snacks (which tend to be healthy fruit/ berries etc) which my girl always eats. There is a really positive culture around food and eating variety.
The team are so caring, she is always happy to see them and she talks about them when we are at home. They are so caring about her and go absolutely above and beyond. My little girl clearly feels able to be her true self with them and they have really got to know her. She loves the mixed age range of the group and you can see her experience with babies (even at 18 months old!) and she shows no signs of being intimidated by much older children either.
Vikki’s has made going back to work a thousand times easier. I had such mum guilt but since seeing how much my child wants to go to Vikki’s and how great it is for her language and social development skills, this guilt has completely evaporated. I am so grateful to Vikki.
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We have had an excellent experience of Vikki’s Vikings. My 10 month old daughter settled in quickly as Vikki and the team provided comfort and a home from home experience. Since then she has grown to love playing alongside other children and has been exposed to a range of different homemade foods. Having putting our first child in nursery we feel that this has been a much easier transition.
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Our Son has been going to Vikki’s since he was just 10 months old and he has always loved it. Vikki regularly sends us WhatsApp updates during the day and always makes sure we are in the loop. We get a daily diary of what he has been up to including menu, toileting, naps and activities. We find this so nice to read through each day and also to check back on when needed. (Eg nap time) Rowan has had one or two illnesses and Vikki is always so prompt and caring when letting us know. Vikki’s beautiful home is so warm and welcoming and I am in awe at how she keeps it so clean and tidy! All the ladies at Vikki’s have a clear bond with Rowan and he is happy to go to any one of them. Rowan is vegetarian and Vikki is great at catering his options and keeping them varied. Nap time and getting to sleep was one of my biggest anxieties with starting childcare and Vikki’s flexible approach has been amazing.
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