Simone

About Me

Hi, my name is Simone. I provide wrap around care for school aged children at Aspin Park Academy, cover for training days and school holiday club. I am a qualified primary teacher, an Ofsted Registered childminder since January 2011, a member of PACEY (Professional Association for Childcare & Early Years) and a volunteer guiding leader with Girlguiding Knaresborough working primarily with Rainbows.

The past few months have been challenging with the changes in my practice due to Covid 19. I continue to follow Government Guidelines, risk assess my home, encourage good hygiene, ensure areas are well ventilated and encourage good hygiene. I remain flexible as school provision is changing and accommodate different start times.

Children in my care are welcomed into my home. Our days currently start at 7.15 with the morning session being focused on quieter activities. We work on simpler crafts, games and the Wii. We leave to walk to school at 8am.

We start our after school session with a trip to Nippers Play Park to blow away the cobwebs! I often take simpler crafts, skipping, cricket and a football for the children. We walk home for snack and can then focus on our after school activities. In the past year we have made candles, soap, paracord keyrings, mosaics, bath bombs, decopatch ornaments and baked cakes. We play board games, play dress up, use lego and have a variety of resources for the children to access.

During the school holidays we explore our local area! We visit the local library and the weekly market where we buy fruit for snack time. We often combine this with a walk round the castle grounds or along the waterside. We enjoy visiting Nidd Gorge Woods, many of the local play parks and the open spaces of Jacob Smith Park where we like to fly kites, look for fairy rings and search for mini beasts under logs. We have gone further afield and visited RHS Harlow Carr or Fountains Abbey. Great places for a picnic and a day out!

My busy family are Bruce, Erin, Isla and our friendly black Labrador ‘Midge’. Both my girls are currently at King James School in Knaresborough with my eldest available for babysitting.