Carol

Carol is very money oriented

My son attended Carol's setting nearly a year. Throughout that time, he consistently resisted going there. However, when we switched to a different childminder, his resistance noticeably decreased. The experience I mentioned below showed me that Carol may not be as warm and caring with the children as she initially appeared.

During that period, Carol needed to take a month off on short notice due to her mother's health issues, and I paid the full fee for that month despite there being no childcare provided. A month later, I informed Carol that we would be taking a holiday for 1.5 months and requested that she adjust the invoice accordingly, to which she verbally agreed. She did not mention I needed to pay the full fee. I had assumed she would not invoice us as I had not terminated our contract during her difficult time.

However, she later sent a full invoice. When I raised the issue, expecting a reduced rate as we had discussed, she justified it by stating in the invoice "Leo on holiday," which seemed like a play on words and greatly frustrated me. I expressed that had she informed me a month ago that the full fee would still apply, I would have opted to terminate the contract then. I then attempted to terminate the contract, but she insisted I needed to pay for another full month, citing the absence of a written request to end the contract a month prior. In summary, I ended up paying for two months of childcare that wasn't provided, all due to misleading communication.

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by Ilknur about Carol on 22/11/2024

Response by Carol on 22/11/2024:

Dear ID

I am taking the time to respond to your review as I was quite shocked and disappointed to read your comments regarding the care that I provided to your child which strangely come 14 months since your child left my childcare provision. Your review and comments are being made with an intent to discredit my childcare setting for unknown reasons with a title stating I am money orientated which is untrue. You came seeking a place within my childcare setting for your son who you explained would be very hard to settle as he rarely left you before coming to me he started with me in November 2022 and you had told me after his settling in sessions with me that you were overjoyed that he settled with me so quickly. In December 2022 you started him on 2 day half sessions per week with me initially as you wanted to see that he was happy and settled and you quickly increased this in January 2023 to 1 full day and 2 half days and he was doing so well you increased this again in February 2023 to 2 full days and 1 half day and finally in his last few months you increased his days again days to 4 days per week plus private evening babysitting sessions as you were very happy with my care of him. The increasing your child's attendance from 2 half days to 4 full days does not seem like a parent who did not think their child was happy and settled your son was with me for only 6 months. But after his initial settling in there were never any issues with him coming to me that you never mentioned any resistance from him, he came to me happily every day otherwise I am sure you would have removed him from my care sooner. The reason I believe you may have left this review which is quite negative is because in May 2023 my Mother passed away after a period of illness I had advised all the parents of the children in my care about 2 months before that she was terminally ill however I made the difficult decision not leave the children in my care to be with my Mother as I felt this would be a struggle for the parents to manage a long childcare provider absence even though this was very hard for me. So it was not until my Mother actually passed away that I advised all the parents that I would be taking 12 days (of my legally entitled 28 days Annual) Leave in June 2023 to arrange my Mother's funeral - it was not as you say to deal with her health issues she had already passed away all of which was very painful for me and quite a sensitive issue for you to raise in a review of my services. You were aware advised that the time I was taking was my annual leave which is as agreed and signed in your contract with me at the start of your childcare placement for your son (which is the same as most employed persons have) and you were also aware that if you were to take your child out for family Holidays/Trips then full fees are due this is the same as all Nurseries and childcare providers charge as childcare places have to paid to hold a child's place whilst the child is absent. So a few weeks after I returned from handling my Mothers funeral you informed me you were going on holiday for 6 weeks and I confirmed to you that was fine and invoiced you as normal. However you were very upset about the fact that you had to pay for your child's absence, and that was the first time you became discontent with me as there were no issues at all before. However I still tried to help by reducing the full fees due for your holiday period to 50% fees (not something a money oriented person would do) which I did not need to do, but you were still upset and decided to give notice instead of paying to hold your sons place for the holiday period (which was quite long) as such I advised you that the 4 week notice period payment was due. All of these facts were the contractual terms and conditions of your childcare placement and not to do with the good care your son received from me which never changed until his final day when he left. You will appreciate that being a childminder is a caring profession which I do wholeheartedly for all the children in my care. But I am also a self employed person as are all childminders so have to manage things such as child absences and unpaid bills however this is not being money orientated it is running a business which I am sure you will understand. However I am quite surprised that now more than a year after your son has left my care you would leave this review which did not tell the full facts of the matter.

Wonderful childminder and setting

My daughter started with Carol shortly after her 1st Birthday and following the second Covid lockdown. I wanted a more personal setting for my little one as i felt it would be less overwhelming than a nursery setting and especially with being a lockdown baby!
Tiny Treasures was more than we could have wished for. Carol made us and our daughter feel so cared for a supported. She was so happy to go, from literally two sessions in she didnt even look back after sating goodbye to us which told me how happy she was to be there. We had twins arrive 6 months later and Carol was just brilliant in helping with the adjustments we all had to make but especially for our daughter who needed the consistency and attention. Our twins then started with Carol as well when they turned 1 and were just as happy and content! We later relocated and my biggest reason to not want to leave was because we had to leave Carol and her wonderful team. It really is the highest quality and most supportive childcare provider in the area by a long shot and we miss her dearly!

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by Lottie about Carol on 08/07/2024

Absolutely brilliant

Carol is a gem - my little boy settled quickly and looks forward to going there. Her setting is beautiful and the children do a great range of fun and educational activities. Carol is also really good at communicating with parents and sharing updates and photos. We couldn’t be happier!

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by BeccaS about Carol on 18/04/2024

Response by Carol on 19/04/2024:

Thanks so much for the lovely review its an absolute pleasure caring for your Tiny Treasure!

The most incredible childminder!

Our daughter has been with Carol now for 2.5 years, and we feel so lucky to have found her, she really has been the most incredible Childminder from day one. Our daughter was only 1 when she first started with Carol, she had a hard time transitioning but Carol was so professional and understanding that she settled in very quickly. Now she absolutely loves her day at Carols, she looks forward to it every week and seeing her best friend there that has also been with Carol a similar time! It’s a real family setting and I couldn’t recommend her highly enough, she has been paramount in the development of our little one and we are forever grateful!

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by Danielle about Carol on 17/04/2024

Response by Carol on 19/04/2024:

Thanks so much for the lovely review its an absolute pleasure caring for your Tiny Treasure!

A flamingo in a flock of pigeons

Our son has been with Miss Carol at Tiny Treasures since he was 6 Months old. As he was so young, we did not think it appropriate for him to go to a nursery as they tended to be very loud and we did not want to run the risk of him being overlooked and his needs not being met.

After an endless hunt, we found Tiny Treasures, run by Carol. The setting is exactly what our family required. It is a smaller setting, perfect for children in a small group who get individual one to one attention and person centered development.

Carol invests time and energy into developing the children and focuses on where strengths and weaknesses are, paying a little closer attention when needed to assist in hitting key milestones.

At the end of every day there is a comprehensive handover of what our son has done and anything that could be worked on at home. Equally, if we are implementing something at home, Carol takes it on board and does the same in the setting so that there is no disconnect. As an example: we speak German to our son at home and sign with him. To ensure that he does not miss out on learning – Carol teaches him in German and English to solidify his linguistic skills.

In the last six months our son has developed so dramatically, we can honestly say a large part of that is due to his time spent at tiny treasures. He had his 12 month review recently and scored full marks!

Carol is an exceptional care giver and teacher who would be considered exemplary in the childcare field. This setting is highly recommended and it is an honour to have Carol and her team looking after our son.

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by Mrs E about Carol on 10/04/2024

Response by Carol on 19/04/2024:

Thanks so much for the lovely review its an absolute pleasure caring for your Tiny Treasure!